A look at Prime Minister Mark Carney’s pre-budget speech through the eyes of Canada’s seafood farmers, who know aquaculture is a ready-made solution to the bold economic future that he is calling for.
Commentary
By Fabian Dawson
SeaWestNews
Prime Minister Mark Carney is calling for a Canada that builds again. A Canada that bets on itself. A Canada that draws strength from its resources, its oceans, and its boldness.
His speech this week at the University of Ottawa, ahead of his government’s first budget set to be tabled on November 4, was filled with the language of nation-building.
It was also a rallying cry to seize the opportunities right in front of us.
Among those nation-building opportunities, none is more ready to scale than aquaculture, which affords an opportunity that we can activate today to build the tomorrow that Carney envisions for Canada.
When it comes to seafood farming, Canada has what the world wants. Protein harvested from clean cold oceans. Strong Indigenous partnerships. Natural advantages that most countries can only wish for. Yet we continue to let activist misinformation cloud science and stall responsible growth while other nations expand at speed.
Carney told us that this is a hinge moment. Canada must build faster, reduce uncertainty, and unlock economic growth through trade and innovation. Seafood farmers have been calling for that same shift for years.
“We’ve been wanting to swing for the fences for many years, but some pretty strange rules were imposed in the last few years to take away all our batting equipment,” says Tim Kennedy, CEO of the Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance. “Let’s get back to playing the game we’re really good at. We’re ready to be bold and win for Canada.”
A report on Atlantic Canada’s economic renewal calls aquaculture one of the key resource sectors that can lift wages, drive productivity, and keep coastal communities alive. Better policy and faster approvals could unlock high value exports, Indigenous employment, and innovation-based growth in the region, the report said.
Today, salmon farming alone supports more than 2,800 direct jobs in Atlantic Canada and drives over $500 million in economic activity when indirect impacts are included. Export sales exceed $600 million a year.
This is the kind of economic engine Carney described. Canadian. Sustainable. Built on expertise and technology and led by Indigenous partnerships.
Here in British Columbia, the story is the same. Salmon farming generates $1.17 billion in annual economic activity. It supports 4,560 full-time jobs. All salmon farms operate in formal partnerships with First Nations. The sector offers careers paying higher than the provincial median wage and keeps people working in the communities they call home.
Yet activist-induced federal decisions to phase out ocean farming on the Pacific coast have already cut production. The result is falling investment and warnings of thousands of job losses if a 2029 shutdown of marine salmon farms proceeds without proven alternatives.
Carney spoke of restoring national ambition. But how can we build big while dismantling one of the few sectors already delivering the results he wants.
Canada’s seafood farmers generate more than $5.3 billion in economic activity, contribute $2 billion in GDP, and employ over 17,550 Canadians in responsible coastal food production.
Yet in the last decade, due to poor policy decisions, the country’s farmed seafood production has slipped back to levels not seen since the year 2000.
Carney said the competitiveness of our future depends on low-emission manufacturing and sustainable production. Aquaculture fits that goal without new breakthroughs or untested technologies.
Farmed salmon already has the lowest carbon footprint of any major animal protein. Farmers are investing hundreds of millions into cleaner technology, better feeds, and fish health innovation. This is food security made in Canada, not imported from supply chains we cannot control.
Aquaculture also strengthens reconciliation. Coastal First Nations in BC are creating long-term prosperity through salmon farming. They are not asking for handouts. They are asking for stable and science-based rules that allow them to grow.
Brian Kingzett, Executive Director of the BC Salmon Farmers Association, said supportive legislation and policies could double output by 2030, reaching $2.5 billion in annual economic activity, contributing $930 million to GDP, and creating 9,000 jobs with $560 million in wages.
Carney reminded Canadians that we are masters of our own house. Protectionism abroad and global uncertainty must push us to be more confident at home.
Aquaculture gives Canada the competitive advantage that few nations can match. Three oceans. World-leading science. Indigenous stewardship. Markets ready to buy more of what we produce.
The question is whether we choose to lead or to watch that advantage slip away.
Carney wants us to swing for the fences.
Canada’s seafood farmers are already stepping up to the plate.
All they need now is for the government to stop taking away the bat.
(Main image is a screenshot of PM Mark Carney delivering his pre-budget speech at the University of Ottawa)