High Liner Foods is set to reduce its North American workforce by roughly 9% as the Canadian seafood group deals with weaker margins.

In a statement, the owner of Sea Cuisine and Mrs. Paul’s brands said the move affects 35 employees and is intended to “further align its cost structure with current market conditions”. 

“These actions are part of a broader set of initiatives already underway, including disciplined margin management, cost reduction, and supply chain efficiency efforts," High Liner Foods’ statement read

It added the move is "intended to mitigate the impact of sustained pressure from rising inflation, tariffs, and higher input costs and to strengthen the company's value proposition to customers and consumers”.

Alongside the job cuts, High Liner provided an update on its expected first-quarter performance for its 2026 fiscal year.  

The company said it expects its measures to support a return to year-on-year growth in adjusted EBITDA for the full fiscal year. 

However, High Liner said its "current projections" point to its first-quarter results being “modestly” lower than the same period a year earlier. 

The group said it saw “strong” demand in the quarter but added margins and plant performance were affected by “underlying promotional activity combined with rising input costs and tighter supply”, pushing out the timeline for the profitability improvements the company is targeting in 2026. 

For the 53-week period ending 3 January 2026, High Liner's sales volume edged up 0.9% to 237.9 million lbs. Revenue increased 7.1% to $1.02bn. 

Adjusted EBITDA, however, fell 11.3% to $91.7m, with the adjusted EBITDA margin narrowing to 8.9% from 10.8%.   Net income dropped 39.2% to $36.5m.  

In a comment published alongside the results on 25 February, High Liner president and CEO Paul Jewer said during the fourth quarter the “company made progress across our business towards improved profitability in what remains a challenging environment".

He added: “As we head into the important Lenten period, we are well positioned to drive profitable sales growth, supported by our ongoing focus on continuous improvement, including plant efficiencies, and disciplined execution.”