Question Period Note: Support for Fish Harvesters in Canada

Support for Fish Harvesters in Canada

The Fish Harvester Benefit and Grant Program launched its second phase in August 2021, and closed for applications October 31st.

The Program continues to process appeals and issue the second part of the benefit payment. The Program’s grant stream was completed in phase one.

To date, the program has paid out more than $160 million in support of Canada’s fishing sector.

The sector shows encouraging signs of rebound. Export levels, prices, and quantities are generally returning to -- and in some cases exceeding -- their pre-pandemic levels.

Overpayment Letters to Wage-Earning Crew
The program provides assistance to self-employed fish harvesters and self-employed crew.

In phase one, applicants attested to: their income, employment status, and estimated COVID losses. They then received monies based on this information.

Their information was subsequently reviewed against tax data they filed with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).

Some individuals who attested to being self-employed had filed tax information indicating that they were wage-earning employees, and therefore not eligible.

Those individuals received overpayment letters, for which they had a right of appeal. The appeal deadline was October 15.

Initial wait times and/or processing delays
We recognized the delays and wait times experienced in the early days of phase two of the program.

We worked with our partner departments and responded quickly by adding additional call centre agents.

As a result, wait times were dramatically reduced.

• On May 14, 2020, the Prime Minister announced the creation of the Fish Harvester Benefit and Grant (FHBG) Program, which launched its first phase in August 2020. The Program is currently working to complete phase-two processing. The deadline for phase-two applications was October 31, 2021. The FHBG Program is presently completing the processing of applications and appeals, and is slated for completion on March 31, 2022.
• The Program supports self-employed fish harvesters and self-employed crew affected by COVID-19. It fills a programmatic gap in the Government of Canada’s COVID-19 strategy by providing COVID relief benefits to self-employed individuals who would not otherwise be eligible for COVID support. It is delivered in partnership by DFO, Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), and with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).
• Payments from the Fish Harvester Benefit and Grant Program are taxable and must be declared on harvesters’ income tax returns.
• The FHBG Program is delivered in two-phases:
o Phase One (2020) involved the issuance of: 1) one-time grant payments to provide emergency business expense support to address the non-deferrable business costs of self-employed fish harvesters; and 2) the first part of the benefit payment (60 per cent) to provide income assistance to eligible self-employed fish harvesters and self-employed crew.
o Phase Two (2021) involves confirming that the applicant-attested information provided in phase one aligns with Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) data. A phase-two application was required by all applicants who received payment in phase one. If eligible, and with the successful submission of the phase two application, the Program issues the second part of the benefit payment (the remaining 40 per cent).
• The benefit payment covers up to 75 per cent of income losses beyond a 25 per cent threshold for the 2020 tax year when compared to 2018 or 2019. The maximum benefit is $10,164.
• In the opening weeks of round two in August 2021, applicants experienced lengthy telephone wait times in trying to connect with a Service Canada call centre agent. Service Canada responded quickly to provide additional call centre support, and wait times were reduced dramatically.
• The first installment of the benefit payment was promptly issued to applicants based on their attestations to the program respecting their status, income, and expected COVID-related losses. That information was subsequently reviewed against CRA data filed by the applicants when that information became available prior to the launch of phase two.
• Some recipients of the first benefit payment had initially indicated that they were self-employed crew. However, CRA tax data indicated that some of those recipients were wage-earning employees, and therefore not eligible for the program. Individuals in this situation were issued overpayment letters. Recipients of those phase-one overpayment letters had a right of appeal. The deadline for those appeals was October 15, 2021.
• DFO also worked closely with CRA and ESDC to develop a process to enable appellants to correct their tax information while allowing DFO to process their phase-one appeals quickly should they have believed that their employment status was incorrectly reflected in the CRA data.

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