500 km / 310 mi after leaving Victoria the Island Highway terminates at Port Hardy (population 3000) on Vancouver Island's northern end. From here ferries make the trip through the Inside Passage to Prince Rupert, departing from the new Bear Cove ferry terminal on the east side of Hardy Bay. In addition to the income generated by tourism and the
ferry services, the economy of this increasingly prosperous, sprawling little town is dominated by the fishing and timber industries and more especially by the big copper mine at nearby Rupert Inlet. Utah Mines Ltd. is the largest employer in the area and responsible for 10 per cent of Canada's entire copper production. The original settlement at Port Hardy, founded in 1904, was on the east side of the bay. When the government decided to locate the new harbor installations on the west side, the inhabitants had either to cross the bay or drive round. Beyond Port Hardy the extreme north of Vancouver Island remains virtually untouched, just as it was when the earliest settlers first saw it.
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