The Job Losses in BC Communities Nobody in Ottawa Talks About

The conversation about the 2029 salmon farming ban often stays at the level of national numbers. A billion dollars in economic activity. Thousands of jobs. Millions of meals.

Those numbers are real. But they are also easy to move past if you do not see what they look like on the ground.

Here is what they look like on the ground.

The Communities

Campbell River, Port Hardy, Port McNeill in Northern Vancouver Island, Tofino on Vancouver Island’s West Coast, and Klemtu along the North Coast of British Columbia: 1,274 full-time equivalent jobs. $93.9 million in labour income. $324 million in total economic activity. 678 local vendors supplying goods and services to the sector.

Port Hardy and Port McNeill: 512 jobs. $37.7 million in labour income. 145 local vendors.

The Sunshine Coast and Metro Vancouver: 1,373 jobs. $101 million in labour income.

Comox Valley, Port Alberni, Tofino, Ucluelet, and the west coast of Vancouver Island all have families whose household income comes from salmon farming.

At peak production in 2019, the sector generated 6,370 full-time equivalent positions across British Columbia. That included 2,860 direct jobs, 2,620 indirect, and 890 more from the spending those workers put back into their communities. Total revenues of $819 million. Total economic activity of $1.6 billion.

The average wage across the sector is 30 percent above the provincial median employment income. These are not seasonal jobs. They are year-round careers in communities where year-round employment is hard to find.

Already Shrinking

The salmon farming ban is set for 2029. The damage started in 2019..

Policy uncertainty has forced companies to make decisions they would not otherwise make. It is difficult to attract investment in an industry the federal government has said it intends to shut down. It is difficult to plan new infrastructure, commit to long-term hiring, or expand production when the future of the sector is unclear.

A 2023 independent economic assessment estimated the sector had already contracted to approximately $1 billion in total economic activity, $358 million in GDP, and 3,950 jobs.

That is a significant decline from the 2019 peak. It did not happen because the industry failed. It happened because the policy environment made it impossible to operate with confidence.

The people who have already lost their jobs did not lose them to market forces. They lost them to political uncertainty.

What These Jobs Support

Salmon farming does not operate in isolation. It generates demand for 1,720 local vendors across British Columbia, with $511 million in goods and services spending at peak production.

That means fuel suppliers, marine mechanics, electricians, feed distributors, packaging companies, transport operators, dive teams, environmental monitoring firms, and construction crews. Each farm supports a network of small businesses around it.

When a farm closes, the supplier network contracts with it. The gas station sees less traffic. The mechanic loses a client. The marine supply company reduces staff. In communities of a few thousand people, losing one anchor employer can undermine the economic logic that keeps the rest of the local economy viable.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, salmon farmers continued operating. They donated 120,000 pounds of salmon, roughly 500,000 meals, to communities in need.

That is what anchor employers do. They do not just provide jobs. They hold communities together.

First Nations Economic Participation

As of 2022, the sector directly and indirectly employed more than 700 Indigenous people and provided $51 million in total annual direct economic benefit to First Nations communities. An additional $24 million flowed each year into Indigenous-owned businesses.

For many of these communities, those benefits cannot be replaced. The salmon farming ban does not come with an alternative economic plan for remote coastal Nations whose revenue depends on this sector.

The federal government has committed to economic reconciliation. That commitment should include respecting the economic decisions that First Nations communities have already made and are asking to continue making.

The Word "Transition"

The word "transition" suggests there is a destination. A plan. Something waiting on the other side.

For Campbell River, where salmon farming supports more than 1,200 jobs, what is the transition to?

For Port Hardy, where 512 families depend on the sector?

For Klemtu, 800 kilometres from the nearest city, where salmon farming is the main source of employment and more than half the Nation's own-source revenue?

Nobody has answered those questions with specifics. Not with timelines. Not with funding. Not with a credible replacement.

The Coalition is not asking for a transition. It is asking the federal government to reverse a policy that is already causing damage and let these communities keep building on what is already working.

Canadian food production. Indigenous-led economic development. Year-round employment in places where the alternative is watching young people leave.

That is what is at stake.

References

(1) RIAS Inc. (2020). Raising Opportunity: How Farm-Raised Salmon Can Lead BC's Post-COVID Recovery. BC Salmon Farmers Association. p. 21. [Ch13 ref 2]

(2) Collins, B. & McCannel, J. (2019). Aquaculture on Vancouver Island. Vancouver Island Economic Alliance. [Ch13 ref 1]

(3) RIAS Inc. (2023). Economic and Financial Impacts of Minister Murray's Transition Plan for BC Salmon Farms. Prepared for BCSFA. p. 7. [Ch13 ref 3]

(4) BC Salmon Farmers Association. (2024). Modern Salmon Farming in BC: A Review, Chapter 13: Community Benefits, p. 13-6.

(5) First Nations for Finfish Stewardship. (2022). The Reality is: Salmon Farming is a path to self-determination and reconciliation for many First Nations in coastal BC. [Ch04 ref 15]

(6) BC Salmon Farmers Association. (2024). Modern Salmon Farming in BC: A Review, Chapter 1: Caring for Coastal BC, p. 1-4. [Ch01 ref 5]

(7) BC Salmon Farmers Association. (2024). Modern Salmon Farming in BC: A Review, Chapter 4: Indigenous Stewardship, p. 4-16 to 4-18.

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