Reporting on introductions and transfers

Each province and the Yukon have an Introductions and Transfers Committee. These committees assess proposals to move live aquatic organisms in watersheds and fish rearing facilities in their province or territory.

The National Code on Introductions and Transfers of Aquatic Organisms helps guide how these committees assess proposals.

In Québec only, there are separate committees for freshwater species versus marine species.

There are no committees in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories because there are very few movements of live aquatic organisms.

Origin and number of organisms and species

Introductions and transfers may occur:

within a province or territory (intraprovincial)
between provinces and territories (interprovincial)
into Canada from another country (international)

The numbers of organisms and species in the table are for approved movements only. Although approved, some movements may not have taken place. An application can involve more than one origin or destination. It can also involve more than one species.

Origin and number of species / Organisms of introductions and transfers, 2025

Origin and number of species / Organisms of introductions and transfers, 2025
Province	Approved applications	International	Interprovincial	Intraprovincial	Organisms	Species	Most common
BC	363	29	0	334	217,913,386	851	Rainbow trout
AB	33	15	9	9	2,807,811	41	Rainbow trout
SK	16	6	10	0	1,741,491	4	Rainbow trout
MB	28	2	6	20	3,268,564	27	Lake sturgeon
ON	2	1	0	1	110	2	Northern pike
QC _mar	28	0	16	12	16,460,265	12	American oyster
QC _fw	3	1	2	0	205,000	2	Rainbow trout
NB	179	1	16	162	259,055,149	26	American oyster
NS	133	16	35	82	268,785,079	41	Atlantic salmon
PEI	389	3	20	366	1,393,901,160	8	American oyster
NL	93	1	29	63	1,615,956,653	81	Steelhead trout
YK	8	0	0	8	138,762	5	Chinook salmon
Total	1,275	75	143	1,057	3,780,233,430

Origin and number of species / Organisms of introductions and transfers, 2024

Origin and number of species / Organisms of introductions and transfers, 2024
Province	Approved applications	International	Interprovincial	Intraprovincial	Organisms	Species	Most common
BC	452	40	9	392	873,093,802	870	Rainbow trout
AB	37	12	15	10	3,568,925	47	Rainbow trout
SK	17	9	8	0	2,730,250	3	Rainbow trout
MB	32	4	5	23	2,364,897	13	Lake sturgeon
ON	0	0	0	0	0	0	-
QC _mar	24	0	11	13	6,084,760	9	American oyster
QC _fw	2	1	1	0	125,200	2	Rainbow trout
NB	138	0	16	122	59,148,945	93	Atlantic salmon
NS	161	18	51	92	211,847,205	51	American oyster
PEI	304	5	20	279	1,435,972,298	8	American oyster
NL	98	2	27	69	716,468,927	56	Atlantic salmon
YK	22	0	0	22	111,304	4	Arctic char
Total	1,287	91	163	1,022	3,311,516,513

Origin and number of species / Organisms of introductions and transfers, 2023

Origin and number of species / Organisms of introductions and transfers, 2023
Province	Approved applications	International	Interprovincial	Intraprovincial	Organisms	Species	Most common
BC	418	40	11	367	312,292,209	734	Rainbow trout
AB	17	3	14	0	771,799	37	Rainbow trout
SK	19	12	7	0	1,145,900	6	Rainbow trout
MB	25	4	3	18	2,433,442	17	Lake sturgeon
ON	2	0	2	0	4,800	45	Barnacles
QC _mar	19	0	9	10	5,026,840	11	American oyster
QC _fw	2	1	1	0	72,000	2	Arctic char
NB	142	5	26	111	68,578,446	98	Atlantic salmon
NS	131	16	45	70	183,111,908	41	Atlantic salmon
PEI	171	11	21	139	130,040,595	16	American oyster
NL	101	5	27	69	400,229,494	52	Atlantic salmon
YK	22	0	0	22	123,419	5	Chinook salmon
Total	1,069	97	166	806	1,103,830,852

Purpose of introductions and transfers

Introduction and transfer licences may be issued for a number of reasons, including for:

industry operations (for example, aquaculture)
education or display (for example, museums and schools)
research (for example, academic institutions)
transfers into established sanctuaries

An application may be for more than one purpose.

