Community

The townsite of Port Clements was founded. There was a store, an early hotel, wharf, and a post office.

Rough start with immediate impacts from World War I with population decline and
economic downturn. Brief turn around in 1917 as supplying spruce for the WWI airplane industry took off. Community got a plank road, boardwalks, a pool hall, and a larger hotel. Veteran’s hall built after the war.

The Great Depression saw more struggle. Sale of the Veteran’s hall saw it turned into a store (presently known as Bayview Market). WWII brought prosperity back with the high demand for spruce for “Mosquito Bombers” and opening of the logging camp in Juskatla.

Forestry continued to dominate local economy. New houses were built, a new school was built (Grades 1 – 10), the Golden Spruce Tree became a protected tree and tourist attraction. A small craft harbour was built.

The community became an improvement district.

Population of 205 in census

First paved road.

School dropped to grades k-7. Installation of municipal water and sewer in late 1970s after incorporation. Highway to Masset was paved.

Population of 397 in census.

The community became an incorporated municipality; the Village of Port Clements.

Nine commercial fishing vessels listed the Village as their home Port.

Logging continued to dominate economy, 71 of 90 people who worked in Juskatla
lived in Port Clements. Exploration of mining potential on Haida Gwaii, particularly
with gold mine 16km from Port Clements, but did not materialize.

New ferry service from Prince Rupert to Skidegate, replacing previous barge service. Tourism started to greatly increase across Haida Gwaii, including Port Clements.

Village established a volunteer fire department and built a firehall. Population of 380 in census.

Main road linking the communities on Haida Gwaii became part of provincial Highway 16. The Port Clements branch of the Vancouver Island Regional Library opened.

The Port Clements Museum was built on land leased from the municipality by the Port Clements Historical Society.

Expansion of municipal boundaries with the addition of Juskatla and Ferguson Bay
(industrial areas) making Port Clements one of the few communities where areas of the Village are not directly connected to the main area of the community. The Village enhanced Sunset Park by developing a campground for tourist accommodation.

Population of 483 in census.

Population of 558. The White Raven is born near Port Clements.

In January the Golden Spruce Tree was felled, and in November the White Raven died.

To mark the turn of the new millennium the Millennium Memorial Park was established and restoration work to St. Mark’s Church was undertaken. The Village
entered into a protocol agreement with the Council of the Haida Nation setting out the acknowledgement of the co-existence of Crown and Haida aboriginal title and ensuring that  individuals and communities would not be dispossessed of lands as well as all parties agreeing to work together in common cause for the benefit and betterment of the Island community, among other terms. The community was hit by the Great Recession of 2008 with the downturn and other changes seeing the logging companies struggle. The Village would also expand its trail network. By the late 2010s tourism to the community was increasing significantly with new businesses opening to accommodate them and diversification into this sector seen
as a way to support the community’s future with the declining forestry industry.

Population of 516 in census.

Federal government divested the Government Wharf to the province, the Village entered a 30-year operational and management lease and renamed the facility as “Rainbow Wharf” at the end of the decade.

The Village enters a protocol agreement with the Council of the Haida Nation.

Population of 440 in census.

Population of 378 in census.

Population of 282 in census.

The decade got off to a bad start for the whole world with the COVID-19 pandemic
with global, national, provincial, regional and local impacts. Some municipal facilities temporarily closed or modified access in 2020, while some businesses closed temporarily or permanently, or modified their operations to adjust to the rules and regulations imposed. Haida Gwaii itself was temporarily closed to visitors to limit the potential spread from overwhelming the local hospital system and communities. Substantial increase in assessed values in properties and impact of inflation on costs was hard felt.