Evaluation of the Employment Insurance Fishing Benefits, 2026

Overview

EI provides fishing benefits to qualifying, self-employed fishers who are actively seeking work. Unlike EI regular benefits, eligibility for EI fishing benefits is based on insurable earnings from fishing, not hours of insurable employment.

Evaluation scope and objectives

The evaluation scope covers the period from January 2000 to December 2022. The evaluation focuses on a full assessment of the fishing benefits between 2000 and 2019 and presents early impacts of the temporary COVID-19 measures. This evaluation was carried out in alignment with departmental priorities. EI fishing benefits were last assessed as part of the last comprehensive summative evaluation of EI benefits which was completed in 2006.

Key findings

Observations

• Temporary COVID-19 measures did not appear to have any influence on off-season employment, as focus group participants did not indicate that they were significantly impacted during COVID in their ability to fish or the value of their catch
• Both comparator groups of EI regular claimants in fishing-related occupations and seasonal industries had higher weeks of entitlement than single season fishing claimants (a maximum of 26 weeks) but less than both seasons fishing claimants (maximum of 26 weeks, twice a year), and also had lower total annual income than EI fishing claimants
• In most focus groups with employers, they had concerns with their obligations as the designated employer and were of the view that they should not be characterised as such. They did not consider themselves as the employer because they did not have authority in hiring the crew members on each vessel, and establishing sharing agreements, or other aspects of their employment
• Some Interviewed (7 of 17) internal Service Canada officers and representatives from external fisher associations noted that climate change has impacted the fishing seasons, fishing seasons were becoming less defined as summer and winter seasons and resulting in premature ending of seasons, and their fishing activities are becoming harder to contain within specific qualifying periods

Recommendations

• It is recommended to review the qualifying conditions for fishing benefits, including the process for issuing ROE, with consideration given to fishing industry conditions.
• It is recommended that Service Canada improve officer training on EI fishing benefit regulations and improve expertise to provide efficient and accurate service to self-employed fishers during the application process.

Overall management response

The SEB and Service Canada would like to thank the evaluation directorate for their work on the evaluation of EI fishing benefits. We are also appreciative of the time given by all those who participated, including the key informants and focus group participants.

Overall, the findings of the EI fishing benefits evaluation are positive and demonstrate that there is a continued need for the benefit. The evaluation found that EI fishing benefits were effective in meeting the needs of self-employed fishers. EI fishing benefits also had high usage rates by self-employed fishers, and they reported satisfaction with their benefits.

The evaluation identified 2 recommendations to 1) review the qualifying conditions for the benefit and 2) increase Service Canada officer training. SEB and Service Canada accept these recommendations.

Recommendation #1

It is recommended to review the qualifying conditions for fishing benefits, including the process for issuing Records of Employment, with consideration given to fishing industry conditions.

Recommendation #2

It is recommended that Service Canada improve officer training on EI fishing benefit regulations and improve expertise to provide efficient and accurate service to self-employed fishers during the application process.

1.1 Background

Unemployment Insurance^{Footnote 1} benefits for fishers were first introduced in 1957. Since then, fishing benefits have been modified and modernized several times with the latest being made under the EI Reform in 1996. Figure 1 provides the number of self-employed fishers (not including workers who were paid a wage on a fishing vessel) in Canada by gender between 2000 and 2021. Over that period, the number of self-employed fishers steadily declined from 38,000 in 2001 to 25,000 in 2021.

The decline in EI fishing claimants follows a similar trend in the number of licence holders and registered vessels. Under DFO fisheries management strategies, the number of available licences has been reduced annually.

• The number of licence holders in Canada has declined from 49,927 in 2000 to 20,820 in 2021.
• The number of vessels registered has also declined from 23,819 in 2000 to 16,255 in 2021.

