Port Clements

Port Clements, Haida Gwaii

You have to understand Port Clements on its own terms. People call it the gateway to Haida Gwaii, and that’s not just a tourism slogan—it’s a simple geographic fact. The village sits on traditional Haida territory, Gamadiis, and its modern identity as a logging town is just a thin layer over that history. This is not a quaint resort or a booming retirement community. It’s a small, working village built on resource extraction. The population has grown over 20% since 2016, but it’s still only 340 people, with a high median age of over 50. It’s an aging community.

From a lending perspective, the first red flag is the economy. Port Clements runs on forestry. The numbers are stark: 48.3% of the entire workforce is in agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting. Nothing else comes close. Construction is a distant second at 17.2%, followed by health care. When one cyclical industry props up half the town, the risk of a downturn is immense. A slump in the forestry sector wouldn’t just be a problem; it would be catastrophic for local employment and property values. The median household income of $67,500 doesn’t provide much of a cushion for that kind of shock.

The second, equally critical, issue is market liquidity. Haida Gwaii is remote. Getting there means a long ferry ride from Prince Rupert or a flight, and that isolation cripples the real estate market. With only 205 private dwellings in total, the market is razor-thin. There’s no consistent flow of buyers and sellers. The housing stock itself is a problem. Over 80% are single-detached houses, and an unusual 14% are classified as movable dwellings. There are virtually no duplexes, row houses, or low-rise apartments. This lack of variety shrinks the potential buyer pool even further.

This brings us to the fundamental underwriting question: if a borrower defaults, can we get our money out? In a market this remote, with such a tiny and specific housing supply, a foreclosure and sale would take an eternity. The carrying costs and risks would pile up fast. It’s interesting to note the local climate is warming rapidly—the plant hardiness index has jumped over 16%—but a longer growing season doesn’t change the economic or geographic realities. When you combine a one-industry town with a completely illiquid property market, there’s simply no defensible exit strategy. Our first job is to protect investor capital, and the risk here is far outside our mandate. For that reason, we cannot lend in Port Clements. Our maximum loan-to-value is 0.0%.