Sayward is a village located in the Sayward Valley on the northeast coast of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. It is located about 1 mi (1.6 km) inland from Kelsey Bay on a spur from Highway 19.

The village is named after William Parsons Sayward, a successful lumber merchant from Victoria who was born in Maine in 1818 and came to Victoria from California in 1858.

First settled as Port Kusum in the 1890s, at the mouth of Salmon River overlooking Johnstone Strait, the settlement was officially named Sayward in 1911. It was named after William Parsons Sayward who was born in Maine in 1818. Sayward was a carpenter and lumber merchant who moved from California to Victoria in 1858, becoming a very successful lumberman on the Island. Although he never visited the Sayward area, the government of the day decided he deserved some honour and so named the community after him.

When the first settlers arrived, there was a small First Nations village on the Salmon River. By 1917, the village was empty, and today the reserve is unoccupied, with most of the descendants living in nearby communities.

Fun Fact: Sayward has the only Federal Wharf and Small Craft Harbour on the Johnstone Strait, midway between Campbell River and Port McNeill. Cruise ships, recreational and commercial vessels travel this section of the Inside Passage en route north to Alaska and points south.