Sayward BC Canada

The friendly residents of the small coastal settlement of Sayward on Kelsey Bay live in a spectacular natural environment in the Sayward Valley of North Vancouver Island.

Logging is the primary industry in the area around Sayward and Kelsey Bay, but tourism continues to grow and gain in importance. Outdoor recreation includes caving, kayaking, hiking, whale watching, and wildlife viewing.

First settled as Port Kusum in the 1890s, at the mouth of the Salmon River overlooking Johnstone Strait, the settlement was officially named Sayward in 1911, after William Parsons Sayward, a carpenter and lumber merchant who moved from California to Victoria in 1858, becoming a very successful lumberman on the Island. Although he never visited the Sayward area, the government of the day decided he deserved some honour and so named the community after him.

When the first settlers arrived, there was a small First Nations village on the Salmon River. By 1917, the village was empty and today the reserve is unoccupied, with most of the descendants living in nearby communities.

The wharf at Kelsey Bay was once the southern terminus for the B.C. Ferries Inside Passage route until 1978, when Highway 19 was extended north to Port Hardy, but is now a convenient stopping point for sport fishing and eco-tourism. Fresh seafood is often available from one or more boats tied up at the federal wharf.

As with all communities on northern Vancouver Island, Sayward was only easily accessible by water in the past. It was not until after World War II that a gravel road connected Sayward with Campbell River, and not until 1979 that a paved road connected the North Island.

Population: 1,200

Location: The community of Sayward is located on the east coast of north Vancouver Island, British Columbia, accessed by a 10-km paved road off the Island Highway 19. Travel time along the Island Highway 19 to Sayward is under one hour from Campbell River in the south, and about 2 hours from Port Hardy to the north. Sayward can also be reached by boat at Kelsey Bay.

Sayward Real Estate