North Pacific Cannery to receive a portion of $16 million in provincial funding

North Pacific Cannery National Historic Site will benefit from a portion of $16 million in funding to retain and celebrate British Columbia’s history and community life, announced BC Heritage in partnership with the Province of British Columbia, on Feb. 22.

Knut Bjorndal mayor of Port Edward said the cannery received the funds from the Unique Heritage Infrastructure stream through the Community Economic Recovery Infrastructure Program (CERIP).

“Yesterday we received a grant for $275,000 for work to remediate and repair deficiencies at North Pacific. We are very excited about this as the site needs work to bring it up to national historic standards,” he said.

The Port Edward site was one of 68 communities throughout the province to receive project funding. Some of the projects include the cannery museum, Chinese association buildings, and Japanese internment camps to well-used town halls and an abandoned historic mine, a press release read.

“The awarded projects show us the strong local connections of our history and heritage. CERIP has shown us the great need for this type of funding and it has shown us that people need their heritage,” Britney Dack, chair of Heritage BC’s board of directors said. “It is part of our daily lives. It is part of communities and our stories.”

Paul Gavett executive director of heritage BC said that the Province not only provided the largest one-time infusion of funds into the heritage sector, but it also recognized the importance and potential of heritage infrastructure and its place in the province’s economic picture.

“Funding heritage and cultural projects throughout British Columbia are vital for communities and their wellbeing. It allows them to remain connected to their past and it helps to support their cultural organizations,” Katrine Conroy, Minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations, and Rural Development, said. “This funding also helps communities recover from the pandemic with investments in programs that benefit the whole community.”

The funding was announced as part of BC’s $10 billion COVID response, which includes the StrongerBC for Everyone recovery plan — a plan that protects people’s health and livelihoods while supporting businesses and communities, as well as the CERIP, the press release read.