The territory that includes West Kelowna and the broader central Okanagan is the ancestral, traditional, and unceded homeland of the Syilx Okanagan Nation. The Westbank First Nation (WFN) — known in nsyilxcén as tqłəníw̓t — is one of eight bands within the Okanagan Nation Alliance. The Syilx people have lived on these lands for well over 9,000 years, following seasonal food sources along the lake, rivers, and benchlands. Their language, nsyilxcén, holds thousands of years of knowledge of the land.

Non-Indigenous settlement began in the 1890s, when the name “Westbank” was suggested by John Davidson, who arrived in the district in 1892 and established the name based on the community’s position on the west bank of Okanagan Lake. A post office opened in Westbank in 1902. The Fur Brigade Trail — used for decades by Hudson’s Bay Company trading parties — passed through the area, with a memorial cairn dedicated in 1949 still visible along the Old Okanagan Highway.

For most of the 20th century, the Westside was governed as a rural area under the Central Okanagan Regional District. By the early 2000s, it had become the most populated unincorporated area in all of British Columbia. A June 2007 referendum gave residents a choice between incorporating as an independent municipality or amalgamating with Kelowna — and they chose independence. The Westside District Municipality was formally incorporated on December 6, 2007.

In 2008, residents voted to name the new municipality West Kelowna — narrowly over Westbank by 166 votes — and the name became official on January 30, 2009. The community was reclassified as the City of West Kelowna on June 26, 2015. Meanwhile, the Westbank First Nation achieved self-governance on April 1, 2005, making WFN one of the few self-governing First Nations in Canada — a remarkable milestone that preceded the city’s own incorporation.