People uprooted from Gibson’s Landing (8)

Gibson’s Landing (now Gibsons or Ch’w’elhp), on Howe Sound and the Sunshine Coast, was pre-empted by non-Indigenous settlers in 1886. The Howe Sound School District was established in 1890, and the original Gibson’s Landing Elementary School was built on the Sechelt Highway (Sunshine Coast Highway). Finnish settlers arrived in 1905, and the local economy relied on logging, fishing, and agriculture. Incorporated as Gibson’s Landing in 1929, the community developed into two main sections: Lower Gibsons, which is mostly residential, and Upper Gibsons.

By 1907, Japanese Canadians were working at nearby Hopkins Landing, loading beach gravel and clearing land for future settlements. Gibsons was a steamship port, and regular boat service from New Westminster and Vancouver transported Japanese Canadian loggers to and from nearby logging camps. The Howe Sound Co-operative Cannery, built in 1921, produced fruit jams and employed seasonal pickers. It sustained high production during the 1920s and 1930s, helping the community through the Great Depression.

Japanese Canadians also worked in the area’s logging and shingle bolt operations, including at least one on Mount Elphinstone, and at a brick factory on Anvil Island. Others found employment as gardeners, farmers, and labourers on nearby Bowen Island, a popular tourist destination.