Your salmon farmer
Cermaq by the numbers
Cermaq Canada is more than just salmon. We are proud to be part of the communities in which we live and work.
Economic and social impacts. The good and the great.
We are committed to driving economic development and adding value to where we work and live.
Due to the nature of our business, we often live and work in rural and remote coastal communities. Within our business model, we build the required infrastructure in these regions so we can grow our eggs and smolts, farm in the ocean and eventually, harvest and process all within close proximity.
It makes good business sense and helps us to provide the healthiest and freshest fish possible to the markets if our required infrastructure - hatcheries, farms, offices and plants - are all within a short boat trip or drive away.
We have 26 salmon farm licences on both the east and west coast of Vancouver Island. We own four hatcheries on the Island and own a processing plant in Tofino. We contract with another processing facility, Brown’s Bay Packing, just north of Campbell River.
In 2019, we had between 300 and 350 full-time employees, depending on the staffing levels required at the processing plants, and had an annual payroll of $17.3 million, with an additional $5.1 million provided to employees in paid benefits.
In 2019, the average annual salary of a Cermaq employee is just under $59,000, if benefits are included, the average annual salary rises to just over $65,000.
We spend where we work
From 2015 to 2019, we spent over a quarter of a billion dollars locally
Between 2015 and 2019, Cermaq spent almost $754 million with vendors, suppliers, contractors, service providers and consultants on Vancouver Island and in the lower mainland of BC.
We look first to spend and use local businesses and resources, which we know helps to build and support a healthy, local economy.
In 2019, we supported hundreds of local vendors and service providers, including:
- 28 in the Comox Valley (Cumberland, Courtenay, Comox)
- 151 in the Campbell River, Sayward, Discover Island region
- 19 in Port Hardy and Port McNeill
- 88 in Port Alberni, Tofino and Ucluelet
- 133 on the Sunshine Coast and the lower mainland
