Port Hood Island, Nova Scotia

Port Hood Island is a small island located in the eastern part of the Northumberland Strait, immediately adjacent to the west coast of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is named after the Cape Breton Island village of Port Hood which it directly faces.

Originally, Port Hood Island was connected to Port Hood mainland and housed a booming fish cannery. However, during a snow storm in the late 1800s, early 1900s, the thin connecting strip of land was washed away and Port Hood Island was born. In the late 1950s, a road was constructed from the (then) main fishing wharf of the mainland to the fishing wharf on the island but it did not stand up to the weather and washed away shortly after completion. Rocks that made up the road still remain and now form what residents call the "Breakwater".

The island was originally settled by Protestant Loyalists, giving contrast to the Catholic majority in the Port Hood area. In the 1950s Port Hood Island had approximately 28 families, mostly fishermen and small lot farmers, along with a one-room school which handled grades 1-8/9, after which students boarded in Port Hood and attended Port Hood Academy. The island church enjoyed the services of the Port Hood minister who also served Mabou.

Currently the island is only lived on during the summer months, with about half the residents having prior connections to the area. The last permanent resident died in the summer of 2003.