Text description of figure 1

Number of self-employed fishers	Number of males	Number of females	Total
2001	31,747	6,567	38,314
2001	31,076	6,848	37,924
2002	30,852	7,161	38,013
2003	31,021	7,281	38,302
2004	30,948	7,372	38,320
2005	29,353	6,909	36,262
2006	27,959	6,743	34,702
2007	26,818	6,637	33,455
2008	25,534	6,303	31,837
2009	24,725	5,839	30,564
2010	24,784	5,789	30,573
2011	24,702	6,033	30,735
2012	24,090	5,907	29,997
2013	23,056	5,361	28,417
2014	23,424	5,658	29,082
2015	23,401	5,692	29,093
2016	23,400	5,915	29,315
2017	22,899	6,187	29,086
2018	22,680	6,250	28,930
2019	21,674	6,041	27,715
2020	20,134	5,442	25,576
2021	19,673	5,513	25,186

• Source: EI administrative data

1.2 Objective of the benefit

EI provides fishing benefits to qualifying, self-employed fishers who are actively seeking work. Unlike EI regular benefits, eligibility for EI fishing benefits is based on insurable earnings from fishing, not hours of insurable employment.

Under the Employment Insurance (Fishing) Regulations,^{Footnote 2} a fisher is a self-employed person engaged in fishing and includes a person engaged, other than under a contract of service or for their own or another person's sport:

• in making a catch
• in any work incidental to making or handling catch, such as loading, unloading, transporting or curing the catch; preparing, repairing, dismantling or laying up the fishing vessel or fishing gear, or
• in the construction of a fishing vessel for his or her own use or for the use of a crew of which the person is a member in making a catch

Self-employed fishers may be eligible to receive fishing benefits and other EI benefits such as sickness, maternity, parental, compassionate care and/or family caregiver benefits. EI fishing benefits are available for 2 fishing seasons per year: winter and summer fishing season.

1.3 Eligibility and qualification

To be eligible to receive EI fishing benefits,^{Footnote 3} self-employed fishers must be actively looking for work with respect to their fishing activities, have earned a minimum amount of insurable earnings from self-employment in fishing during their qualifying period, and not be qualified to receive regular benefits.

The qualifying period for EI fishing benefits is different from other types of benefits (typically a period of 52 weeks or since the last claim). It is defined as the shorter of either:

• the 31 weeks preceding the establishment of a new claim, or
• since the establishment of a previous claim

EI fishing benefits is divided into 2 seasons: summer and winter. Unlike other EI benefits, EI fishing benefits claimants may only receive entitlement (a maximum of 26 weeks) from their claim during specified benefit periods which correspond to either summer or winter EI fishing benefits.

As the 2 qualifying periods and benefit periods overlap and cover a full year, situations may arise where the fisher has sufficient insured earnings to qualify for either winter or summer fishing benefits. The decision as to which fishing benefit period, summer or winter, is claimed rests with the fisher and the decision is not reversible^{Footnote 4}. Figure 2 provides a visual representation of the qualifying and benefit periods.

Text description of figure 2

This figure is a visual representation of the information provided in Table 1.

A self-employed fisher needs to earn a minimum amount of insurable earnings from self-employment in fishing during their qualifying period. This amount varies between $2,500 and $4,200, depending on the unemployment rate in the claimant’s region (see Table 1). These amounts have remained the same since January 1997.^{Footnote 5}

The insurable earnings of a fisher are:

• the fisher's share of proceeds from the sale of catches during the qualifying period
• in the case of boat owners or lessees, total value of the sales minus 25% of the gross value of the sales (as expenses) minus shares of the crew members, wages and salaries paid. There is no minimum amount of weekly earnings

To calculate the benefit rate, total self-employed earnings from fishing during the qualifying period are divided by the applicable divisor.^{Footnote 6} The divisor ranges from 14 to 22 based on the regional rate of unemployment (see Table 2). This provides the weekly insurable earnings from fishing.

Any insurable earnings from other employment are added to the insurable earnings from fishing.^{Footnote 7} The rate calculation period is the most recent 26 consecutive weeks of employment in the qualifying period prior to the commencement of a fishing claim. The insurable earnings from insurable employment other than fishing is divided by the applicable divisor (see Table 1 above) or by the number of weeks worked, whichever is greater, to obtain the weekly insurable earnings from regular employment.

The weekly insurable earnings from fishing and regular employment (if any) are added together to obtain the total weekly insurable earnings. The total weekly insurable earnings are then multiplied by 55% to arrive at the weekly benefit rate, which is subject to a maximum weekly benefit rate ($638 in 2022).

