Past projects

The Sandspit Inn

We successfully operated the Sandspit Inn from May 2014 to July 2020. The Sandspit Inn provided the only full-service, year-round hotel with onsite restaurant.

We employed approximately 16 people throughout the year, and had successfully begun to transition the business to local, private ownership, when Transport Canada decided not to renew the lease for the building.

We considered the Sandspit Inn to be essential to the social and economic well-being of the community and were extremely disappointed with the outcome due to Transport Canada.

The Sandspit Bus

The SCS started operating the Sandspit Bus, with a fleet of 3 vehicles, in May 2016, following the shutdown of Sandspit Taxi the previous fall. It employed approximately 3 people, often more in the summer.

Sandspit Bus provided transportation services to the Community of Sandspit.

Sandspit Bus also worked with the school board (SD50) to provide transportation for local high school students to get to the ferry every morning and back every afternoon so that they can attend class in the Village of Queen Charlotte. The Sandspit school only goes up to grade 7. The SD50 took over the student transportation in 2021.

THE SANDSPIT SEMESTER

The SCS worked with the Haida Gwaii Institute (formerly the Haida Gwaii Higher Education Society) from 2014 - 2019 to bring post secondary students to Sandspit for a semester in Marine Conservation. The program is an extension of the Haida Gwaii Semester program, itself a part of the UBC faculty of Forestry, which has been successfully operating in Skidegate and Queen Charlotte since 2010, and has recently been extended to Masset and Old Massett.

This project will significantly improve the cultural and economic health of our community in the winter months.

The Institute ran the inaugural program in January 2020. The program is currently on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Road Maintenance

In the spring of 2018 the SCS successfully leveraged some grant funding from Gwaii Trust for the maintenance of the Gray Bay road. The road was brushed from the main line out to Gray Bay, opening it up for RVs and contributing to the longevity of the road. The road was graded a number of times all the way from Sandspit to Gray Bay. The road was graded again in spring 2019 with the remainder of the grant.

We are hoping to set up a road user group in the future in order to bring together governments, departments, companies and organizations to share in the cost of keeping our resource roads in good condition.

This project provided work for 2 local contractors.