Prince Rupert, BC, Canada

Prince Rupert, BC, Canada: Submarine Cable Landing Point

Prince Rupert is a coastal city in British Columbia, Canada, situated on the northern coast of the province near the border with Alaska. As a submarine cable landing point, it serves as a node in Canada's broader undersea connectivity network, with two submarine cables currently landing here. These cables connect Prince Rupert both to the United States and to other communities within Canada, enabling cross-border and domestic coastal connectivity.

The two cables landing at Prince Rupert reflect distinct connectivity roles. One links the city southward along an international corridor to the United States, while the other forms part of a domestic Canadian network serving coastal and remote communities. Together, they position Prince Rupert as a modest but multi-purpose landing point on Canada's Pacific coast.

Cables Landing at Prince Rupert, BC, Canada

KetchCan1 Submarine Fiber Cable System is a 167-kilometre cable with a ready-for-service date of 2020, currently listed as draft status. It connects Prince Rupert, BC, Canada to the United States, forming a relatively short cross-border link along the Pacific coast between Canada and its southern neighbour.

Connected Coast is a submarine cable with a ready-for-service date of 2024, also listed as draft status. It connects multiple landing points within Canada, making Prince Rupert one of several Canadian communities served by this domestically focused system. The cable does not extend to foreign countries, reflecting its role in linking underserved or remote Canadian coastal communities to one another.

Regional Context

Within Canada's submarine cable landscape, Prince Rupert shares a cable count of two with several other landing points across the country, including Halifax, NS, Kangiqsujuaq, QC, Puvirnituq, QC, and Vancouver, BC. On the British Columbia coast specifically, Prince Rupert sits alongside smaller single-cable landing points such as Addenbroke Island and Ahousat, giving it a relative degree of connectivity within the provincial coastal network. Canada as a whole hosts 21 submarine cables across 155 landing points, and Prince Rupert's two cables place it in the upper tier of Canadian landing points by cable count.

Network Role

Prince Rupert functions as a two-cable landing point, enabling both an international link to the United States via KetchCan1 and a domestic Canadian coastal link via Connected Coast. This combination means the city serves as both a cross-border terminus and a waypoint in a network designed to reach Canadian communities along the Pacific coastline. Rather than a single-purpose terminus, Prince Rupert accommodates connectivity in two distinct directions and for two distinct purposes.

The presence of both an international and a domestic cable at a single location on Canada's northern Pacific coast makes Prince Rupert a noteworthy node in the regional submarine cable graph, connecting the international and intra-Canadian tiers of undersea infrastructure at one landing point.