Prince Rupert, British Columbia

Prince Rupert, May 1910. Looking north toward Mount Morse.

Prince Rupert replaced Port Simpson as the choice for the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway (GTP) western terminus.[6] It also replaced Port Essington, 29 km (18 mi) away on the southern bank of the Skeena River, as the business centre for the North Coast.

The GTP purchased the 57 km² (14,000-acre) First Nations reserve, and received a 40 km² (10,000-acre) grant from the BC government. A post office was established on November 23, 1906.[7] Surveys and clearing, that commenced in that year, preceded the laying out of the 8.1 km² (2,000-acre) town site. A $200,000 provincial grant financed plank sidewalks, roads, sewers and water mains.[8] Kaien Island, which comprised damp muskeg overlaying a solid rock foothill, proved expensive both for developing the land for railway and town use.[9]

By 1909, the town possessed 4 grocery, 2 hardware, 2 men's clothing, a furniture, and several fruit and cigar stores, a wholesale drygoods outlet, a wholesale/retail butcher, 2 banks, the GTP hotel and annex, and numerous lodging houses and restaurants.[10] The first lot sales that year created a bidding war.[11]

Prince Rupert was incorporated on March 10, 1910. Although he never visited Canada, it was named after Prince Rupert of the Rhine, the first Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company, as the result of a nation-wide competition held by the Grand Trunk Railway, the prize for which was $250.[12][13]

With the collapse of the real estate boom in 1912, and World War I, much of the company's land remained unsold. Charles Melville Hays, president of the GTP, whose business plan made little sense, was primarily responsible for the bankruptcy of the company, and the establishment of a town that would take decades to achieve even a small fraction of the promises touted. Mount Hays, the larger of two mountains on Kaien Island, is named in his honour, as is a local high school, Charles Hays Secondary School. The Prince Rupert station, a listed historic place,[14] replaced a temporary building in 1922.[15]

Local politicians used the promise of a highway connected to the mainland as an incentive, and the city grew over the next several decades. US troops finally completed the road between Prince Rupert and Terrace during World War II to help move thousands of allied troops to the Aleutian Islands and the Pacific. Several forts were built to protect the city at Barrett Point and Fredrick Point. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Mount Hays, the largest mountain to the southeast of the city, was planned to be levelled off by the Canadian government to allow for a potential airstrip due to its tactical location and advantage.[16]

The former Capitol Theatre built in 1928.

After World War II, the fishing industry, particularly for salmon and halibut, and forestry became the city's major industries. Prince Rupert was considered the halibut capital of the world from the opening of the Canadian Fish & Cold Storage plant in 1912 until the early 1980s.[17][18] A long-standing dispute over fishing rights in the Dixon Entrance to the Hecate Strait between American and Canadian fisherman led to the formation of the 54-40 or Fight Society. The United States Coast Guard maintains a base in nearby Ketchikan, Alaska.

In 1946, the Government of Canada, through an order in council, granted the Department of National Defence the power to administer and maintain facilities to collect data for communications research. The Royal Canadian Navy was allotted forty positions, seven of which were in Prince Rupert. In either 1948 or 1949, Prince Rupert ceased operations, and the positions were relocated to RCAF Station Whitehorse, Yukon. The 1949 Queen Charlotte earthquake, with a surface wave magnitude of 8.1 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (severe), broke windows and swayed buildings on August 22.

In summer 1958, Prince Rupert endured a riot over racial discrimination. Ongoing discontent with heavy-handed police practices towards Aboriginals escalated to rioting during BC centennial celebrations following the arrest of an Aboriginal couple. As many as 1,000 people (one-tenth of the city's population at the time) began smashing windows and skirmishing with police. The Riot Act was read for only the second time since Confederation.[19][20][21]

Over the years, hundreds of students were said to have largely paid their way through school by working in the lucrative fishing industry. Construction of a pulp mill began in 1947 and it was operating by 1951. In 1958, Indo-Canadian industrialist Sohen Singh Gill established Prince Rupert Sawmills at the location of the old dry dock on Prince Rupert's waterfront.[22] In the 1960s, the majority of the town's workforce was employed either in the fishery or at Gill's sawmill.[22] The construction of coal and grain shipping terminals followed. From the 1960s into the 1980s, the city constructed many improvements, including a civic centre, swimming pool, public library, golf course and performing arts centre (recently renamed "The Lester Centre of the Arts"). These developments marked the town's changes from a fishing and mill town into a small city.

