Question Period Note: Transformation of the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation

• Our Government recognizes the important role that the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation has played in the lives of freshwater fish harvesters, including those in remote and northern Indigenous communities, for more than 55 years.
• We are committed to transforming the Corporation so that it remains competitive in today’s open market and continues to meet the needs of harvesters into the future.
• Until this transformation is complete, the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation will operate under its current mandate.

• Headquartered in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation (FFMC) is a federal Crown corporation established in 1969.
• Enabled under the Freshwater Fish Marketing Act (the Act), the FFMC has the exclusive right to market and trade freshwater fish in interprovincial and export markets in designated products supplied by commercial fishers in participating jurisdictions. The FFMC was established to operate on a self-sustaining basis without government appropriations.
• Over the past 14 years, the FFMC operating environment has experienced significant change. Ontario, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba withdrew from the Act in favour of an open market in 2011, 2012 and 2017 respectively, while Alberta closed its commercial in-land fishery in 2014. The Northwest Territories is the only remaining participating jurisdiction under the Act. However, many harvesters from Manitoba and Saskatchewan continue to sell their fish to the FFMC through contracts.
• These changes have prompted the need to transform the FFMC to remain competitive in today’s open market and continue to meet the needs of commercial fishers into the future. In response to this need, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) initiated engagement with stakeholders and Indigenous partners on FFMC transformation in 2017, and in 2018 created a Ministerial Advisory Panel to consider alternative governance and ownership models that would support collaboration and co-operation amongst commercial fishers and involve them in decision-making. In 2019, DFO appointed an Interlocutor on the Transformation of the FFMC to explore the potential for fisher-led governance and ownership of a transformed FFMC.
• The Interlocutor’s report recommended that DFO continue working with a committee he established, the Interim Committee of Inland Fish Harvesters, to explore transformation of the FFMC to a harvester-led governance and ownership model. In August 2021, this Committee incorporated as the not-for-profit corporation, Freshwater Fish Harvesters Association, Inc. (FFHAI). In March 2022, the FFHAI submitted a proposal to DFO on its vision to transform the FFMC into a harvester-led entity.
• A number of other parties have also expressed interest in being involved in the future of the FFMC. Ongoing efforts continue to confirm that there is high interest amongst affected and interested groups to participate in a transformed FFMC.
• The Government of Canada has recently decided to move forward to transform the FFMC through an open and transparent competitive process.
• DFO announced the decision and next steps to the FFMC Board of Directors, Indigenous governments and organizations, provinces and territories, and industry in November 2023.
• The two-step competitive process was launched with an initial solicitation of interest from February 19 – April 5, 2024 followed by the request for proposals on December 5, 2024, with the solicitation of initial Letters of Intent, which closed on April 28, 2025.
• The solicitation of final Letters of Intent was launched on May 7 2025, which is planned to end in September 2025 and the closing of the transaction in winter 2026.
• Indigenous organizations have been provided access to capacity funding to support their participation in the competitive process.
• Among other considerations, bidding criteria for the competitive process were developed to promote continued market access for rural, remote, and isolated harvesters, and to promote economic reconciliation. These criteria were informed through engagement with commercial fishers, Indigenous organizations, and provincial and territorial governments.
• To remain competitive in the open market, the FFMC continues to develop strategies to operate more effectively and efficiently, controlling cost, diversify revenue and aggressively target new sales markets.
• The FFMC’s 2024-25 to 2028-29 Corporate Plan projects deficits in the next several years. Intensifying open-market competition is the most significant contributor to the projected decline in profitability.

If pressed on the competitive process to divest the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation
• The Government of Canada launched a request for proposals to divest the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation on December 5, 2024.
• The competitive process is now in Stage 2, the solicitation of final Letters of Intent, which opened on May 7, 2025.
• Among other considerations, bidding criteria for the competitive process are to promote continued market access for rural, remote, and isolated harvesters, and to promote economic reconciliation.
• These criteria have been developed and informed through engagements with commercial fishers, Indigenous governments and organizations, and provincial and territorial partners.

If pressed on the FFMC’s projected deficits
• In recent years, factors such as intensifying open market competition, elevated inflation, higher interest rates, COVID-19, and climate change have affected the FFMC’s operations and financial results.
• Consequently, the Corporation is forecasting lower cashflows and net financial losses over the next several years.
• I know that the Corporation is diligently working to strengthen its financial position in the midst of a challenging economic environment.