Port Hardy 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 desi ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

located on the north-east tip of

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest ...

. Port Hardy has a population of 3,902 as of the 2021 census. It is the gateway to

Cape Scott Provincial Park Cape Scott Provincial Park extends from Shushartie in the east, then westward around Cape Scott and south to San Josef Bay. This coastline comprises the northern tip of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The provincial park is about northwest ...

, the North Coast Trail and the BC Marine Trail, located on the northernmost tip of Vancouver Island. The community has access to various outdoor activities, such as kayaking, caving, scuba diving, nature viewing, surfing, saltwater rapids, fishing and camping. Port Hardy's twin city is Numata,

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Name

Port Hardy was named after Vice-Admiral Sir Thomas Masterman Hardy, who served as the captain of ''

HMS Victory HMS ''Victory'' is a 104-gun first-rate wooden sailing ship of the line. With years of service as of , she is the world's List of oldest surviving ships, oldest naval vessel still in Ship commissioning, commission. She was ordered for the Roy ...

''. He served at the

Battle of Trafalgar The Battle of Trafalgar was a naval engagement that took place on 21 October 1805 between the Royal Navy and a combined fleet of the French Navy, French and Spanish Navy, Spanish navies during the War of the Third Coalition. As part of Na ...

when

Horatio Nelson Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronte ( – 21 October 1805) was a Royal Navy officer whose leadership, grasp of strategy and unconventional tactics brought about a number of decisive British naval victories during the French ...

died in his arms.

Demographics

In the

2021 Census of Population The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...

conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), 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 culture. It is headquartered in ...

, Port Hardy had a population of 3,902 living in 1,791 of its 1,984 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 4,132. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Religion

According to the 2021 census, religious groups in Port Hardy included: *

Irreligion Irreligion is the absence or rejection of religious beliefs or practices. It encompasses a wide range of viewpoints drawn from various philosophical and intellectual perspectives, including atheism, agnosticism, religious skepticism, ...

(2,715 persons or 70.3%) *

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

(995 persons or 25.8%) *

Sikhism Sikhism is an Indian religion and Indian philosophy, philosophy that originated in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent around the end of the 15th century CE. It is one of the most recently founded major religious groups, major religio ...

(40 persons or 1.0%) *

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

(25 persons or 0.6%) *

Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...

(15 persons or 0.4%) *

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

(15 persons or 0.4%) * Indigenous Spirituality (10 persons or 0.3%) *Other (40 persons or 1.0%)

Ethnicity

Filomi Days

Once a year, Port Hardy holds a celebration in Rotary Park to acknowledge its natural resource based economy. The three syllables, fi, lo and mi, stand for "fishing, logging and mining". The celebration includes festivities in the park such as activities for children, fundraising concessions, entertainment, beer gardens, bake sales, craft sales, and fireworks. A dance for each age group and a parade are also held on Filomi Days weekend- typically the third weekend in July. Brookes Laidlaw represents the current Vice Admiral in the annual parade.

Tourism

Port Hardy's economy relies greatly on tourism.

Ferries A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus. ...

Prince Rupert Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Duke of Cumberland, (17 December 1619 ( O.S.) 7 December 1619 (N.S.)– 29 November 1682 (O.S.) December 1682 (N.S) was an English-German army officer, admiral, scientist, and colonial governor. He first rose to ...

, another popular tourist destination in

, depart every other day during peak season. Tourist traffic increases in the summer months. Book hotels and campgrounds in advance.

Wildlife

Deer, black bears,

bald eagle The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same niche ...

s, squirrels, seals, salmon and many other species of birds and mammals are often spotted along the Quatse Loop Nature Trail or at Storey's Beach which is a short drive from town.

Humpback whale The humpback whale (''Megaptera novaeangliae'') is a species of baleen whale. It is a rorqual (a member of the family Balaenopteridae) and is the monotypic taxon, only species in the genus ''Megaptera''. Adults range in length from and weigh u ...

s can occasionally been seen surfacing in the bay. Port Hardy has many wildlife charters, fishing charters and places to camp during tourist season.

Climate

Port Hardy has an

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''Cfb'') due to its proximity to the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

moderating influence. As a result, summers are very cool for the latitude, whereas winters instead are very mild. Although there is a strong drying trend in summer, its summer rainfall is still higher than those of the southerly mediterranean climates. Winter rainfall is very high and in general Port Hardy is far wetter than Canada's interior.

Radio

* CFNI - 1240 Coast AM

Transportation

Port Hardy is located at the northern end of British Columbia Highway 19, which runs south towards

Nanaimo Nanaimo ( ) is a city of about 100,000 on the east coast of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. "The Harbour City" was previously known as the "Hub City", which was attributed to its original layout design with streets radiating fr ...

. It is served by the Bear Cove ferry terminal, which sees ferry sailings to

and summer-only service to Bella Coola. Port Hardy Airport has flights to

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

Pacific Coastal Airlines Pacific Coastal Airlines is a Canadian regional airline that operates scheduled, charter and cargo services to destinations in British Columbia. Its head office is located in the South Terminal of Vancouver International Airport in Richmond, Br ...

. There are two taxi companies and a public transport bus.

Sister-city relations

Numata, Hokkaido is a town located in Sorachi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. As of 1 October 2020, the town has an estimated population of 2,909. The total area is 283.21 km2. Numata's twin city is Port Hardy, Canada. Culture Mascots Numata's mascots a ...

since September 1994

Gallery

Image:Thetbirdmall.jpg, Thunderbird Mall Image:Hardyclock.jpg, Clock tower Image:Hardydock.JPG, The Seagate Wharf in Port Hardy Image:Port Hardy Carrot Campaign monument.jpg, Carrot Campaign monument Image:PortHardy.JPG, Port Hardy from the water

Notes

References

External links

* * {{authority control Populated places on the British Columbia Coast District municipalities in British Columbia Northern Vancouver Island Populated places in the Regional District of Mount Waddington