Purpose of introductions and transfers, 2025

Purpose of introductions and transfers, 2025
Province	Approved applications	Aquaculture	Research	Enhancement	Public display	Education	Processing	Cultural, spiritual, social, ceremonial	Other
BC	363	98	72	84	17	24	0	24	44
AB	33	3	24	6	0	0	0	0	0
SK	16	4	4	8	0	0	0	0	0
MB	28	3	4	7	1	11	0	0	2
ON	2	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
QC _mar	28	13	13	2	0	0	0	0	0
QC _fw	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
NB	179	106	17	41	7	4	3	0	1
NS	133	70	27	19	9	7	0	0	1
PEI	389	256	38	5	0	0	90	0	0
NL	93	72	5	0	8	4	0	0	4
YK	8	0	0	5	0	3	0	0	0
Total	1,275	628	205	178	42	53	93	24	52

Purpose of introductions and transfers, 2024

Purpose of introductions and transfers, 2024
Province	Approved applications	Aquaculture	Research	Enhancement	Public display	Education	Processing	Cultural, spiritual, social, ceremonial	Other
BC	452	122	107	89	20	39	0	37	29
AB	37	3	10	24	0	0	0	0	0
SK	17	9	0	7	0	0	0	0	1
MB	32	6	8	5	9	1	0	0	3
ON	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
QC _mar	24	0	13	8	0	0	0	0	3
QC _fw	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
NB	138	48	28	49	10	2	0	0	1
NS	161	101	28	13	7	11	0	0	1
PEI	304	111	19	3	0	0	150	0	21
NL	98	81	0	6	9	2	0	0	0
YK	22	0	0	20	0	2	0	0	0
Total	1,287	483	213	224	55	57	150	37	59

Purpose of introductions and transfers, 2023

Purpose of introductions and transfers, 2023
Province	Approved applications	Aquaculture	Research	Enhancement	Public display	Education	Processing	Cultural, spiritual, social, ceremonial	Other
BC	418	122	85	92	20	33	0	37	29
AB	17	1	14	2	0	0	0	0	0
SK	19	1	5	5	0	0	0	0	8
MB	25	4	5	7	5	1	0	0	3
ON	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
QC _mar	19	8	11	0	0	0	0	0	0
QC _fw	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
NB	142	55	23	48	11	3	0	0	2
NS	131	85	25	14	2	4	0	0	1
PEI	171	72	28	14	1	0	56	0	0
NL	101	69	18	0	12	2	0	0	0
YK	22	0	1	14	3	4	0	0	0
Total	1,069	419	217	196	54	47	56	37	43

Types of aquatic organisms

Many types of species are moved through the introductions and transfers process. An application can involve more than one species.

Species of introductions and transfers, 2025

Species of introductions and transfers, 2025
Province	Approved applications	Freshwater finfish	Marine finfish	Marine mollusc	Crustaceans and echinoderms	Other invertebrates	Plants and algae	Other
BC	363	123	109	40	27	12	0	52
AB	33	4	2	13	5	16	0	0
SK	16	16	0	0	0	0	0	0
MB	28	23	1	3	4	1	1	0
ON	2	1	0	0	1	0	0	0
QC _mar	28	0	3	17	8	0	0	0
QC _fw	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	0
NB	179	103	23	49	3	0	0	1
NS	133	64	25	33	5	2	0	4
PEI	389	8	20	361	0	0	0	0
NL	93	4	66	17	0	0	0	6
YK	8	8	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	1,275	357	249	533	53	31	1	63

Species of introductions and transfers, 2024

Species of introductions and transfers, 2024
Province	Approved applications	Freshwater finfish	Marine finfish	Marine mollusc	Crustaceans and echinoderms	Other invertebrates	Other
BC	452	130	147	41	121	2	0
AB	37	9	1	0	0	0	37
SK	17	17	0	0	0	0	0
MB	32	27	1	0	2	0	2
ON	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
QC _mar	24	0	1	0	12	11	0
QC _fw	2	2	0	0	0	0	0
NB	138	105	20	3	3	0	7
NS	161	44	40	64	3	0	10
PEI	304	6	14	284	0	0	0
NL	98	3	61	19	3	12	0
YK	22	22	0	0	0	0	0
Total	1,287	365	285	411	144	25	56

Species of introductions and transfers, 2023

Species of introductions and transfers, 2023
Province	Approved applications	Freshwater finfish	Marine finfish	Marine mollusc	Crustaceans and echinoderms	Other invertebrates	Plants and algae	Other
BC	418	127	136	53	4	1	0	97
AB	17	16	0	0	0	0	0	1
SK	19	18	0	0	0	1	0	0
MB	25	21	1	0	1	2	0	0
ON	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
QC _mar	19	0	1	15	3	0	0	0
QC _fw	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
NB	142	103	17	6	3	0	0	13
NS	131	39	36	49	4	0	0	3
PEI	171	29	4	137	1	0	0	0
NL	101	2	58	18	9	3	3	8
YK	22	22	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	1,069	379	253	278	25	7	3	124

Language selection

Search

Reporting on introductions and transfers

On this page

Origin and number of organisms and species

Purpose of introductions and transfers

Types of aquatic organisms

Related links