2020-21 Supplementary Estimates (A)

The $559.6 million tabled as part of these Estimates was mainly comprised of statutory amounts related to payments to support the fish and seafood industry through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Of the total amount, the Department sought $27.4M in funding through voted appropriations mostly for the short-term response to the Big Bar Landslide on the Fraser River in British Columbia and for the Canadian Coast Guard’s Polar Icebreaker Project.

Payments to support Canada’s fish harvesters pursuant to the Public Health Events of National Concern Payments Act (PENDING) ($469.4 million)

On May 14, 2020 the Prime Minister announced new measures to support Canada’s fish harvesters, who are economically impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic but cannot access existing federal measures.
The Fish Harvester Benefit ($267.6 million) will 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.
The Fish Harvester Grant ($201.8 million) will provide grants to help fish harvesters who are ineligible for the Canada Emergency Business Account or equivalent measures.
As of the first week of September, approximately $62M has been provided to over 8,500 eligible applicants, to support them during this period.

This investment will help ensure the resilience of the food system by allowing Canada’s fish and seafood processing sector to safely and efficiently process, store, package, and distribute healthy, high-quality products, sourced from our fish harvesters and aquaculture operators, onto the plates of Canadians.
The Canadian Seafood Stabilization Fund will be delivered through three separate Regional Development Agencies. Fisheries and Oceans is committed to working in concert with these partners to deliver the program and respond to emerging pressures that may arise as the pandemic situation evolves.
Of the total amount, $57.3M has been transferred to Regional Development Agencies to help deliver the program.

In June 2019, a significant landslide was reported in a remote stretch of the Fraser River near Big Bar. The obstruction is affecting the ability of returning salmon to reach their spawning ground.
Activities will include rock remediation, hydrological and fisheries monitoring, fish passage, and fish conservation.

Funding will be used to continue the vessel design refresh and for project management office costs.
With the considerable advancements in icebreaker designs and studies of ship to ice interaction since the last Coast Guard heavy icebreaker was designed and built, the project will leverage these new contemporary designs to provide a vessel that will deliver the required capability, while ensuring the highest standard of operational safety.

These Supplementary Estimates mark the first step in a return to the traditional three Supplementary exercises (A, B and C), after the end of the two year Estimates Reform pilot project. As part of that reform, only two Supplementary Estimates exercises were presented.
The 2020-21 Supplementary Estimates (A) tabled a total amount of $559.6 million, which were comprised of $532.2 million in statutory forecast updates and $27.4 million in voted authorities.
The $532.2 million in statutory authorities includes two (2) distinct items related to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well a forecast update related to the Department’s employee benefit plans. These amounts are presented for information purposes only as they have their own separate enabling legislation.
The two COVID-19 related items are the Fish Harvesters Program ($469.4M) and the Canadian Seafood Stabilization Fund ($62.5M).
As of the first week of September, the Fish Harvesters Program has provided approximately $62M to over 8,500 eligible applicants and the Canadian Seafood Stabilization Fund has transferred $57.3M to Regional Development Agencies to help deliver the program.
The $27.4 million in voted authorities includes four (4) items and represents an increase to our spending levels, over and above what was approved in the Main Estimates.