At the southwest end of Richmond, a city laying right below Vancouver is the historic fishing
village of Steveston. It became Steveston in 1889 not long after settlers started
arriving in the area in the late 1880s. Before that the Coast Salish peoples were the first
inhabitants of the area. Sitting right at the mouth of the Fraser River, fishing and salmon
canning was a major industry for Steveston back then. The workers and fishermen that
these opportunities attracted were multicultural: First Nations, European, Japanese and Chinese.
Unfortunately with world war II came the internment of the Japanese Canadians
which affected Steveston terribly. Nowadays the village maintains its historical charm,
welcoming plenty of tourists especially during the summer and is also a popular filming location.
Steveston is featured in shows such as Supernatural, Once Upon a Time and more.
We arrived in Steveston around 10:30 in the morning and after parking at Garry Point
Park and taking a quick peek at the waters we headed over to Village Books and Coffee
House to start off our day. This charming little book shop combined with a coffee
shop is filled with both new and used books and even has a ladder bookcase which I love.
I picked up a Canuck latte which is maple syrup and vanilla
with a bagel and we ate at one of the tables provided outside.
Walking along the streets of Steveston it's easy to see that the village has maintained
its historical characteristics by preserving many of its historical buildings and elements.
One of these historical landmarks is the Gulf of Georgia Cannery which is actually
designated a National Historic Site of Canada.
Built in 1894 it used to be the largest cannery in BC until 1902 among a series of them that
lined Steveston's riverfront. Back then the cans of salmon was one of BC's major exports until
the second world war when the cannery started producing cans of herring in tomato sauce for
soldiers overseas. Now it's a museum where you can learn about BC's fishing and canning history.
There is also an interesting 23-minute film you can request to watch and I would recommend
bringing something warm to wear as the museum itself is often cooler than it is outside.
It seems like you can't really visit Steveston without having some fish and chips.
The two most popular locations are Pajo's and Dave's, opened in 1985 and 1978 respectively.
So for lunch I decided on Dave's as I had tried Pajo's in the past. If you want takeout
go around the corner to their takeout door. You can choose between cod salmon and halibut.
Steveston is chock-full of history so it's no surprise that there is another Canadian national
historic site located here. It is a collection of historic buildings representing a community
of canneries, boatyards, residences and stores that served the salmon fishery between 1890 and
the mid-1950s. Unfortunately when we went there was filming on site so we were really only able
to go inside two buildings, but I would definitely be interested in seeing the rest on another visit.
For a midday snack we stopped by the Outpost Mini Donut Company, a local gourmet mini donut
shop. We ended up picking out half a dozen mini donuts of three flavours:
cheesecake, Canadian maple and cinnamon sugar.
Another unique shop here is Steveston's Best of British.
There actually used to be another British-themed store before this one.
Luckily this one opened in 2017 after the previous one closed. You can find all sorts of
imported British items in this little shop with walls filled with British-themed memorabilia.
I picked up a strawberry flavoured stick of rock and some chocolate
because the same brands of chocolate here does not taste the same as the ones directly from the UK;
these are definitely creamier.
And of course we can't forget Steveston's fisherman's wharf.
According to their website Steveston Harbour is the largest commercial fishing harbour in Canada
and at fisherman's wharf you can find commercial fishing vessels selling their catch.
There weren't too many vendors the day that we went but we still managed to
pick up some side-striped shrimp. This is a great place to get fresh seafood
and you can check the Steveston Harbour website to find out what's in season.
After world war II some Japanese Canadians did return and so there is still a community
of Japanese Canadians in Steveston. Given this I thought it might be appropriate to
finish off our day with dinner at Ichiro Japanese restaurant which is Japanese owned and operated.
My meal was delicious and it was the perfect end to a relaxing day spent at Steveston.