Prime Minister announces new support for Canada’s fish harvesters

May 14, 2020  Ottawa, Ontario   Prime Minister’s Office - Canadians working in the fishing industry are feeling the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. That is why the Government of Canada is taking action to support those workers, who help provide families and communities across the country with high-quality fish and seafood.

The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today announced up to $469.4 million in new measures to support Canada’s fish harvesters, who are economically impacted by the pandemic but cannot access existing federal measures. This investment builds on the $62.5 million for the new Canadian Seafood Stabilization Fund announced last month to help Canada’s fish and seafood processing sector.

The Government of Canada will:

·      Launch the Fish Harvester Benefit, a program worth up to $267.6 million, to help provide income support for this year’s fishing seasons to eligible self-employed fish harvesters and sharespersons crew who cannot access the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy. Support will be provided to those that experience fishing income declines of greater than 25 per cent in the 2020 tax year, compared with a reference period to be identified. This measure covers 75 per cent of fishing income losses beyond a 25 per cent income decline threshold, up to a maximum individual entitlement equivalent to what is provided under the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy ($847 per week for up to 12 weeks).

·      Launch the Fish Harvester Grant, a program worth up to $201.8 million, to provide grants to help fish harvesters impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and who are ineligible for the Canada Emergency Business Account or equivalent measures. This will give them more liquidity to address non-deferrable business costs. The program would provide non-repayable support of up to $10,000 to self-employed fish harvesters with a valid fishing licence. Size of the non-repayable support will vary depending on the level of fish harvesters’ historic revenue.

·      Propose measures or changes to Employment Insurance (EI) that would allow self-employed fish harvesters and sharespersons to access EI benefits on the basis of insurable earnings from previous seasons (winter and summer claims).

Additional details on these measures will be made available soon.

The Government of Canada is committed to supporting the resilience of Canada’s food system and its workers. We will continue to monitor and respond to the wide-ranging impacts of COVID-19, and take additional actions as needed to protect the health and safety of Canadians, and stabilize the economy.

Quotes

“Fish harvesters work hard to provide Canadians with nutritious food to put on their tables, and are a vital part of our food supply from coast to coast to coast. This investment will help ease the burden on the people and businesses at the heart of our fishing and seafood industry. We are here to support them.”

—The Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada

“The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in reduced demand and declining prices for Canadian fish and seafood products, and has had significant impacts on the livelihoods of Canadians fishers. With today’s announcement we are making sure fish harvesters can get the support they need in these times of crisis.”

—The Hon. Bill Morneau, Minister of Finance

“Canada’s fish and seafood harvesters are the driving economic force behind many coastal and rural communities. While hardship and uncertainty are felt across the economy, the fishing sector faces unique challenges that require direct solutions. With this announcement, we are ensuring that Canada’s hardworking fish harvesters get the support they need now and into the future.”

—The Hon. Bernadette Jordan, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard

Quick Facts

·      The Government of Canada has announced targeted new initiatives to support Canadians, including Canada’s fishing, aquaculture and processing sectors, through the COVID-19 pandemic, such as:

o   The Canadian Seafood Stabilization Fund, a new $62.5 million initiative to assist the fish and seafood processing sectors.

o   The Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), a taxable benefit of $2,000 every 4 weeks for up to 16 weeks to eligible workers who have lost their income due to COVID-19. The government also extended the eligibility of this benefit to individuals who earn up to $1,000 per month, as well as workers who have recently exhausted their EI regular or fishing benefits and are unable to find a job or return to work because of COVID-19.

o   An investment of $50 million to help farmers, fish harvesters, and all food production and processing employers, put in place the measures necessary to follow the mandatory 14-day isolation period required of all workers arriving from abroad. This means the Government will provide $1,500 per temporary foreign worker, to employers or those working with them to ensure the isolation requirements are fully met.

o   The Business Credit Availability Program, which allows the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) and Export Development Canada (EDC) to provide $65 billion of additional support to small and medium-sized businesses. Support for mid-sized companies with larger financing needs will include loans of up to $60 million per company, and guarantees of up to $80 million.

o   The Regional Relief and Recovery Fund (RRRF), which allows Regional Development Agencies to provide $962 million of additional support to businesses and communities economically impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic that cannot access existing measures. Covering every region of Canada, RDAs are well-suited to assist workers and businesses in sectors that are key to the regions and local economies.

o   Small businesses in the fishing and aquaculture industry may be eligible for subsidies for employee salaries, encouraging them to keep staff on payroll through this difficult time, and businesses from across the sector may benefit from enhanced access to credit and deferred taxes.