3.1 Eligibility for EI fishing benefits

The eligibility rate is defined as the share of individuals who paid EI premiums and had a Record of Employment (ROE)^{Footnote 8} and met the minimum insurable earnings threshold required.^{Footnote 9} In order to estimate the eligibility rate, the analysis is broken down for each of these conditions.

From 2001 to 2021, of those who had an ROE and paid EI premiums, 84.4% of self-employed fishers had earned more than the minimum insurable earnings required for the EI region in which they resided (between $2,500 and $4,200). This proportion was relatively stable at around 84% until 2015 (Figure 3, blue line) but has since increased to over 88% in recent years. However, to qualify for EI fishing benefits, self-employed fishers must not have enough hours of insurable employment to qualify for EI regular benefits. As a result of that rule, on average an additional 3.7% of self-employed fishers (approximately 1,100 fishers per year) with an ROE did not qualify for EI fishing benefits due to their accumulated hours, which made them eligible for EI regular benefits (Figure 3, red line). Consequently, the average eligibility rate to EI fishing benefits over the period studied was estimated at 80.7% but ranged from 78.0% in 2014 to 85.0% in 2021.

Text description of figure 3

Eligibility rate	Eligible for both EI regular and fishing	Eligible for EI fishing only
2001	84.0%	80.7%
2002	85.2%	81.8%
2003	84.2%	81.1%
2004	83.7%	80.5%
2005	83.8%	80.9%
2006	83.3%	79.9%
2007	83.4%	79.5%
2008	83.4%	79.7%
2009	83.6%	80.1%
2010	83.9%	80.0%
2011	84.5%	80.3%
2012	83.8%	79.2%
2013	83.8%	79.5%
2014	82.1%	78.2%
2015	83.7%	79.6%
2016	84.6%	80.7%
2017	84.9%	81.2%
2018	85.8%	82.0%
2019	86.5%	82.6%
2020	87.1%	83.4%
2021	88.6%	85.0%

• Source: EI administrative data

Some key informants interviewed (7 of 22) said they believe the earnings threshold of $2,500 to $4,200 was generally achievable for self-employed fishers. However, opinions vary based on annual conditions and the specific fish species being targeted. While some reported that meeting this threshold was not a significant challenge, few key informants (2 of 22) mentioned notable exceptions where fluctuations in catch volumes and values impacted certain regions and fisheries. They expressed that it depended on the year and the fish species, saying that some species were low in catch volume some years and required more effort and in others, catch volume was more plentiful and valuable.

Most focus groups (self-employed fishers, employers) stated that the eligibility criteria were not a concern. As per the 2016 MAR, over 98% of all self-employed fishers who qualify for fishing benefits had $5,500 or more in earnings between 2010 and 2015. The rate continued to remain above 98.0% for the remainder of the evaluation period from 2017 to 2022. In half of the groups with self-employed fishers, focus group participants mentioned that work that may take place before or after the fishing season, specifically repairs and upkeep that the crew may have done on fishing vessels or equipment, was missing from defining eligibility for self-employed fishers as this work is often unpaid (directly) but was considered by participants to be part of the work required to receive a share of the catch value.

In a few focus groups (both self-employed fishers and regular benefits recipients), participants questioned the use of the regional unemployment rate in calculating benefits via the use of a varying earnings divisor. They felt that an unemployment rate for the province would be more appropriate. Their main argument was that fishing work does not change based on regional employment conditions, and the amount fishers catch is not tied to how many jobs exist in that particular region. In particular, fishers in regions with lower unemployment rates faced relatively stricter eligibility criteria and had to work more to qualify for the same level of weekly benefits. Some focus group participants even noted that fishers in urban EI regions had to earn nearly twice as much to reach the maximum weekly benefit rate, compared to those in rural EI regions despite fishing in the same waters.

Some Service Canada officers and representatives from fisher associations interviewed (7 of 22) noted the changing of fishing seasons relative to EI fishing qualifying and benefit periods. It was noted that climate change has impacted the fishing seasons, and they were becoming less defined as summer and winter seasons, resulting in EI fishing claimants having difficulty in establishing their claims within the benefit period windows. For example, if there were delays in fishing due to weather conditions (for example, a severe storm), some fishers had to wait to apply for EI fishing benefits until later in the summer. EI regulations require that EI fishing benefits’ applications include the past 31 weeks of work history, and now this period crossed over into both fishing seasons and included 2 ROEs from fishing. As a result, some self-employed fishers have had to establish their claims at varying times during the benefit periods resulting in claims that are not able to use the maximum 26 weeks of entitlement due to the benefit period ending.

