Community Profile: Northern Ontario (Trout)

The rainbow trout industry sustains employment in numerous Northern Ontario communities including Little Current, Espanola, Manitowaning, Kagawong, Gore Bay, Mindemoya, Evansville, Val Caron, Parry Sound, Sudbury and North Bay. Most of the jobs are linked to grow-out production and businesses that provide marina supplies and services, net-pen fabrication, maintenance supplies and services, and processing in those areas.

Aquaculture makes an important contribution to community and regional economies. In terms of direct benefits, Ontario net-pen operators produced almost 4,000 tonnes of rainbow trout in 2013 for a total value of more than $18 million and created 110 full-time-equivalent jobs.

Aquaculture’s linkages with local and regional suppliers of goods and services generate significant indirect economic benefits across a range of industry sectors including manufacturing, retail and wholesale trade, construction, transportation, and business services. The results from an economic study conducted in 2010 indicate that these businesses generated an estimated $15.8 million in related sales and sustained a total of 215 full-time-equivalent jobs. These include a number of jobs in the value-added sector with two major processing facilities located in Ontario.

Ontario’s rainbow trout industry is productive and entrepreneurial. It has also demonstrated its ability to diversify local economies and provide stable employment. The industry has even greater future economic potential for Ontario as the province possesses considerable freshwater resources to support the expansion of the industry.