The District of Port Edward is a

district municipality A district municipality is a designation for a class of municipalities found in several locations, including Canada, Lithuania, and South Africa. Canada British Columbia Under provincial law, municipalities in British Columbia are to be desig ...

of approximately 577, located in the

Range 5 Coast Land District Range may refer to: Geography * Range (geographic), a chain of hills or mountains; a somewhat linear, complex mountainous or hilly area (cordillera, sierra) ** Mountain range, a group of mountains bordered by lowlands * Range, a term used to i ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. It is situated on the Tsimpsean Peninsula, at Porpoise Harbour, near the southern end of

Chatham Sound , image = Looking Northeasterly across Chatham Sound.png , alt = Looking Northeasterly across Chatham Sound , caption = Looking Northeasterly across Chatham Sound , image_bathymetry = , alt_bathymetr ...

, close to the mouth of the

Skeena River The Skeena River is the second-longest river entirely within British Columbia, Canada (after the Fraser River). Since ancient times, the Skeena has been an important transportation artery, particularly for the Tsimshian and the Gitxsan—whose n ...

, 15 km (9 mi) southeast of

Prince Rupert Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Duke of Cumberland, (17 December 1619 (O.S.) / 27 December (N.S.) – 29 November 1682 (O.S.)) was an English army officer, admiral, scientist and colonial governor. He first came to prominence as a Royalist cavalr ...

Directions

Northwest of Port Edward is the City of Prince Rupert, northeast of Port Edward is the City of Terrace, while the cities of

Kitimat Kitimat is a district municipality in the North Coast region of British Columbia, Canada. It is a member municipality of the Regional District of Kitimat–Stikine regional government. The Kitimat Valley is part of the most populous urban distr ...

and Prince George are to the east.

Economy

At one time sustained by the numerous

canneries Canning is a method of food preservation in which food is processed and sealed in an airtight container (jars like Mason jars, and steel and tin cans). Canning provides a shelf life that typically ranges from one to five years, although un ...

in the area, transportation and construction are now the mainstays of the local economy. The

Port Edward Harbour Authority A port is a maritime law, maritime facility comprising one or more Wharf, wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge Affreightment, cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can a ...

provides annual moorage for over 2000 vessels annually. Tourism is also important, with the

North Pacific Cannery North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

providing both a living museum and national heritage site within Port Edward.

Pembina Pipeline Pembina Pipeline is a Canadian corporation that operates transportation and storage infrastructure delivering oil and natural gas to and from parts of Western Canada (since 2003 storage includes ethylene at 1 location); there is also a natural gas ...

operates a propane rail terminal on Watson Island, moving propane from rail cars to tankers on Porpoise Harbour. The facility is staffed with 25 full time employees, and is licensed to load per day.

History

Pacific Northwest LNG (PNW LNG) had been proposed for

Lelu Island Lelu Island is a small island in Lelu Harbour, in the Lelu municipality of Kosrae Kosrae ( ), formerly known as Kusaie or Strong's Island, is an island in the Federated States of Micronesia. The State of Kosrae is one of the four states of th ...

, adjacent to the townsite of Port Edward. The project was a major joint-venture between Malaysia's state oil and gas company,

Petronas Petroliam Nasional Berhad (National Petroleum Limited), commonly known as Petronas, is a Malaysian oil and gas company. Established in 1974 and wholly owned by the Government of Malaysia, the corporation is vested with all oil and gas reso ...

, and significant partners including

Sinopec China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (中国石油化工股份有限公司) or Sinopec (), is a Chinese oil and gas enterprise based in Beijing. It is listed in Hong Kong and also trades in Shanghai. Sinopec Limited's parent, Sinopec Gr ...

and

JAPEX is a hydrocarbon exploration, production, and transportation company. JAPEX explores and produces crude oil, natural gas, and liquefied natural gas reserves worldwide. JAPEX has proven reserves of 272 million barrels in Japan and the rest of th ...

. This $11 billion (CAD) project, if constructed, would have brought significant economic activity to Port Edward. The project was cancelled on July 25, 2017.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultur ...

, Port Edward had a population of 470 living in 181 of its 207 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 467. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

References

External links

* District municipalities in British Columbia Populated places in the North Coast Regional District North Coast of British Columbia Port cities and towns on the Canadian Pacific coast {{BritishColumbiaCoast-geo-stub