Why Imported Salmon Costs More, and Who Sets the Price
If the federal government's salmon farming ban takes effect in 2029, Canada will buy more of its salmon abroad. That hands control of the price to a currency rate, a freight market, and producers in other countries.
Most conversations about the price of salmon stop at the number on the label. The more useful question is the one behind it. When a fillet at a Canadian grocery store comes from Norway, Chile, or Scotland instead of from a farm off the coast of British Columbia, what exactly are families paying for, and who decided that price?
Earlier posts in this series have set out the basic affordability case. Canadian demand for salmon does not disappear if the federal government's 2029 salmon farming ban takes effect. The fish still has to come from somewhere, and with less of it grown at home, more of it arrives from abroad. Canada already imported more than $700 million in farmed salmon from Norway, Chile, and Scotland in 2024. The ban would push that figure higher.
This post goes one layer deeper. Imported salmon does not simply cost more by coincidence. It costs more because of how it gets here and who controls the price along the way. There are three parts to that, and none of them work in a Canadian family's favour.
The price is set in a currency Canada does not control
A fillet farmed in B.C. is priced in Canadian dollars from the water to the checkout. A fillet farmed in Norway is priced in Norwegian kroner, and a fillet from Chile moves through markets priced in U.S. dollars. By the time either reaches a Canadian grocery store, its price has already passed through a currency exchange.
That exchange is not stable. The Canadian dollar moves against the kroner and the U.S. dollar every day, driven by interest rates, oil prices, trade flows, and events that have nothing to do with fish. When the Canadian dollar weakens, imported salmon gets more expensive overnight, even if the producer in Norway has not changed a thing.
A family buying salmon for dinner has no way to see this happening and no way to plan around it. They simply notice that the price moved. The more of Canada's salmon supply that comes from abroad, the more of the national grocery bill rides on a number set in foreign exchange markets.
Salmon grown in Canadian waters takes that currency exposure off the table. The price is Canadian from start to finish.
Distance is a cost, and imported salmon carries a lot of it
Salmon farmed off the B.C. coast travels a short distance to reach Canadian kitchens. Salmon farmed in Norway or Chile travels thousands of kilometres, and a large share of it arrives by air to keep it fresh.
Air freight is expensive, and it is sensitive to things outside anyone's control. Fuel prices rise and fall. Cargo capacity tightens. Routes get disrupted. Every one of those pressures adds up, and is reflected in the final price on the shelf.
There is a quieter cost in distance as well. A longer supply chain has more points where something can go wrong. A delay, a customs hold, a weather event far from Canada can all ripple through to availability and price here. A shorter, domestic supply chain is simply more dependable, and dependability has real value when families are budgeting week to week.
Locally grown salmon shortens that chain. The fish does not need to cross an ocean before it reaches a Canadian plate.
When supply is foreign, the price-setting power is foreign too
This is the part that matters most, and it is the part that gets the least attention.
When a meaningful share of the salmon on Canadian shelves is grown in Canada, Canada has a seat at the table. Domestic production acts as a reference point and a buffer. It gives Canadian grocers an alternative, and it gives the country some footing when global prices climb.
Take that domestic supply away and the footing goes with it. Producers in Norway, Chile, and Scotland make their decisions based on their own markets, their own costs, and their own customers. Canada becomes a buyer with little leverage, accepting whatever the global market hands it. If a disease event cuts production in one exporting country, or if demand surges in Europe or the United States, the price Canadians pay moves accordingly. Canada would have no domestic supply to lean on and no real say.
This is what it means to depend on foreign supply, foreign prices, and foreign production decisions. It is not only that imported salmon costs more on any given day. It is that Canada gives up its ability to do anything about it.
Salmon farming in B.C. produces 85 percent of the salmon harvested in the province, around 56,000 tonnes a year, enough for roughly 380 million meals. That is real production and real weight in the market. Keeping it is what gives Canada a hand in setting the price rather than only paying it.
A practical decision the government can make
Food affordability is a stated federal priority. Canada's Food Price Report for 2026 forecasts overall food prices climbing four to six percent and identifies affordability as a major pressure point for families in the year ahead. The mechanics in this post show one concrete place where federal policy and priority meet.
The Trudeau-era 2029 net-pen ban would shrink Canadian-grown salmon supply and shift more of the country's salmon onto a price set by a currency rate, a freight market, and producers in other countries. Reversing the ban keeps a real share of that supply at home, where the price is Canadian, the supply chain is short, and the country keeps a say in what families pay.
Canada can grow more of its own salmon. Choosing to do so is one of the clearer ways to keep food costs steadier for Canadian families.
References
- Modern Salmon Farming in B.C.: A Review. Chapter 1, Caring for Coastal B.C. BC Salmon Farmers Association, 2024.
- BC Salmon Farmers Association. FAQ: Economic Impacts. bcsalmonfarmers.ca/faq
- First Nations Fin Fish Stewardship Coalition. Key Messages, April 2026.
- Charlebois S, et al. Canada's Food Price Report 2026. Agri-Food Analytics Lab, Dalhousie University, in partnership with the University of Guelph, University of British Columbia, University of Saskatchewan, Saint Mary's University, University of Prince Edward Island, Cape Breton University, and Université Laval. December 2025.
Frequently asked
Why would imported salmon cost more than salmon grown in B.C.?
Imported salmon carries costs that locally grown salmon does not. It is priced in a foreign currency, it travels much farther to reach Canadian shelves, and its price is set by producers and markets outside Canada. Each of those adds cost and removes Canadian control over the final price.
How much salmon does Canada already import?
Canada brought in more than $700 million in farmed salmon from Norway, Chile, and Scotland in 2024. The 2029 ban would push that figure higher by reducing how much salmon Canada grows at home.
Does growing salmon in Canada actually keep prices steadier?
Domestic supply gives Canada a buffer. When a portion of the salmon on Canadian shelves is grown in Canadian waters, families are less exposed to currency swings, global freight costs, and supply decisions made in other countries.
Ready to act?
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