Statement by Minister Thompson on the divestiture of the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation

December 4, 2025

Ottawa, ON - Over the past several years, through extensive engagement with partners, stakeholders and Indigenous harvesters, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) has moved forward with transforming the ownership and governance model of the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation (FFMC) to remain resilient and competitive in today’s open market and to continue to meet the needs of inland commercial fish harvesters now and into the future.  

When the FFMC was established, it worked as a single Crown corporation responsible for pooling, processing and selling freshwater fish for provinces and territories that participated. Over time, most of those provinces and territories have withdrawn from the FFMC and chose a different path working towards an open-market system. Divesting the FFMC reflects that shift, and will allow a new successor to better compete in the open market, while continuing to provide the stable market access that harvesters count on.

Through an open and transparent competitive process, including a Solicitation of Interest and a Request for Proposals, DFO has worked to identify the best path forward for the FFMC. The solicitation for final letters of intent (i.e., comprehensive bids) process closed on September 17, 2025. All bids received were evaluated against the same predetermined criteria, informed by engagements with harvesters, Indigenous organizations, provinces and territories, by an interdepartmental evaluation team.

The divestiture process was designed to reduce financial risk, advance Indigenous economic reconciliation, and keep market access working for harvesters in rural, remote and isolated communities.

Indigenous organizations, who have historically faced barriers to accessing capital, were provided the opportunity to access capacity funding to facilitate their participation in the competitive bidding process to provide a more level playing field with private sector interests.

A preferred bidder has been identified and will be disclosed in due course. Over the coming months, DFO will enter into discussions with the preferred bidder towards negotiating a binding final agreement.