have questions?
Can't find what you're looking for?
Fill out the form below and we'll do our best to help!Building Inspection Services
The District provides building inspection services for Port Hardy. Before beginning construction, please get in touch with the Municipal Inspector about your project. The inspector is available Monday-Friday during regular business hours at 250-949-6665.
GAS AND ELECTRICAL INSPECTION SERVICES
Technical Safety BC is an independent, self-funded organization authorized to administer the provincial Safety Standards Act, which regulates various safety-related equipment and systems, including those for electrical and gas. For electrical and gas permits and inspections, please get in touch with Technical Safety BC at 1-866-566-7233 or visit TECHNICAL SAFETY BC WEBSITE
Archaeological Sites in Port Hardy
IT IS EVERYONE’S RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES ON BOTH PUBLIC AND PRIVATE LAND.
The District of Port Hardy lies within the traditional territory of the Kwakiutl People, which has a rich history in and around Port Hardy. As a result of that history, archaeological sites are known in Port Hardy, and some are identified by the Archaeological Branch of BC and protected by the Heritage Conservation Act.
Recognizing a Possible Site
Physical evidence of B.C.’s original inhabitants is represented in today’s landscape by a wide variety of archaeological site types. Most sites show evidence of art, habitations, resource gathering and production, tool making, and traditional ceremonial or ritual activities, such as:
- Rock art, including pictographs and petroglyphs
- Surface features such as depressions created by former habitations, earthen fortifications, rock cairns, fish traps and clam gardens
- Stone, bone, antler, wood or shell artifacts that have become visible on the land surface owing to erosion or recent land-altering activity
- Buried cultural or human remains that may be sighted in a cutback, excavation, eroded shoreline, or other exposed deposit
Protecting Archaeological Finds or Human Remains
If you think you have discovered an archaeological site, contact us. You may also want to get the archaeology or anthropology department of your closest university or college, as they can give you some insights into what you have found. Additionally, you may want to contact a professional consulting archaeologist.
If you think you have discovered human remains, please get in touch with us immediately and do not disturb the remains. We’ll notify the Coroner’s Office and the local policing authority. The Coroner’s Office will determine if human remains are of archaeological significance. We may also arrange for a qualified anthropologist or archaeologist to assess the remains.
If the remains are of archaeological significance, we’ll attempt to dispose of them in a culturally appropriate manner. Generally, if remains are buried and under no immediate threat of further disturbance, they will not be excavated or removed. We’ll facilitate disposition if the remains have been partially or entirely removed.
If a cultural affiliation for the remains can be determined, we’ll contact an organization representing that cultural group or First Nation.
If you find anything of archaeological significance on your property, please STOP WORK and call the District Office at 250-949-6665 and the Archaeological Branch at 250-953-3334.