North Pacific Cannery National Historic Site
North Pacific Cannery
A stilted timber salmon cannery built in 1889, the oldest and most complete surviving cannery village on the BC coast.
The North Pacific Cannery lies near Port Edward, at the mouth of the Skeena River, and was built in 1889. Hundreds of Indigenous, Japanese, Chinese and European workers once lived here. It closed in 1968 and was preserved intact, and as of the 2020s it remains a National Historic Site. Wooden boardwalks link the canning lines, bunkhouses, the store and the manager's house. Guided tours explain the salmon industry and the daily lives of workers from different communities, and the exhibits on Chinese workers' bunkhouses are especially meaningful to Chinese visitors. Admission is about CAD 15, and it is open in summer. The cannery is about 20 km from Prince Rupert, roughly a 25-minute drive.
Opening hours
May–Sep, daily approx. 10:00–17:00
Nearby sights
- Diana Lake & Prudhomme Lake Provincial Parks
- Butze Rapids Trail
- Mount Hays
- Rushbrook Trail
- Cow Bay
- Sunken Gardens & Totem Poles
- Museum of Northern British Columbia
- Kwinitsa Railway Station Museum