Storied BC Waterfront Cannery Seeking Next Steward

There are waterfront properties, and then there's Cassiar Cannery.

Situated on BC's North Coast, just 30 minutes from Prince Rupert, the 74-acre estate at Lot 44 Cassiar Drive in Port Edward is not any conventional listing. It's a living landmark — one that operated as the longest consecutively operating salmon cannery on the West Coast.

What remains today is something rare: a heritage estate where past and present have been carefully reconciled, and where the next chapter is very much unwritten.

The property spans 74 acres on both sides of the rail line, with 20 to 30 acres of usable land, one kilometre of low-bank waterfront, half a kilometre of road frontage, and a 2.53-hectare foreshore lease. A multi-acre wharf rounds out the site's considerable footprint. And the access points alone set it apart, too: road, rail, and ocean. The CN Rail line runs directly through the property, complete with its own registered stop and private crossing — providing direct rail connection to the Port of Prince Rupert, Vancouver, and Eastern Canada.

Five former cannery manager homes remain on the grounds; four have been carefully restored and adapted as guest houses, offering turnkey accommodation and income potential, while one serves as a utility building. Each retains its character while incorporating modern comforts — an authentic heritage experience that has already earned the property serious recognition, including a Canadian Hidden Gem designation from the Globe and Mail, a spot on Destination BC's Top 10 Unusual Places to Overnight in BC, and multiple LuxLife awards including Best Wilderness Accommodation in BC and Best Wilderness Guest Houses in Northern BC.

What's more, the original General Store has been reimagined as a versatile event venue, equipped for gatherings, retreats, and cultural programming. A 10,000 sq.-ft blast freezer building — constructed in 1979 on deep piles — offers even more potential, with open-span storage on the upper floor and a concrete workshop below.

The dock infrastructure, while requiring upkeep, holds significant capacity for marine access, tourism, transportation, or research.

SPECS

Address: Lot 44 Cassiar Drive, Port Edward, BC
Bedrooms: 12
Bathrooms: 6
Living Area: 4,200 sq. ft.
Lot Size: 74 acres
Listed At: $9,000,000
Listed By: Paul Hague, Nicole Eastman, and Amjot Sahi, Sotheby's International Realty Canada

The surrounding landscape is equally compelling. More than 500 plant species have been catalogued on the estate, placing it within a recognized biological hotspot. Over the past decade, the Cannery has supported extensive research into its salt marsh and mudflats, with the site considered a potential biosphere. Restored habitats have brought over 75 bird species back to the estuary. Bears, deer, and wolves move freely along wildlife corridors inland, while salmon and seals travel the estuary below.

The estate's licences and tenures round out an already formidable picture. A renewed Commercial Foreshore Lease runs until 2032. The property holds one of the province's largest historical water licences — four million litres per day across three creeks, the second largest in BC — and a previously held bottling licence that could be reinstated. Mining tenure remains in place, excluding gold and silver. An Industrial Effluent Permit is also registered.

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Our Favourite Thing

Boutique tourism, eco-lodging, heritage conservation, cultural retreats, small-scale fisheries, forestry, premium water bottling, marine business — the listing makes a credible case for all of it, and the infrastructure to support multiple directions already exists on site. Most properties ask you to imagine one future. Cassiar Cannery offers several, and leaves the choice to whoever comes next.

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Cassiar Cannery isn't a listing for just anyone. It requires vision, appetite for stewardship, and a genuine connection to place. But for those drawn to heritage at real scale — with a kilometre of BC oceanfront, a CN Rail stop, and 135 years of history as a backdrop — you'll be hard-pressed to find something else quite like it.

WELCOME TO CASSIAR CANNERY

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Listed Country

From Cannery To Legacy: Storied BC Waterfront Estate Seeks Next Steward

​Where the Skeena River meets the Pacific, one kilometre of oceanfront and 135 years of history are yours (for $9 million).

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WELCOME TO CASSIAR CANNERY

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