Warren in 1945,[2] who named it for Whitehorse Creek, a tributary of the McLeod River south of Cadomin, Alberta.

[3] Marine fossils from the Late Triassic epoch including crinoids, brachiopods, bivalves, and gastropods, have been found in the Whitehorse Formation.

[3][4] The Whitehorse Formation was deposited on the continental shelf along the western margin of the North American craton.

It is correlative with the Charlie Lake, Ludington, Baldonnel and lower Pardonet Formations and, in the subsurface of northeastern British Columbia, the Schooler Creek Group.

[1] Although localized deposits of gypsum are present in the Starlight Evaporite Member, they lie within Jasper National Park and are protected from development.