Prince Rupert Historic & Heritage Sites
Northern Pacific Historic Fishing Village, JF Bergeron photo
Prince Rupert has a fascinating history and one site stands out as testament to the town's hard-working heritage.
North Pacific Cannery
The North Pacific Cannery, a national historic site, is the oldest, most completely preserved cannery remaining of two hundred-or-so that once dotted BC's Northwest Coast. The impressive site features 30 buildings full of canning equipment, fishing gear, grocery goods, old furniture and office materials – all of which date back over the last hundred years. Connected by old wooden boardwalks standing high on pilings above an estuary of the Skeena River, the site truly speaks to the realities of cannery life.
True stories about the North Pacific Cannery are fascinating. Europeans, First Nations, Japanese, Chinese and people from many other cultures worked as fishers, canners and boat builders at all the canneries along the northwest coast, travelling far distances for a small pittance and a lot of hard work.
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Family, Cannery History
Talk to locals, in Prince Rupert or Port Edward, and they or most of their families are still connected to the North Pacific Cannery somehow – some describe the grandfather who worked there or how parents were born there.
Visitor Attraction
Built in 1889, and ending all operations about a hundred years later, the cannery is now open to the public as a local attraction from mid-May until mid-October. Opening times and admission depend on the season. Off-season, the cannery is only open to pre-booked tours.
During peak summer season, tours of the place run every hour. A play, Skeena River Story, is also performed a few times a day. The cannery also has a gift shop, restaurant and hotel. Overnighters can bunk in an old cannery building for a night or two to fully experience the place.
Getting to the Cannery
The Cannery is located about 20-minutes from downtown Rupert. Head east on Highway 16 then turn right towards the small First Nations village of Port Edward.
BC Transit also runs daily buses to the site. The bus leaves from the Visitor Information Centre in Atlin Terminal in Cow Bay, the city's main tourist shopping hub. The journey takes about 40 minutes.
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