4.1 Timing of EI fishing benefit claims

Self-employed fishers’ ROE and pure fishing claims^{Footnote 13} data were merged to identify when fishers were working (based on the ROE’s first week worked and last week worked) and when they were receiving fishing benefits or served a waiting period (based on the Status Vector weekly variables).^{Footnote 14} Figure 7 shows the number of self-employed fishers who fished or claimed EI fishing benefits by week for single-season fishers (pure claim) in 2018.^{Footnote 15} Panel A shows summer fishing benefits and Panel B presents winter fishing benefits. Fishers who only established summer fishing benefits claims typically fish from May to October and receive benefits from October to May, while winter benefits fishers typically fish from December to May and receive benefits from May to December.^{Footnote 16}

Figure 7: Number of self-employed fishers who fished or claimed EI fishing benefits by week for single-season fishers (pure claim), 2018

Text description of figure 7

Week	Month	Summer	Waiting Period	Work
1	January	4754	80	131
2	January	4811	93	118
3	January	4911	56	113
4	January	4961	42	112
5	February	4990	28	118
6	February	5005	24	130
7	February	5011	13	132
8	February	4963	18	181
9	March	4906	4	248
10	March	5005	1	172
11	March	4971	0	195
12	March	4920	1	214
13	April	4909	0	252
14	April	3839	2	441
15	April	3372	2	650
16	April	2834	0	1117
17	April	2355	10	1602
18	May	1849	17	2139
19	May	1470	12	2454
20	May	1252	18	2646
21	May	1043	17	2872
22	June	864	17	3111
23	June	684	12	3321
24	June	28	43	3596
25	June	23	24	3433
26	July	23	65	3361
27	July	24	20	3384
28	July	21	42	3386
29	July	16	6	3351
30	July	13	11	3366
31	August	11	6	3592
32	August	7	3	3668
33	August	8	1	3608
34	August	7	0	3391
35	September	4	2	3216
36	September	3	0	2963
37	September	3	0	2771
38	September	1	0	2596
39	September	0	1645	2340
40	October	1616	968	1942
41	October	2549	698	1530
42	October	3214	479	1284
43	October	3659	486	1030
44	November	4114	506	733
45	November	4627	356	511
46	November	4953	327	368
47	November	5268	251	278
48	December	5439	232	258
49	December	5671	216	196
50	December	5877	270	156
51	December	6136	155	104
52	December	6254	150	92

• Source: EI administrative data

Text description of figure 7

Week	Month	Winter	Waiting Period	Work
1	January	2	0	1202
2	January	2	0	1230
3	January	3	0	1234
4	January	3	0	1241
5	February	2	0	1252
6	February	3	0	1245
7	February	3	0	1252
8	February	3	0	1266
9	March	1	0	1265
10	March	1	0	1238
11	March	1	0	1227
12	March	0	0	1194
13	April	0	225	1036
14	April	221	79	1041
15	April	294	86	1038
16	April	369	53	1083
17	April	422	48	1108
18	May	464	47	1116
19	May	508	29	1115
20	May	530	33	1096
21	May	554	113	1017
22	June	664	800	282
23	June	1448	77	261
24	June	1511	50	233
25	June	1559	51	196
26	July	1603	117	118
27	July	1709	56	84
28	July	1778	42	63
29	July	1806	26	57
30	July	1827	34	48
31	August	1857	29	35
32	August	1867	24	28
33	August	1866	5	34
34	August	1876	11	28
35	September	1848	0	43
36	September	1825	2	53
37	September	1812	0	58
38	September	1810	0	64
39	September	1769	2	92
40	October	1646	1	94
41	October	1574	1	110
42	October	1495	0	107
43	October	1446	0	103
44	November	1424	0	81
45	November	1365	0	132
46	November	1272	0	210
47	November	975	0	250
48	December	454	0	858
49	December	331	0	990
50	December	4	1	1065
51	December	4	3	1067
52	December	0	17	1134

• Source: EI administrative data

Figure 8 shows the number of self-employed fishers who fished or claimed EI fishing benefits by week in both winter and summer seasons (both pure claims) in 2018. These fishers typically did not receive benefits for approximately 8 weeks on average around the end of April to June because they were fishing. The April to June timing also reflects the overlap of qualifying periods for both seasons, meaning fishers could have met the eligibility requirements for both benefits.

