Fort Rupert was the first trading post established by the Hudson Bay Company in North America.

Originally chartered in 1670 as the "Governor and Company of Adventurers of England" the company acted as the provisional government of most of colonial Canada during the British period.

The fort, founded by French explorer Médard des Groseilliers in 1686, became the headquarters of the newly founded Hudson Bay Company when Groseilliers sided with the British to form the venture in 1670.

The French occupied the trading post between 1686 and 1776 at which point the Hudson Bay Company re-established control of the area.

The Location has served a trading post throughout the modern history of Canada and is today the site of Waskaganish, a native Cree village.