Westbank Centre.

How Westbank Centre took shape

Westbank Centre is West Kelowna's historic core and its designated downtown. The Westbank name dates to a 1902 post office, the irrigation district that watered its orchards formed in 1922, and the Lions hall went up in 1929. Today it is where the city is adding height, rental housing and a new secondary school.

Westbank sits beside Westbank First Nation reserve lands on syilx territory, where the Okanagan Brigade Trail once carried fur traders north. A cairn dedicated in 1949 marks the route. The Westbank Museum gives the area's earliest recorded name as MacDonald's Plain, after a Hudson's Bay Company officer, and later names such as Sunnyside. The Westbank name came in 1902, suggested by settler John Davidson, who had arrived in 1892. The first Westbank post office opened on May 1 that year at Shannon Lake, and the town centre grew later around what is now Main Street. Orchards drove the economy. The Westbank Irrigation District was incorporated on June 14, 1922, and its former office at 2471 Main Street, built in 1946, still stands. The Westbank Lions Community Hall went up in 1929 and was restored after a fire in 2013. Gorman Bros.

began milling in 1953. The packinghouses and the original Our Lady of Lourdes church are gone. Roads reshaped the core. In 1985 Highway 97 was extended and a one way couplet built, and the 1958 and 2008 bridges put Kelowna within easy reach. After incorporation, the District adopted the Westbank Urban Centre Revitalization Plan in 2011, followed by a transit exchange, park upgrades and a new city hall. Now the centre is growing up. The 2023 Official Community Plan makes Westbank one of two urban centres. Hoskins Heights, seven storeys with 65 rental suites on Hoskins Road, topped out in September 2026, and the city is updating the 2011 plan. George Pringle Secondary, for 1,200 students on Elliott Road, opens in September 2027.

1. 1902Westbank post office opens May 1 at Shannon Lake, with N.S. Marshall as postmaster. Source
2. 1922Westbank Irrigation District incorporated on June 14. Source
3. 1929Westbank Lions Community Hall built. Source
4. 1985Highway 97 extension and one way couplet built through Westbank. Source

The homes & their setting

Older bungalows and ranchers from the orchard town era sit beside low rise condos and townhomes, and since 2026 taller rental buildings such as the seven storey Hoskins Heights. A mix of strata condos and freehold houses; some nearby homes are on Westbank First Nation land.

Building age, tenure, amenities and permitted uses vary by address. Explore the actual property documents with Elaine and the appropriate specialists.

Places with a story

• Westbank Lions Community Hall — Community hall built in 1929 and restored after a 2013 fire. History source
• Former irrigation district office, 2471 Main Street — Built in 1946 for the Westbank Irrigation District; the museum has urged its protection. History source
• Okanagan Brigade Trail cairn — National Historic Site cairn marking the fur brigade route between New Caledonia and the Columbia River. History source