On the way to the ferry harbour in Nanaimo
Nanaimo , with a population of around 90,000, is the second largest city on the Canadian Pacific island of Vancouver Island. The city is located on the east side of the island, directly on the Strait of Georgia

In 1853, the HBC built a fort here. The main purpose of the fort was to protect the previously discovered coal deposits and the first commercial coal mine in British Columbia. The construction of this first coal mine was commemorated by the Canadian federal government when it declared this event a "national historic event" on 4 June 1924. The discovery of coal and its extraction ushered in a period of expansion in the province's industrial life and led to a significant increase in trade.

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From the 1940s onwards, the timber industry became increasingly important and soon overtook mining. The first sawmill was built in 1885 by Andrew Haslam, an Irishman who immigrated in 1861. He employed 66 workers, making it the second largest company in the town. The 15 senior employees were mainly of Anglo-Saxon origin.