總理宣布為加拿大捕魚業者提供新的支持

2020 年5 月14 日安大略省渥太華總理辦公室- 在漁業中工作的加拿大人正在感受到COVID-19 大流行的經濟影響。

這就是為什麼加拿大聯邦政府採取行動，支持這些從業人士。他們幫助向全國各地的家庭和社區提供了優質的魚類和海鮮食品。

總理賈斯廷·杜魯多（Justin Trudeau）今天宣布了高達4.694 億加元的新措施，以支持加拿大的魚類捕撈業。加拿大的魚類捕獲受到大流行的經濟影響，但無法得到現有的聯邦政策幫助。這項投資建立在上個月宣布的新的加拿大海鮮穩定基金的6250 萬加元基礎之上，並將幫助加拿大的魚類和海鮮加工產業。

加拿大聯邦政府將：

• 推出“捕魚業者補助計劃”（Fish Harvester Benefit），這個計劃涉及高達2.676 億加元的資金，旨在幫助無法獲得加拿大緊急工資補貼（CEWS）的自雇捕魚者和股東船員，為符合資格的他們提供本年捕魚季的收入支持。補助金額會與將要確定的參考期相比，在2020 納稅年度內，捕魚收入下降超過25％的人群可以獲得支持。這項措施覆蓋了超過25 ％的收入下降門檻的75％的漁業收入損失，最高金額將等於加拿大緊急工資補貼（每周847 加元，最多12 周）所提供的補助。

• 啟動“捕魚業者基金”（Fish Harvester Grant）計劃，該計劃價值高達2.018 億加元，以為受COVID-19 大流行影響，且不符合加拿大緊急商業款項或同等措施的捕魚業者提供資金。這將使他們有更多的流動性，來解決無法延期的運營成本。該計劃將向擁有有效捕魚許可證的自營捕獲者提供高達10,000 加元的無償支持。無需償還的支持金額數量將取決於捕獲者的過往收入。

• 對就業保險（EI）提出措施或變更，以使自營捕魚者和股份持有人可以根據以前季節的可保收益（冬季和夏季收益）獲得EI 幫助。政府將很快提供有關這些措施的更多詳細信息。加拿大聯邦政府致力於支持加拿大食品系統及從業人士的復原力。

我們將繼續監視和應對COVID-19 的廣泛影響，並根據需要採取其他行動，以保護加拿大人的健康和安全，並穩定經濟。

引述

“捕魚業者努力工作，為加拿大人提供營養食品，這是我們全國各地食物供應的重要組成部分。這項投資將有助於減輕漁業和海鮮行業核心人員和企業的負擔。我們在這裡為他們提供支持。” —加拿大總理賈斯廷·杜魯多閣下

“ COVID-19 大流行導致加拿大魚類和海鮮產品的需求減少和價格下降，並對加拿大漁民的生計產生了重大影響。通過今天宣布的措施，我們確保在當前的危機時期，捕獲者能夠獲得他們所需的支持。” —財政部長比爾·莫爾諾閣下

“加拿大的魚類和海鮮捕獲者是許多沿海和農村社區的經濟驅動力。儘管整個經濟體都感到困難和不確定性，但漁業部門面臨著獨特的挑戰，並需要直接解決。通過今天宣布的新措施，我們將確保加拿大努力工作的魚類捕獲者獲得現在和未來所需的支持。” —漁業、海洋及加拿大海岸警衛隊事務部長伯納黛特·喬丹閣下

事實簡要

• 加拿大聯邦政府宣布了針對性的新政策，在COVID-19 大流行期間支持加拿大人，包括加拿大的漁業，水產養殖和加工部門，例如：

 o 加拿大海鮮穩定基金，這是一項新的6,250 萬加元的計劃，旨在協助魚類和海鮮加工行業。

 o 加拿大緊急救濟金（CERB），對於因COVID-19 而失去收入的符合資格的工作人士，提供每4 周2,000 加元，為期16 周的稅前福利。政府還將這項福利的資格擴大到每月收入不超過1,000 加元的個人，以及最近因常規就業保險或捕魚補助用盡，但又因COVID-19 而無法找到工作或重返工作崗位的工作人士。

 o 投資5,000 萬加元，幫助農民，捕魚者，以及所有食品生產和加工僱主，採取必要的措施，以遵守所有從國外來的工人所要求的強制性14 天隔離期。這意味着政府將向每位臨時外籍勞工、僱主、或與他們一起工作的團體提供1,500 加元，以確保完全滿足隔離要求。

o 商業信貸商業信貸利用計劃計劃，該計劃使加拿大商業發展銀行（BDC）和加拿大出口發展局（EDC）能夠為中小企業提供650 億加元的額外支持。對具有較大融資需求的中型公司的支持將包括每家公司提供高達6000 萬加元的貸款，以及高達8000 萬加元的擔保。

o 地區性救助和復蘇基金（RRRF），該基金使區域發展機構（RDA）可以為因COVID-19 大流行而無法利用現有措施而受到經濟影響的企業和社區提供9.62 億加元的額外支持。RDA 覆蓋加拿大的每個地區，非常適合為該地區和當地經濟的關鍵部門的工人和企業提供幫助。

o 漁業和水產養殖業中的小企業可能有資格獲得員工薪水補貼，鼓勵他們在這段困難的時期內將員工留在工資單上，整個行業的企業可能會受益於更多的信貸和遞延稅款。