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Prince Rupert, British Columbia

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Orthographic projection centred over Prince Rupert
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Orthographic projection centred over Prince Rupert

BC Coast, showing Prince Rupert and Vancouver
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BC Coast, showing Prince Rupert and Vancouver

Prince Rupert is a city in the province of British Columbia, Canada. It is the land, air, and water transportation hub of British Columbia's north coast, and home to some 15,302 people (Statistics Canada, 2001).

Contents

Location

At [54°19′N 130°19′W], Prince Rupert is situated on Kaien Island (approximately 770 km north of Vancouver), just north of the mouth of Skeena River, and linked by a short bridge to the mainland. The city is located along the island's northwestern shore, fronting on Prince Rupert Harbour.

At the west end of Trans-Canada Highway 16 (the Yellowhead Highway), Prince Rupert is approximately 150 km west of Terrace, and 725 km west of Prince George.

Time zone

Prince Rupert is in the Pacific Standard Time (UTC-8), and observes Daylight Savings Time from April to October.

Neighbouring communities

By virtue of location, Prince Rupert is the gateway to many destinations: The Queen Charlotte Islands (also known as Haida Gwaii) are to the west of Prince Rupert, across the Hecate Strait. Alaska is 49 nautical miles (90 km) north of Prince Rupert.

History

Prince Rupert's history starts with the Tsimshian First Nations people.
Prince Rupert, May 1910. Looking north toward Mount Morse.
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Prince Rupert, May 1910. Looking north toward Mount Morse.

Prince Rupert was founded by Charles Melville Hays, the general manager of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, who died on April 15, 1912 on the RMS Titanic. 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.

Prince Rupert was incorporated on March 10, 1910, and is named after Prince Rupert of the Rhine.

In July, 1997, Canadian fishermen blockaded the Alaska Marine Highway ferry Malaspina, keeping it in the port as a protest in the salmon fishing rights dispute between Alaska and British Columbia.

The book [[Unmarked: Landscapes Along Highway 16]], written by Sarah de Leeuw, includes an essay about Prince Rupert entitled "Highway of Monsters".

Population

Statistics Canada has recorded the following population counts in their censuses. Census agglomerations are listed in parentheses.

Government

The current mayor of Prince Rupert is Herb Pond. The current councillors of Prince Rupert are Nelson Kinney, Ken Cote, Kathy Bedard, Sheila Gordon-Payne, Joy Thorkelson, and Tony Briglio.

Prince Rupert is part of the Skeena—Bulkley Valley federal riding (electoral district). Nathan Cullen is the current Member of Parliament for the riding, and is a member of the New Democratic Party.

In the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Prince Rupert is a large portion of the North Coast riding. Gary Coons is the current Member of the Legislative Assembly. He is a member of the New Democratic Party of British Columbia. The NDP traditionally has strong support in the region.

Electoral District

Prince Rupert is represented in parliament through the seat of the Skeena-Queen Charlotte Regional District.

Industry

Prince Rupert currently relies on the fishing industry, port, and tourism; however from 1951 to 2001 Prince Rupert also benefited from the Watson Island Pulp Mill, located less than 14 kilometers outside of the city.

Seaport

Prince Rupert's sheltered harbour is the deepest ice-free natural harbour in North America. Situated at 54° North, the harbour is the northwestern most port in North America linked to the continent's railway network. Located on the Great Circle Route between eastern Asia and western North America, the port is the first inbound and last outbound port of call for cargo ships.

Passenger Ferries operating from Prince Rupert include BC Ferries' service to the Queen Charlotte Islands and to Port Hardy on Vancouver Island, and Alaska Marine Highway ferries to Ketchican, Juneau and Sitka and many other ports along Alaska's Inside Passage. The Prince Rupert Ferry Terminal is co-located with the city's train station, from which VIA Rail offers a thrice-weekly passenger train called The Skeena, 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.

Airport

Prince Rupert Airport (YPR/CYPR) is located on Digby Island. Its position is [54°17′10″N, 130°26′41″W], and its elevation is 35 metres above sea level. The airport comprises 1 runway, 1 passenger terminal, and 2 aircraft stands. Access to the airport is typically achieved by a bus connection that departs from two locations in downtown Prince Rupert (Cow Bay and Highliner Hotel) and travels to Digby Island by ferry. The airport is served by Air Canada and Hawk Air from Vancouver International Airport (YVR).

Weather

Prince Rupert is known as "The City of Rainbows", as it is Canada's wettest city, with an annual precipitation of 2,500 mm (Statistics Canada, 1999). It is also regarded as the municipality in Canada which receives the least amount of sunshine annually. Winters are relatively mild for the latitude (even January does not average below freezing), although frosts and blasts of cold arctic air from the northeast are not uncommon. Summers are cool, with daytime temperatures averaging less than 20 degrees Celsius. Wind speeds are relatively strong. There is ample precipitation throughout the year, but autumn is the wettest season. Snowfall is not uncommon, but it is not heavy either and rarely remains on the ground for any extended length of time.

Communications

Telephone, mobile, and Internet service are provided by CityTel (a city-owned telecommunications company). CityTel provides long-distance telephone service, as does TELUS.

In September 2005, the city changed CityTel from a city department into an independent corporation, named CityWest. The new corporation immediately purchased the local cable company, Monarch Cable Systems, expanding CityWest's customer base to other northwest British Columbia communities.

Tourist Attractions

Prince Rupert is a central point on the Inside Passage, a route of relatively sheltered waters running along the Pacific coast from Vancouver, British Columbia to Skagway, Alaska. It is visited by many cruise ships during the summer en route between Alaska to the north and Vancouver and the Lower 48 to the south.

Prince Rupert is also the starting point for many wildlife viewing trips including whales, eagles and grizzly bears. The Khutzeymateen Grizzly Bear sanctuary features one of the densest remaining populations in North America; tours can be arranged by water or air (using float planes) departing from Prince Rupert.

External links

 British Columbia
Regional Districts Alberni-Clayoquot - Bulkley-Nechako - Capital - Cariboo - Central Coast - Central Kootenay - Central Okanagan - Columbia-Shuswap - Comox-Strathcona - Cowichan Valley - East Kootenay - Fraser Valley - Fraser-Fort George - Greater Vancouver - Kitimat-Stikine - Kootenay Boundary - Mount Waddington - Nanaimo - North Okanagan - Northern Rockies - Okanagan-Similkameen - Peace River - Powell River - Skeena-Queen Charlotte - Squamish-Lillooet - Stikine - Sunshine Coast - Thompson-Nicola
Communities over 100,000 Abbotsford - Burnaby - Coquitlam - Delta - Kelowna - Richmond - Saanich - Surrey - Vancouver
70,000-100,000 Chilliwack - Kamloops - Langley Township - Maple Ridge - Nanaimo - District of North Vancouver - Prince George - Victoria
Other major communities Campbell River - Cranbrook - Fort St. John - Mission - New Westminster - City of North Vancouver - Penticton - Port Coquitlam - Port Moody - Vernon

 

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