Canada Day: See Steveston's Gulf of Georgia Cannery through the eyes of a cat

What would the Gulf of Georgia Cannery look like if you were a cat?

That’s the question a group of younth volunteers set out to answer when they created the cannery cat exhibit for the museum.

“The students actually picked some artifacts with our curating team, and they made little panels that tell the story [of the cannery] through the eyes of what a cat maybe would have thought about those artifacts,” said Mimi Horita, the cannery’s marketing and visitor services manager. 

The Cannery Cat’s Collection is one of two new exhibits the museum has curated for their 125th year, both of which opened May 4.

The second, The Label Unwrapped, is an interactive exhibit that explores the designs of canned salmon labels throughout the cannery’s lifespan.

Many of the labels depict things you wouldn’t normally associate with canned salmon, said Horita, like bicycles and various types of birds.

The cannery used to be one of fifteen that lined the waterfront of Steveston before the land was redeveloped.

“We’re kind of the lasting memory of what Steveston used to look like,” Horita said, adding that she hopes visitors to the museum will be able to step back into history and experience the fishing and commercial industry that dominated Steveston for more than a century.

To mark the 125th year, the cannery will be serving up birthday cake at noon, and the museum will be open and free to explore from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. during the Salmon Festival. 

Visitors can also enjoy face-painting, caricatures, snack vendors, as well as performances throughout the day in front of the cannery.