Welcome to Sayward, British Columbia, Canada!

The small rural Community of Sayward is located 74 kilometers north of Campbell River on the east coast of Vancouver Island. The majority of the settled areas are spread along the Salmon River Valley with the Village of Sayward located at the river's mouth where it enters Johnstone Strait. The area was first settled around 1890. In 1904, Otto Sacht established a trading post upriver at a site near the bridge crossing on Sayward Road. The community was officially named Sayward in 1911 after William Parsons Sayward, an early pioneer lumberman on Vancouver Island. Prior to the first white settlers, a small native village was located at the south side of the river and is designated as the Salmon River Indian Reserve No. 4. It was abandoned by 1917 and is currently under the administration of the Comox Band. The community of Sayward, as referred to today, is comprised of the Village of Sayward and a portion of Area “H” in the Regional District of Comox Strathcona. Total population is estimated at 1030. The major centers of Campbell River and Port Hardy are easily accessed by road on Highway 19 or by water from the Kelsey Bay harbour. Outer island communities use Kelsey Bay as access to Vancouver Island. Forestry had been the prime economic driver for the Sayward community until 1999. MacMillan Bloedel held TFL 39 and expanded their operations to include log sorts and booming grounds at Kelsey Bay and Eve River. The Village of Sayward was established as a company townsite to house MacMillan Bloedel’s employees and was incorporated in 1968. Weyerhaeuser's purchase of MacMillan Bloedel in 1999 has resulted in the closure of both the Eve River and Kelsey Bay log sorts. Changes in the local economy have created the need for economic diversification in Sayward. The potential is here to attract a variety of industries in the forestry, manufacturing, aquaculture, tourism and marine sectors.