Canada’s Fish Harvester Benefit and Grant Program now open for second round applications 

 As per the DFO website, the application for the second Fish Harvester's Benefit Program payment is mandatory - if you don't reapply, you will automatically be in an overpayment situation and only available if you applied for and were eligible for the first benefit payment.

There is no second payment for the Fish Harvester's Grant Program, therefore if you are a harvester who received only the grant, you don't need to submit a second application.

If repayment of benefits for the Fish Harvester Benefit Program is required the initial letters to fishers required repayment within 2 weeks, however the repayment date has been extended until September 15th. 

Quick facts

• The Fish Harvester Benefit and Grant Program marks the single largest investment in Canada’s fisheries in more than two decades.
• Over the past year, $130 million has been allocated to 18,000 Canadians through the Fish Harvester Benefit and Grant Program, including self-employed commercial and freshwater fish harvesters, Indigenous harvesters with communal commercial fishing licences designated by their communities, and sharepersons crew who had less than their usual income in 2020.
• The Fish Harvester Benefit and Grant Program is part of a series of targeted initiatives to support Canada’s fishing, aquaculture and processing sectors, through the COVID-19 pandemic, including: the Canadian Seafood Stabilization Fund, Canadian Fish and Seafood Opportunities Fund, and the Surplus Food Rescue Program.
• To complete a second benefit application, applicants who received funding during Phase 1 will need to have information on hand from their 2020 Notice of Assessment (tax assessment) from the Canada Revenue Agency, or other supporting documents such as employment or catch records if they are exempt from taxes under the Indian Act.
• Fish harvesters who only received the grant in 2020 don’t need to submit a second application as they have already received the full amount and there is no second grant payment.  Fish harvesters who did not apply initially in 2020 are also no longer eligible to apply.
• The blue economy is an economy driven by sustainable, ocean resources and accounts for about $31.7 billion annually in Canada’s national Gross Domestic Product (GDP).  It also represents nearly 300,000 Canadian jobs with direct, indirect and induced benefits in sectors as diverse as fisheries and aquaculture, marine transportation, ocean energy and technology, recreation and tourism. 

Associated links

• Fish Harvester Benefit and Grant Program

Contacts

Olivia McMackin
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard
343-571-9193
Olivia.McMackin@dfo-mpo.gc.ca

Media Relations
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
613-990-7537
Media.xncr@dfo-mpo.gc.ca

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