Text description of figure 8

Week	Month	Summer	Winter	Waiting Period	Work
1	January	6651	25	124	235
2	January	6686	12	89	244
3	January	6781	11	71	188
4	January	6851	11	47	167
5	February	6848	11	32	167
6	February	6870	10	23	188
7	February	6877	9	14	155
8	February	6809	5	17	175
9	March	6892	6	3	144
10	March	6929	5	0	147
11	March	6871	2	1	162
12	March	6866	0	1	177
13	April	6872	0	58	186
14	April	6229	47	17	586
15	April	5543	62	46	1146
16	April	4446	78	60	2242
17	April	2683	128	254	3715
18	May	2051	290	413	4195
19	May	1575	548	429	4463
20	May	1332	842	407	4508
21	May	947	1052	376	4812
22	June	878	1292	407	4686
23	June	673	1624	356	4622
24	June	11	1910	881	4461
25	June	7	3028	754	3554
26	July	7	3353	1755	2286
27	July	3	5217	522	1701
28	July	1	5483	470	1536
29	July	0	6156	156	1214
30	July	0	6421	111	1003
31	August	0	6617	83	838
32	August	0	6524	87	934
33	August	0	6536	36	944
34	August	0	6686	16	818
35	September	0	6699	7	800
36	September	0	6759	9	707
37	September	0	7034	6	476
38	September	0	6996	8	517
39	September	0	6848	24	644
40	October	21	6969	39	477
41	October	53	7171	57	260
42	October	97	7087	50	308
43	October	138	7006	71	295
44	November	206	7008	103	159
45	November	306	6833	185	171
46	November	483	6511	251	235
47	November	720	6211	270	222
48	December	949	5577	401	397
49	December	1365	5139	342	330
50	December	1689	17	5333	300
51	December	6980	4	267	244
52	December	7214	0	100	234

• Source: EI administrative data

4.2 Backdating claims

EI applicants who file a claim for benefits but want to have the claim begin at an earlier date than the week in which their claim is made must make a request to backdate the claim (also known as antedates) to that earlier date. To be eligible for an antedate, the applicant must qualify on the earlier date and show good cause for the delay in filing. If approved, Service Canada officers must manually adjust the start date of the claim. Historically, Service Canada received a large number of antedate requests involving short delays in applying for EI benefits of all types, with the majority of those antedate requests being approved. Therefore, to offer better service to claimants applying for any EI benefit and to remove the burden of requesting an antedate, the Administrative Policy, also commonly referred to as the administrative rule, was introduced^{Footnote 17}. For fishers, if they established their claim within 4 weeks of the week in which the trip ends (fresh catch) or the week in which the date of purchase (cured catch) occurs short delay is considered as good cause for the delay and the antedate is automatically approved if the fisher qualifies on the earlier date.

An EI fishing claim begins in the week the claim for benefits is made and the applicant must indicate when they want their claim to begin on their application. However, fishers often submit their applications several months after their last fishing trip, meaning that not all requests are granted automatically, and the applicant must submit a separate request.

When asked what common challenges existed in processing EI fishing claims, some internal key informants (8 of 22) pointed to a recurring issue related to this submission practice. They stated that this process adds complexity and is burdensome. In 2022, of the 31,816 EI fishing benefits claims established, 2.1% required Service Canada officers to complete backdating work items. At the claimant level, this represented 2.0% of the 21,569 individuals who established a claim that year.

This issue occurs among self-employed fishers who apply for both summer and winter, which requires careful timing so that they can split their ROEs so as to have their fishing earnings in the correct qualifying periods. For example, fishers have a 31-week qualifying period to accumulate earnings for a new claim. However, when they try to split earnings across multiple ROEs from 1 fishing season between 2 claims, they often miscalculate the dates. This can lead to the early termination of a previous claim, making the process even more complicated.

