Helping bring salmon back to the Upper Fraser River in Prince George.

Canfor is playing an important role in advancing a major new salmon hatchery in Prince George. The Government of Canada and Lheidli T'enneh First Nation recently announced the next phase of construction for the Upper Fraser River Conservation Hatchery, which will help conserve and rebuild Fraser River Chinook salmon populations, which have declined significantly in recent years.

The hatchery will be owned and operated by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) in collaboration with Lheidli T'enneh First Nation, on land that Canfor sold to the DFO for this purpose in 2024. The site sits near the confluence of the Nechako and Fraser rivers in Prince George.

Our existing water infrastructure will be central to how the hatchery operates. Young salmon need a steady supply of clean water, which we'll provide through a combination of surface water from our nearby river pumphouse and groundwater from an existing collector well. The groundwater is especially valuable, because it's naturally filtered, which helps remove bacteria and pathogens, delivering the clean, consistent water quality that's essential for raising healthy fish.

That reliable water supply is one of the key reasons the site is so well suited for a hatchery, where the demand for water is significant. Once construction is complete, Canfor will provide a peak water flow of 225 litres per second, enough to fill roughly eight Olympic-sized swimming pools every day. That volume could nearly double when a planned second phase is built in the years ahead.

Initially, the hatchery will have the capacity to raise 400,000 juvenile Chinook salmon each year, with room to grow. It has been designed with the flexibility to increase Chinook production or support other species, such as sockeye salmon, in the future. The facility will include incubation rooms, laboratories, indoor and outdoor rearing tanks, and administrative and support spaces, all built to advance salmon conservation and recovery across the Fraser River watershed.

By contributing land and access to the high-quality water resources the hatchery depends on, Canfor is helping support the recovery of local salmon populations and the long-term health of the Fraser watershed. It's a project that reflects the power of collaboration, bringing together industry, Indigenous communities and government to strengthen local ecosystems and create lasting benefits for future generations.