NORTH PACIFIC CANNERY

Experience

Preserving Legacy: The Conservation Journey of North Pacific Cannery

The North Pacific Cannery’s association with the West Coast fishing industry is remarkable for its diversity and lengthy duration. In 1985, the North Pacific Cannery was designated a National Historic Site by Parks Canada to commemorate the role that the industrial fishery played in the economic and cultural development of Northwestern British Columbia, Canada, and the continent. The North Pacific Cannery is a very complex site with many levels of heritage values and physical constraints. 

As part of its ongoing conservation and interpretation, which will support many on-site functions, the tangible expression of the values – the site’s character-defining elements – need to be safeguarded. This currently involves a program of stabilization and restoration that will lead to long-term protection of the site. Luxton’s development of an overall Conservation Master Plan is based on many years of ongoing efforts to preserve the site. It gathers up and assesses information from many previous studies and will guide further work undertaken onsite while managing the significance of the historic place.

Main Canning Building 2009

North Pacific Cannery 2013

North Pacific Cannery (from cliff above 1956)

Boardwalk

North Pacific Cannery, 1947

Boardwalk Buildings 2010

Pile Work 2009

Boardwalk, 1974 (Gladys Blyth, Photo ID P979.39.4b)