The company
Clearwater Seafoods LP, headquartered in Bedford, Nova Scotia, Canada, is one of North America's largest vertically integrated seafood companies. Since being founded in 1976, the company has grown from a small local lobster retailer into a global leader, harvesting, processing, and distributing premium wild-caught seafood to over 40 countries worldwide.
Known for quality, sustainability, and trust, Clearwater understands that protecting their operations is critical to maintaining their reputation and long-term success, making cybersecurity an essential business priority.
The challenge
For years, Clearwater managed cybersecurity in-house with a lean IT team. But as the landscape evolved, with threats growing more sophisticated and relentless, their team could no longer keep pace.
“There were times the team was afraid to sleep, depending on the alerts they observed,” noted Syrtash Singh, VP of Information Systems and Services at Clearwater Seafoods LP. “If people went on vacation, we had to cross our fingers and hope for the best.”
Protecting against modern threats meant investing in additional tools, while maintaining real-time threat intelligence and round-the-clock monitoring—however, 24/7 coverage was out of reach. Budget pressures, limited local cybersecurity talent in Atlantic Canada, and rising salaries made it difficult to scale their protection. Clearwater found itself stuck in a reactive cycle, layering tools and consultants without gaining the proactive protection they truly needed.
The tipping point came when cyber insurance requirements grew more stringent. Clearwater knew that, to stay ahead of the threats and maintain the security of their organization, they needed a partner that could augment their internal team to deliver enterprise-level cybersecurity, without overburdening their team or exceeding their budgets.
The solution
Clearwater turned to TELUS to help find the right solution. Over the years, TELUS had built a trusted relationship with Clearwater, consistently helping to scale the capabilities of their team with strategic technologies and services. Cybersecurity was no different.
TELUS MDR, delivered in partnership with Field Effect MDR, exceeded Clearwater’s expectations from the start with a holistic solution that combined sophisticated technology, expert people, and proven processes.
Their solution enabled Clearwater to detect and respond to threats early in the attack while empowering their team to proactively strengthen their security posture with complete visibility into risks. It also consolidated several tools and services—including EDR, vulnerability management, cloud detection and response, log retention, dark web monitoring, and more—into one streamlined, cost-effective solution.
“We were able to replace the functionality of several tools while alleviating the time, money, and effort it took to operate those systems,” said Singh.
What stood out even more was the partnership and support.
Clearwater liked that TELUS and Field Effect provided access to a 24/7 SOC that would continuously monitor global threat intelligence while overseeing and managing alerts on their team’s behalf, even taking swift action to stop threats before they could spread. Additionally, Clearwater could lean on TELUS’s local presence in Nova Scotia for support.
With a robust team and the flexibility to tailor the solution to their unique needs, Clearwater felt confident that TELUS MDR was the right choice for their business.
The impact
With TELUS MDR in place, Clearwater found it easier to meet and maintain cyber insurance requirements. More importantly, they gained confidence knowing they were protected around the clock. If something went wrong, even in the middle of the night, a team of cybersecurity experts would act immediately to contain the threat and notify Clearwater directly when attention was needed.
“The team is incredibly responsive,” said Singh. “They not only provide the technical expertise you'd expect, but they’re extremely accommodating—delivering information both in technical detail and in plain English for those without a cybersecurity background. With TELUS MDR monitoring our environment, the team can now sleep at night.”
TELUS MDR made it clear where Clearwater needed to focus with proprietary alerts—known as AROs (Actions, Recommendations, and Observations). This freed their small IT team from the burden of constant monitoring and intensive training, allowing them to shift their focus to higher-value, strategic work.
“We’re now able to utilize our team in ways we couldn’t before,” said Singh. “Cybersecurity has always been a priority, but TELUS MDR allows us to focus on improving our security posture and tackling projects that used to sit on the backburner.”
With TELUS MDR, Clearwater shifted from a reactive approach to a proactive cybersecurity strategy, gaining the confidence and peace of mind to rest easy at night.
