Fish Harvester Benefit and Grant Program

To help fish harvesters in Canada impacted by COVID-19, the Government of Canada created the Fish Harvester Benefit and Grant Program to provide financial support to self-employed harvesters and self-employed fishing crew.

For more information, consult the Program overview and eligibility page.

On this page

• Overpayment reminder outreach
• Overpayments
• Key program deadlines
• Contact information

Overpayment reminder outreach

In January and February 2023, the program reached out to remind individuals who had overpayment obligations about repayment. Individuals with amounts owing were encouraged to make their repayments at their earliest convenience, and no later than March 31, 2023 to avoid interest charges.

The program initially waived interest charges on overpayment amounts until January 1, 2023. That waiver period was extended to April 1, 2023, on which date the calculation of interest at the Bank of Canada commenced on unpaid overpayment amounts owing.

The extension of the interest waiver period was intended to provide further flexibility to individuals with repayment obligations who might have benefited from the additional time and opportunity to earn income without facing interest charges, and to provide interest relief to those individuals affected by Hurricane Fiona in September 2022.

The reminder outreach involved Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) sending reminder emails or letters and account statements to individuals, and Service Canada making reminder telephone calls.

The reminder emails, letters, and account statements were issued starting in January 2023. Service Canada’s reminder calls began shortly thereafter.

To pay by cheque or money order, please make funds payable to the “Receiver General for Canada” and send your repayment to:

Payments can also be made by:

• Visa
• Mastercard
• American Express
• wire transfer

Should you wish to pay by credit card or obtain instructions on how to pay by wire transfer, you can contact us at (855) 859-6271 or email us at DFO.Collection.MPO@dfo-mpo.gc.ca.

Overpayments

Some of the reasons individuals may have been in an overpayment situation included cases in which they:

• were deemed not eligible for some or all of the program following information verification from Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) or other records requested by DFO to support fishing income losses
• received payment in excess of their entitlement, based on actual fishing income losses as per their CRA tax filing information
• received the first benefit payment but did not apply for the second benefit payment by October 31, 2021
• applied for or received Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA), and/or Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) payments.

If you were in an overpayment situation, you will have been:

• notified by letter or email that you must pay back a portion or all of your initial benefit and/or grant payment
• provided with instructions on how to proceed for repayment, included in the letter or email.

If you did not agree with the overpayment finding, you were provided 30 days from the date of the overpayment letter to:

• appeal the decision, and
• provide supporting documentation

Key program deadlines

1. Phase-one appeals

The deadline for appeals of a phase-one overpayment finding was October 15, 2021.

2. Phase-two applications

The deadline for phase-two applications was October 31 2021.

3. Phase-two appeals

If you decided to appeal a phase-two overpayment decision, you were provided with the 30-day window, noted above, to notify Service Canada of your intention to appeal the decision and provide supplementary documentation in support of your appeal. Phase-two appeal processing is now complete.

4. Waiver period

The waiver period on interest payments ended on March 31, 2023.

Contact information

For information on making repayments, please contact DFO Collections at (855) 859-6271 or by email at DFO.Collection.MPO@dfo-mpo.gc.ca.