In the 1990s, both the fishing and forestry industries suffered a significant downturn. In July 1997, Canadian fishermen blockaded the Alaska Marine Highway ferry M/V Malaspina, keeping it in the port as a protest in the salmon fishing rights dispute between Alaska and British Columbia. The forest industry declined when a softwood lumber dispute arose between Canada and the USA. After the pulp mill closed, many people were unemployed, and much modern machinery was left unused. After reaching a peak of about 18,000 in the early 1990s, Prince Rupert's population began to decline, as people left in search of work.

The years from 1996 to 2004 were difficult for Prince Rupert, with closure of the pulp mill, the burning down of a fish plant and a significant population decline. 2005 may be viewed as a critical turning point: the announcement of the construction of a container port in April 2005, combined with new ownership of the pulp mill, the opening in 2004 of a new cruise ship dock, the resurgence of coal and grain shipping, and the prospects of increased heavy industry and tourism may foretell a bright future for the area. The port is becoming an important trans-Pacific hub.[23]

Prince Rupert has an oceanic climate (Köppen Cfb) and is also in a temperate rainforest. Prince Rupert is known as "The City of Rainbows",[24] as it is Canada's wettest city, with 2,620 mm (103 in) of annual precipitation on average, of which 2,530 mm (100 in) is rain; in addition, 240 days per year receive at least some measurable precipitation, and there are only 1230 hours of sunshine per year, so it is regarded as the municipality in Canada which receives the lowest amount of sunshine annually. Tourist brochures boast about Prince Rupert's "100 days of sunshine".[25][26] However, Stewart, British Columbia receives even less sunshine, at 985 sunshine hours per year.[27]

Out of Canada's 100 largest cities, Prince Rupert has the coolest summer, with an average high of 15.67 °C (60.21 °F).[28] Winters in Prince Rupert are mild by Canadian standards, with the average afternoon temperature in December, January and February being 5.2 °C (41.4 °F) which is the tenth warmest in Canada, surpassed only by other British Columbia cities.[29]

Summers are mild and comparatively less rainy, with an August daily mean of 13.8 °C (56.8 °F). Spring and autumn are not particularly well-defined; rainfall nevertheless peaks in the autumn months. Winters are chilly and damp, but warmer than most locations at a similar latitude, due to Pacific moderation: the January daily mean is 2.4 °C (36.3 °F), although frosts and blasts of cold Arctic air from the northeast are not uncommon.

Snow amounts are moderate for Canadian standards, averaging 126 cm (50 in) and occurring mostly from December to March. Snowfall in Prince Rupert is rare and the snow normally melts within a few days, although individual snowstorms may bring copious amounts of snow. Wind speeds are relatively strong, with prevailing winds blowing from the southeast.

The highest temperature ever recorded in Prince Rupert was 32.2 °C (90.0 °F) on 6 June 1958.[30] The lowest temperature ever recorded was −24.4 °C (−11.9 °F) on 4 January 1965.[31]

As of the 2001 Canadian census, among Canadian municipalities with a population of 5,000 or more, Prince Rupert had the highest percentage of First Nations population.

According to the 2021 census, religious groups in Prince Rupert included:[46]

• Irreligion (6,825 persons or 56.0%)
• Christianity (4,335 persons or 35.6%)
• Sikhism (415 persons or 3.4%)
• Buddhism (190 persons or 1.6%)
• Hinduism (165 persons or 1.4%)
• Islam (95 persons or 0.8%)
• Indigenous Spirituality (30 persons or 0.2%)
• Judaism (15 persons or 0.1%)

Prince Rupert Harbour

A belief at the beginning of the 1900s that trade expansion was shifting from Atlantic to Pacific destinations,[62] and the benefit of being closer to Asia than existing west coast ports, proved wishful. Reduced transit times to eastern North America and Europe did not outweigh the fact that rail transport has always been far more expensive than by sea.[63] The opening of the Panama Canal in 1914 exacerbated the problem.[64]

During 1906–08, the federal government undertook a hydrographic survey of the Prince Rupert harbour and approaches, finding it free of rocks or obstructions, and sufficient depth for good anchorage. Furthermore, it offered an easy entrance, fine shelter, and ample space. By 1909, a 1,500-foot wharf had been constructed.[65]

The port possesses the deepest ice-free natural harbour in North America, and the 3rd deepest natural harbour in the world.[66] Situated at 54° North, the harbour is the northwesternmost port in North America linked to the continent's railway network. The port is the first inbound and last outbound port of call for some cargo ships travelling between eastern Asia and western North America since it is the closest North American port to key Asian destinations.[67][68] The CN Aquatrain barge carries rail cargo between Prince Rupert and Whittier, Alaska.[69][70][71]

Passenger ferries operating from Prince Rupert include BC Ferries' service to the Haida Gwaii and to Port Hardy on Vancouver Island, and Alaska Marine Highway ferries to Ketchikan, Juneau and Sitka and many other ports along Alaska's Inside Passage. The Prince Rupert Ferry Terminal is co-located with the Prince Rupert railway station, from which Via Rail offers a thrice-weekly Jasper – Prince Rupert train, connecting to Prince George and Jasper, and through a connection with The Canadian, to the rest of the continental passenger rail network.

