What is Arctic Char?

Arctic char is a cold-water fish in the Salmonidae family, closely related to trout and salmon. It has pink to red flesh, a milder and slightly sweeter taste than rainbow trout, and cooks the same way as trout or salmon. In the wild it lives farther north than any other freshwater fish. Springhills raises Arctic char at two of our Ontario farms.

Many of you have fallen in love with this special fish from Canada’s north, so we thought we’d tell you a bit more about them!

What does Arctic char taste like?

Arctic char tastes much sweeter than its cousin the trout. It’s more mild and light, which wins over those who don’t prefer the stronger taste of other fish. 

Where does Arctic char come from?

Char thrive in very cold water. In the wild, they live farther north than any other freshwater fish. 

That means we can only raise them at two of our sites — those that have a steady supply of spring water that never gets above 10C. 

How Springhills started raising Arctic char

And fun fact, our family only started growing them as a fun experiment. Never did we realize that they’d become such a hit.. today they’re our second most popular fish (behind trout)! 

We started because our friends at Icy Waters Arctic Charr gave us some eggs to try. Then luckily our friends at the Ontario Aquaculture Research Centre have kept a breeding program going, so we grew some of theirs too (like the one in the photo!)

The Springhills family has had such fun learning their quirks…

 They love their friends. They’re more calm when there are more of them in the tank (compared to trout). And they tend to stick in groups.
 They come in every colour of the rainbow. In the batch we harvested this week, some were indigo, others were yellow, pink, green, and orange!
 They love to hunt. They don’t always come to the surface to eat, but would rather forage in the corners and along the bottom!

How to cook Arctic char

Arctic char cooks the same way as trout or salmon. Try our blackened Arctic char with dirty rice or Arctic char in crazy water (acqua pazza).

Is Arctic char sustainable?

All of our Arctic char are Ocean Wise Recommended and from our Best Aquaculture Practices certified facilities, so they’re a great choice for the planet too!

Arctic char FAQs

Is Arctic char the same as salmon?

No. Arctic char is its own species, but it belongs to the same Salmonidae family as salmon and trout, so it looks and cooks much the same.

Is Arctic char healthy?

Yes. A 125 g portion of Springhills Arctic char has 160 calories, 28 g of protein, 5 g of fat and 0.9 g of omega-3 fatty acids. That makes it the leanest of the fish we raise: the same portion of our rainbow trout has 8 g of fat and 1 g of omega-3, and our coho salmon has 10 g of fat. See the full nutrition facts for our fish.

Can I substitute trout for Arctic char?

Yes. Arctic char cooks the same way as trout, so you can swap one for the other in most recipes. Char is a little milder and sweeter.

Is brook trout a char?

Yes. Brook trout (sometimes called speckled trout), which grows in Ontario, isn’t actually a trout at all. It’s a type of char.