Port Hope Simpson is a town located on the southeastern Labrador coast, from the Quebec/Southern Labrador border in Canada. It was founded in 1934 as a

company town A company town is a place where practically all stores and housing are owned by the one company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schools, markets and re ...

. With the completion of the Trans-Labrador Highway that crosses the region, the town has benefitted from an increase in tourism. The nearby Shinneys Water Complex has of over 1,000 islands rising dramatically above sea level. These protected waters are ideal for all types of boating and the adjoining Alexis River is a popular fishing destination for

Atlantic salmon The Atlantic salmon (''Salmo salar'') is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Salmonidae. It is the third largest of the Salmonidae, behind Siberian taimen and Pacific Chinook salmon, growing up to a meter in length. Atlantic salmon are ...

History

When the Labrador Development Company left in 1948, paid work in the woods left with it until Bowater arrived 14 years later. The first post office was established on October 21, 1950. The first postmaster was Hayward Green. At the time, the population was 311. New economic activity took place between 1962 and 1968 as Bowater picked up the pioneering venture laid down by

John Osborn Williams John Osborn Williams (28 March 1886 – 6 July 1963) was the owner of the logging and pit prop exporting business known as The Labrador Development Company limited based in Port Hope Simpson, Newfoundland and Labrador from 1934 to 1948. Early ...

, Sir John Hope Simpson and the Labrador Development Company. More trees were felled for their pulp and paper mills at

Corner Brook Corner Brook ( 2021 population: 19,333 CA 29,762) is a city located on the west coast of the island of Newfoundland in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Corner Brook is the fifth largest settlement in Newfoundland and Labrador. ...

, and in Kent, England. Bowater brought benefits of regular paid employment (though seasonal), of forest roads and the government contributed by sharing the cost of building a new wharf. But apart from the post office, the general store and the two schools there was no all-year-round paid employment from 1969 to 1970. From 1970 to 1992 cod and salmon fishing was the economic mainstay of the area but unemployment prevailed most of the year. In 1992 the

cod fishery Cod fisheries are fisheries for cod. Cod is the common name for fish of the genus ''Gadus'', belonging to the family (biology), family Gadidae, and this article is confined to three species that belong to this genus: the Atlantic cod, the Pacific ...

was closed down altogether. However, many local fishermen made a relatively easy transition into crab,

shrimp Shrimp are crustaceans (a form of shellfish) with elongated bodies and a primarily swimming mode of locomotion – most commonly Caridea and Dendrobranchiata of the decapod order, although some crustaceans outside of this order are refer ...

and scallop fishing. Government funding for the construction works of the Trans-Labrador Highway, the Port Hope Simpson bridge and the Port Hope Simpson Airport has increased the town's accessibility as a tourist destination on the Labrador coast. From the early 1990s on, Port Hope Simpson's fishing, logging, timber products, transportation, retail and public services, tourist facilities and amenities have contributed to the sustainable growth of the town. The town previously served as a ferry port for the nearby town of William's Harbour. William's Harbour was entirely resettled in 2017. The town has a small air-strip, Port Hope Simpson Airport. As of March 2017, Port Hope is not listed as a scheduled destination in the

Air Labrador Labrador Airways Limited, operating as Air Labrador, was a regional airline based at the Goose Bay Airport in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. It operated scheduled daily passenger and freight services throughout Labrado ...

flight schedule.

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; 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 Hope Simpson had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

References

External links

Southeastern Aurora Development Corporation 2002

Alexis Bay HistoryCanadian StatisticsOur Labrador...Yours to Explore, Smart Labrador and Combined Councils of Labrador 1995

Labrador Coastal DrivePort Hope Simpson - Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador, vol. 4, p. 395-396.
{{Subdivisions of Newfoundland and Labrador, towns=yes, ICG=yes Populated coastal places in Canada Populated places in Labrador Towns in Newfoundland and Labrador