Britannia Shipyards National Historic Site, Richmond BC

Take a step back in time at this local historic site where history comes alive. Uncover the rich history of Steveston as you stroll a 3km stretch of the Fraser River shoreline once known as Cannery Channel. The current site features a variety of exhibits arranged along a wooden boardwalk.

Looking back, The Britannia Cannery was constructed in 1889 and is the main building at Britannia Shipyard. Not long after it was built, it was among fifteen canneries that operated along Cannery Channel. Around 1901, the output from the canneries saw a decline due to overfishing, and a failed salmon run and many of the local canneries were shut down or facilities were converted for other use. In 1917 the cannery building at the Shipyard was converted into a repair facility for fishing boats. Over the next few decades, the site would see some additional boat building facilities added – including The Murakami Boat Works and The Richmond Boat Builders.

Post WWII, the site became dismal and bare. Many of the buildings were torn down or relocated and what once was an active community became a site to store fishing gear and boats that required repair.

Canadian Fishing Company purchased Britannia Shipyards in 1969, only to sell it to BC Packers ten years later, in 1979. And just one year after purchase, BC Packers shut down operations. The impact of this closure rippled through the community.

The site then sat empty for many years until it was donated to the City of Richmond through a land exchange agreement. In 1992, the site was designated as a National Historic Site, and plans were put into place to revive it to its former glory. Exhibits were created to tell the stories of diversity and the history of the residents and workers that supported Steveston’s fishing industry. The complex originally consisted of over ninety structures, and currently features about a dozen buildings designed to illustrate life at a typical cannery and shipyard in the early 1900’s.