I don't know much about working in Canada. Employee housing varies massively from resort to resort. Generally only the big places will offer it, and even that's not a guarantee. Quality and pricing can very a ton. A lot of place that do have it have limited amounts. If you're in a more generic role like first year liftie, it might be harder to score than a role that they're actively trying to bring somebody into.
Some ski areas/employee housing is pretty tightknit. Some it's not at all. Worth asking when you're first in contact with a place to see what they offer and what you have to do to get in. I've seen huge waiting lists places so def don't wait. If they don't offer employee housing they might be able to point you in the direction of some places to call about rentals, people looking for roommates etc. Maybe they have a network of some sort, maybe a facebook group of people looking fr housing.
Ski resort life is shitty and awesome. Some places are better than others, the pay sucks across the board, but it's all what you make of it. I love it enough to be doing it year round a decent amount, and every northern hem winter since 2003.
Honestly at this point I'm probably in to deep to ever do anything else with my life, but I dig it. If you're even curious about it I'd say send it for a season. Worst case you'll drink too much, eat shitty food, live in some shanty, work a job you're not feeling, and come out with less $$ than you started. But there's a good chance you'll ski a ton, meet plenty of people to shred with, and have a great time.
Will it be something you'll want to do forever? Probably not. Will you regret it? Probably not.
Indeed is generally a good place to look for jobs. A lot of jobs are already getting posted. I only look at terrain park and grooming jobs but a bunch went up the last 2 weeks. Some jobs and smaller resorts don't post things till closer to fall. You don't have to be particularly qualified to land some sort of job at a ski area. At the same time, there can be a ton of people applying. Get a job before you commit to a move. Nothing worse than showing up and having everything full. I've seen it happen to people a bunch. Also worth applying to a few places to give yourself a backup plan.
If you get a job do a decent job, even if ski industry isn't your jam. It's a small industry and if you do shit work/are an asshole it won't help you if you wanna work another ski season. And honestly, it's always nice to have a big list of good references for the future jerb hunt, even unrelated industries.
Ski a bunch, drink a bunch, and have yourself a jolly good time. Ski lyfe is the best lyfe. - Some dirtbag from the internet
