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In 1894 construction began on the Gulf of Georgia Cannery
by Chuck Davis
The Gulf of Georgia Cannery was started in Steveston this year. A common sight here was square-rigged sailing ships, lining up to load canned salmon for delivery around Cape Horn to Great Britain and other European markets. By 1897 the plant would be packing more than 2.5 million cans of salmon a year. Incidentally, salmon in a can was a new phenomenon in 1894. "But," says the website Great Canadian Places, "the cannery made another claim to fame. It spawned one of the first multi-ethnic communities in Canada. The diverse workforce of Japanese, Chinese and First Nations people were imported for their skills with the gutting knife. They were strictly segregated along cultural lines, both at work and in their bunkhouses in the cannery complex. Working conditions were grueling. Temperatures in the cannery were either very cold or very hot and there was always the stench of fish. Women worked with babies strapped to their backs. And many workers lost fingers as they toiled for long hours gutting the salmon catch." The cannery is now a National Historic Site. For more interesting history on the Metro Vancouver area, pick up a copy of The History of Metropolitan Vancouver by Chuck Davis.
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