The Prince Rupert Port Authority is responsible for the port's operation.

Much of the harbour is formed by the shelter provided by Digby Island, which lies windward of the city and contains the Prince Rupert Airport. The city is on Kaien Island and the harbour also includes Tuck Inlet, Morse Basin, Wainwright Basin, and Porpoise Harbour, as well as part of the waters of Chatham Sound which takes in Ridley Island.

Prince Rupert Grain Terminal

Fairview Terminal

Prince Rupert is ideally located for a port, having the deepest natural harbour depths on the continent.[72][73] The city's port capacity is comparable with the Port of Vancouver's. Unlike most west coast ports, there is little traffic congestion at Prince Rupert. Finally, the extremely mountainous nature and narrow channels of the surrounding area leaves Prince Rupert as the only suitable port location in the inland passage region.

The Prince Rupert Port Authority (PRPA) is a federally appointed agency which administers and operates various port properties on the harbour. Previously run by the National Harbours Board and subsequently the Prince Rupert Port Corporation, the PRPA is now a locally run organization.

PRPA port facilities include:

• Atlin Terminal[74]
• Northlands Terminal[75]
• Lightening Dock
• Ocean Dock
• Westview Dock
• Fairview Terminal[76]
• Prince Rupert Grain[77]
• Trigon Pacific Terminals (formerly Ridley Terminals)>[78]
• Sulphur Corporation

All PRPA facilities are serviced by CN Rail.

The Canadian Coast Guard maintains CCG Base Seal Cove on Prince Rupert Harbour where vessels are homeported for search and rescue and maintenance of aids to navigation throughout the north coast. CCG also bases helicopters at Prince Rupert for servicing remote locations with aids to navigation, as well as operating a Marine Communications Centre, covering a large Vessel Traffic Services zone from Port Hardy at the northern tip of Vancouver Island to the International Boundary north of Prince Rupert.

Both BC Ferries and the Alaska Marine Highway operate ferries which call at Prince Rupert, with destinations in the Alaska Panhandle, the Haida Gwaii, and isolated communities along the central coast to the south.

Prince Rupert Airport (YPR/CYPR) is on Digby Island. Its position is 54°17′10″N 130°26′41″W, and its elevation is 35 m (115 ft)[79]) above sea level. The airport consists of one runway, one passenger terminal, and two aircraft stands. Access to the airport is typically achieved by a bus connection that departs from downtown Prince Rupert (Highliner Hotel) and travels to Digby Island by ferry. The airport is served by Air Canada from Vancouver International Airport (YVR).

Prince Rupert is also served by the Prince Rupert/Seal Cove Water Aerodrome, a seaplane facility with regularly scheduled, as well as chartered, flights to nearby villages and remote locations.

CN Rail has a mainline that runs to Prince Rupert from Valemount, British Columbia. At Valemount, the Prince Rupert mainline joins the CN mainline from Vancouver. Freight traffic on the Prince Rupert mainline consists primarily of grain, coal, wood products, chemicals, and as of 2007, containers. As the renovations at the Port of Prince Rupert continue, traffic on CN will steadily rise in future years.

In addition, a three times weekly Jasper – Prince Rupert train operated by Via Rail connects Prince Rupert with Prince George and Jasper. Running during daylight hours to allow passengers to be able to see the scenery along the entire route; the service takes two days and requires an overnight hotel stay in Prince George. The route ends in Jasper and connects passengers with Via's The Canadian, which runs between Toronto and Vancouver.

• AM 860 – CFPR, CBC Radio One
• FM 98.1 – VF2119, classic rock (repeats CFNR-FM, Terrace)
• FM 99.1 – CHTK-FM, EZ Rock 99.1
• FM 100.7 – CIAJ-FM, Christian programming
• FM 101.9 – CJFW-FM-2, country music (repeats CJFW-FM, Terrace)

• Channel 6 – CFTK-TV-1, CTV 2 (repeats CFTK-TV, Terrace)

• Prince Rupert Daily News, daily newspaper, (1911–2010)
• The Northern View, local weekly newspaper, 2006–present, owned by Black Press
• The Northern Connector, regional weekly newspaper covering Prince Rupert, Kitimat and Terrace areas, 2006–present, owned by Black Press