Canada urged to put aquaculture at centre of economic growth strategy

The Canadian Federation of Agriculture says aquaculture must be treated as part of Canada’s broader food economy, warning that regulatory uncertainty is pushing hundreds of millions of dollars in investment to other countries.

By Fabian Dawson
SeaWestNews

Canada needs to bring aquaculture into its national food and economic growth strategy or risk losing more investment overseas, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) told a major seafood conference in Newfoundland today.

Scott Ross, executive director of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, said aquaculture should be treated as part of Canada’s agriculture and agri-food economy, with government policy better aligned around food security, investment and competitiveness.

In his keynote address to the  Cold Harvest and Aquaculture Conferencein Newfoundland, Ross said increased domestic seafood production and processing could strengthen food security, improve affordability and create new export opportunities.

He also pointed to regulation as a major part of the equation, arguing that growth depends on a system that is timely, consistent and supportive of innovation. His presentation urged governments and industry to identify policies that are working at cross-purposes and create a more predictable environment for private investment.

The warning was given an immediate dollar value by one of Canada’s largest seafood companies.

Joel Richardson, vice-president of public relations for New Brunswick-based Cooke, told delegates the company wants to invest about $750 million in Canada over the next three to five years, but faces pressure to put that money elsewhere.

“There is tremendous pressure to spend that three-quarters of a billion dollars not in Atlantic Canada, but in Scotland, or in Chile, or in other places where we farm,” Richardson said during a conference panel, according to IntraFish.

Cooke is seeking to expand several Atlantic Canadian sites and is also going through the approval process to acquire   Mowi Canada East’s salmon farming assets.

At the same time, the Canadian seafood giant is expanding aggressively overseas.

Cooke recently completed its acquisition of Greek seabass and seabream producer Avramar, which has been relaunched as Cooke Hellas after an investment of several hundred million dollars.

Richardson told delegates the reception in Greece stood in contrast to the difficulties surrounding investment at home.

He said the Greek people had been “really appreciative of us spending several hundred million dollars” to acquire Avramar.

Cooke’s international expansion is part of a broader consolidation Richardson expects across the global seafood sector over the coming decades.

“For the next 5 to 10 to 15 to 20 years, we’re going to see a tremendous amount of consolidation in the industry,” he said.

“We’ve been very much a part of that, and it’s been very much a strategic focus for our company.”

Richardson said Cooke still wants to put more money into Atlantic Canada, including through acquisitions, new technology, innovation and “smart farming.”

“We’d like to spend more money in Atlantic Canada, and Glenn is prepared to do that with our team,” he said, referring to Cooke CEO Glenn Cooke.

The comments landed as Prime Minister Mark Carney was making his own pitch to global investors at the Canada Investment Summit in Toronto.

Carney told investors from nearly 30 countries that his government wants to catalyse $1 trillion in new investment and make Canada the most attractive country in the G7 for new investment. The federal government says investors attending the summit manage more than $100 trillion in assets.

“We have what the world wants: the energy, the resources, the talent, the technology, and the capital,” he said after addressing the summit.

But aquaculture executives at the Newfoundland conference argued that billions of dollars in potential investment remain stalled or are being redirected elsewhere.

Victoria Windsor, Cermaq Canada’s director of public and government affairs, said the federal government lacks a coherent vision for aquaculture and has allowed years of uncertainty to undermine investment.

She said about $1 billion in capital investment that Cermaq had planned for Canada since 2019 has instead gone to other jurisdictions because of prolonged regulatory uncertainty and the lack of a clear federal path for the future of salmon farming in British Columbia.

“Since 2019, a billion dollars in capital investments planned for Canada has been redirected to other jurisdictions,” Windsor told the conference.

Her sharpest criticism was directed at Ottawa’s handling of the transition for B.C. salmon farming, a policy process that began in 2019.

The Trudeau government pledged that year to transition open-net pen salmon farming in B.C. coastal waters after sustained pressure from activist groups despite government scientists saying the sector posed no more than a minimal risk to wild stocks.

In 2024, Ottawa set a deadline of June 30, 2029, after which conventional marine salmon farming would no longer be permitted.

Economic analysis says the sector now supports about 4,560 full-time jobs, generates roughly $1.17 billion in annual economic activity and delivers about $134 million a year in economic benefits to First Nations communities.

Salmon farmers say reversing the 2029 ban, coupled with long-term policy certainty and continued First Nations partnerships, could see the sector grow to about $2.5 billion in annual economic output and support roughly 9,000 jobs by 2030.

Windsor said the prolonged uncertainty has had the opposite effect of what a transition should achieve.

“You can’t announce a transition in 2019, and then seven years later” still have a policy environment that has discouraged the investment and innovation needed to make that transition, she said.

“Not only has Canada not transitioned, but B.C. has also not transitioned, we’ve fallen behind.”

To partially offset a 40 percent  reduced salmon production in B.C., Canada imported hundreds of millions worth of salmon in 2025, including $41.1 million from China, according to recent federal data

Windsor also linked the issue to Ottawa’s new National Food Security Strategy, which is backed by more than $3 billion over 10 years and is aimed at increasing productivity, innovation and competition in Canada’s food system.

She questioned how Canada can pursue greater food security while maintaining policies that she said will reduce domestic salmon production.

“You can’t have a food security strategy and not be concerned about the fact we’re importing almost $800 million in farmed salmon last year, while you still have a policy in place that will mandate the decline in our own domestic production,” Windsor said.

She also pointed directly to Carney’s investment drive.

“It’s great to see Prime Minister Carney doing his investment summit,” Windsor said. “I think there’s some really great stuff there, but at the same time, there’s decisions waiting on his desk that would unleash billions of dollars investment in B.C. and here in Atlantic Canada.”

She said Canada already possesses many of the advantages needed to become a global aquaculture leader, including a vast coastline, cold clean water, a skilled workforce, indigenous partnerships and educational institutions capable of supporting research and innovation.

“We’re not going to build Canada strong just on government-backed projects,” Windsor said. “You need to hold up and support the industries that take advantage of Canada’s natural assets.”

Main image shows Timothy Kennedy,  Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance (CAIA) and Victoria Windsor, Cermaq Canada’s director of public and government affairs at the Cold Harvest conference in Newfoundland.