When Gold River was built in 1965, it was Canada’s first all-electric town, and the first in Canada to have underground wiring.
The Village of Gold River’s recent economic development strategy identified the waterfront area, located 12km from the Village Centre, as critically important to multiple sectors of the local economy. Since the Village’s closure of their pulp mill, in the late 1990s, the area has established itself as a hub for adventure and nature-based tourism, as well as cultural and historical tourism.
The purpose of this Waterfront Plan is to explore new opportunities for tourism and related enterprises along the Gold River waterfront. The project includes preliminary analyses of the needs of current waterfront stakeholders and provision of an early redevelopment concept for the waterfront area.
The waterfront currently provides public, commercial, and private facilities to a variety of users including forestry, fisheries, aquaculture, tourism, and the community. The consultation and planning process will include stakeholders such as the Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation, Greig Seafood, West Coast Marine Terminals, Air Nootka, Get West Adventures, and Western Forest Products, as well as Village of Gold River residents and businesses.
Island Coastal Economic Trust approved funding for this project in 2021 through the Investment Readiness program.
We work in reciprocal relationships with coastal communities across the ancestral territories of the Kwak̓wala, Nuučaan̓uɫ, Éy7á7juuthem, Ligwilda'xw, Pəntl'áč, She shashishalhem, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, Hul’q’umi’num’, diitiidʔaatx̣, SENĆOŦEN, Lekwungen, and T’Sou-ke speaking peoples.
