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Prince Rupert - The Northwest Connection

© Maureen Fleury

Prince Rupert is located on Kaien Island at the mouth of the Skeena River on British Columbia's north coast. It is situated 920km (550 miles) north of Vancouver and 65km (40 miles) south of southeast Alaska. Prince Rupert is best known as Canada's marine gateway to Asia and is the second largest port on the west coast of Canada. It is also the regional center for fishing, mining, and pulp manufacturing. Please see map.

Shipping is the largest industry in Prince Rupert and there are many reasons why:

• it is closer to Asia by 30 hours sailing time than any of the other West Coast ports
• the harbour is the deepest in North America and is ice-free year round, despite being quite far north
• both road & rail access to all of North America
• direct access to North Pacific shipping lanes
• the safest port on the west coast
• the availability of land has enabled quick and rapid expansion

Being a seaport, it is a pivotal point for the BC ferry network and for the Alaskan ferries. Therefore, the city derives a substantial source of revenue from tourist activities.

How Prince Rupert Began

The city was named in memory of the first governor of the Hudson's Bay Company and the selection of the name was through a Canada-wide contest. Prior to being incorporated in 1910, the area consisted of a large number of cannery villages. Charles Hays who was the president of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, chose Prince Rupert to be the western terminus of Canada's 2nd transcontinental railroad (Canadian Pacific was the 1st). He planned out the city with the intention to make it a showcase and to beat out Vancouver as the largest port. The plans for development were cut short when Hays was returning from a business trip and chose to sail on the Titanic. Although the railway is still a major transportation link, nobody developed the city on the grand scale as envisioned by Charles Hays.

The fishing industry continued after the railway plans died but the population remained low due to limited employment available in these two industries. During World War II, Prince Rupert hosted a strategic military post for both Canada and United States. The War brought in related industries & services, such as shipbuilding, a seaplane base and a hospital. The armed forces build a road to the neighboring town of Terrace and that was the start of highway links to northwest British Columbia.

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