The need for precise timing can cause confusion for both claimants and Service Canada officers. The challenge is not only ending the benefit period of EI fishing benefits claims on time, but also about retroactively canceling and re-establishing benefit periods with antedates to provide clients their full entitlement to both winter and summer fishing benefits. According to Service Canada key informants (8 of 22), this not only increases administrative workload but may also cause barriers for fishers trying to access EI fishing benefits.

For example, earnings from multiple ROEs are used to establish 1 EI fishing benefits claim instead of having the ROEs split across 2 separate benefit periods for each season of EI fishing benefits. When all earnings are used for 1 benefit period, fishers cannot qualify for the next season’s claim, creating eligibility issues. Officers must then perform complex manual interventions as outlined in current legislative and regulatory requirements, including but not limited to:

• retroactively canceling the benefit period
• re-establishing a new claim that is antedated, to include only 1 ROE
• determining the timing of the next claim, to ensure the “newly established antedated claim” is terminated in a timely manner

4.3 EI fishing benefits and regular benefits compared

EI fishing benefit claimants in 2018 were compared to regular benefits claimants from fishing-related occupations^{Footnote 18} and claimants from seasonal primary industries^{Footnote 19} along key socio-demographic characteristics, claim-related characteristics, and income variables. EI fishing claimants were categorized as single season summer or winter or as claiming both seasons during the year.

As shown in Table 3 (below), in terms of gender, among each of the 2 comparator groups of EI regular claimants a higher proportion were women compared to self-employed fishers. On average, claimants in both comparator groups were slightly younger than fishers who claimed benefits for both seasons (-3.5 years at most). The education level across groups was comparable with at least 75% of claimants reporting a high school education as their highest level of education.

Both comparator groups of EI regular claimants had higher average weeks of benefit entitlement than fishers who claim benefits for a single season (maximum of 26 weeks) but less than fishers who claim benefits for both seasons (maximum of 26 weeks for each of the 2 claims). In terms of the number of weeks of entitlement used, EI regular benefits claimants from seasonal primary industries had similar usage fishers who claimed benefits for a single season (24.0 versus 23.4 for winter and 26.0 weeks for summer^{Footnote 20}). On the other hand, claimants from fishing-related occupations used 31.2 weeks on average and fishers who claimed benefits for both seasons used 40.6 weeks. The average weekly benefit rate of both comparator groups of EI regular claimants was lower than the average for all fishing claimants.

Based on the EI administrative data, the average total benefit amount received was similar for both regular claimants and fishers who claim benefits for a single season (between $10,000 to $13,000 per claim). Self-employed fishers claiming in both seasons had the highest average weekly benefit rate ($528) and received on average the highest amount of benefits ($21,246 for both claims) in a calendar year. In terms of income, EI fishing claimants had higher total individual annual income (as reported on income tax and benefit returns) than the 2 groups of EI regular claimants.

Approximately, 61.6% of claims from fishing-related occupations and 52.9% of claims from seasonal primary industries were considered seasonal according to the definition used in the EI MAR.^{Footnote 21}

• *Claimants appear once, claim-related variables are the sum of both claims except for the weekly benefit rate where it the average
• ** Any type of benefits during the claim
• *** Seasonal as defined for the purposes of the EI MAR
• Source: EI administrative data

4.4 Geographic distribution of EI fishing claimants

Fishing benefit claims were concentrated among the Atlantic provinces, Quebec, and British Columbia. Figure 9 shows how fishing claims were distributed across provinces for each year of the reference period. In 2021, more than half (56.6%) of self-employed fishers were concentrated in 3 EI regions:

• Newfoundland and Labrador
• Western Nova Scotia
• Prince Edward Island

Text description of figure 9

Year	Newfoundland and Labrador	Prince Edward Island	Nova Scotia	New Brunswick	Quebec	British Columbia	Other
2000	52.52	10.77	30.11	13.65	7.25	18.49	1.95
2001	53.81	10.69	28.43	13.09	6.92	17.68	1.93
2002	48.86	9.65	24.19	11.36	5.87	15.17	1.7
2003	48.83	9.65	23.67	11.21	5.65	14.83	1.69
2004	46.18	9.60	23.40	11.07	5.4	14.27	1.72
2005	47.21	10.61	25.70	12.09	5.79	15.46	1.77
2006	48.98	11.07	27.17	12.65	6.05	15.65	1.86
2007	49.45	10.93	27.46	12.53	6.04	15.72	1.86
2008	50.80	11.13	28.59	12.97	6.29	17.23	1.93
2009	51.28	11.42	30.00	13.54	6.47	18.25	1.9
2010	52.51	11.43	30.44	13.81	6.56	17.99	2.04
2011	50.05	10.86	29.12	13.24	6.23	17.35	1.92
2012	51.45	11.09	29.98	13.64	6.38	17.56	1.91
2013	53.51	11.58	31.19	14.21	6.65	18.14	1.98
2014	52.28	11.47	30.58	13.97	6.46	18.08	1.9
2015	51.97	11.53	30.13	13.84	6.34	17.63	1.73
2016	48.83	11.41	29.05	13.64	6.12	16.69	1.58
2017	48.63	11.16	27.89	13.12	5.88	15.5	1.72
2018	49.38	11.20	27.77	13.03	5.79	15.59	1.74
2019	48.80	11.17	27.41	12.81	5.68	15.26	1.75
2020	55.46	11.96	32.87	14.59	6.47	21.37	1.67
2021	51.68	11.01	27.12	12.77	5.63	16.16	1.69
2022	49.45	10.84	26.37	12.25	5.32	14.68	1.79

• Source: EI administrative data

4.5 Benefit rate and income

Since 2000, there has been relatively little variation in the share of EI fishing benefit claims entitled to the maximum weekly benefit rate aside from the low of 60% in 2009. In the 3 years prior to the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, approximately 73% of claims reached the maximum weekly benefit rate threshold, and in 2021, 75% reached it. In comparison, the share of EI regular claimants receiving the maximum weekly benefit rate was just below 50.0% in the years just before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2018-2019.^{Footnote 22}

Figure 10 details the share of claims reaching the maximum weekly benefit rate by season from 2000 to 2021. In the figure, claims are shown by summer and winter benefit and by single-season and 2-season claimants. Summer 2-season includes all summer EI fishing benefit claims for those who claim both summer and winter and winter 2-season includes their winter EI fishing benefit claims.

Text description of figure 10

Year	Summer only	Winter only	Summer 2-season	Winter 2-season
2000	68.3	62.2	88.7	66.2
2001	61.5	59.4	85.2	63.3
2002	60.9	58.8	81.4	66.1
2003	61.2	57.1	81.7	67.9
2004	62.0	58.3	83.3	63.0
2005	54.8	58.9	81.3	68.2
2006	55.5	57.0	77.8	62.5
2007	56.9	60.8	78.8	63.2
2008	56.1	62.4	78.4	60.8
2009	53.4	60.1	65.9	59.4
2010	58.8	60.2	75.9	70.7
2011	58.5	65.0	81.4	69.3
2012	56.3	59.2	78.3	67.2
2013	55.7	66.4	74.8	74.4
2014	62.2	68.9	82.7	77.6
2015	61.4	65.1	86.5	76.7
2016	61.1	67.0	84.6	79.2
2017	57.6	68.2	84.8	79.3
2018	59.8	67.5	82.7	78.8
2019	59.5	67.7	84.9	70.2
2020	70.7	74.2	69.8	78.6
2021	56.4	63.4	83.7	77.1

• Source: EI administrative data

Compared to EI regular benefits claimants from fishing-related occupations and seasonal primary industries in Table 3, all EI fishing benefits claimants received higher average weekly benefit rates in 2018. The average weekly benefit rate of regular benefits claimants in both groups of EI regular benefits claimants was lower than for fishing benefits claimants. Self-employed fishers claiming in both seasons had the highest average weekly benefit rate ($528) and received the highest amount of EI benefits on average (a total amount of $21,246 for both claims). Although the average EI fishing claimant uses fewer weeks of benefits per claim than the average regular EI claimant, they receive a higher average weekly benefit.

While the proportion of EI fishing benefits claimants at the maximum weekly benefit rate was higher than both groups of EI regular benefits claimants, all EI fishing claimants focus groups reported that the weekly benefit rate was too low to meet their off-season financial needs. All 12 focus groups with 50 participating recipients (self-employed fishers and regular benefits) reported that the benefit rate of 55% of weekly average insurable earnings was perceived as insufficient. Participants were not concerned if a potential increase in the weekly benefit rate was due to an increase in the share of average insurable earnings replaced (for example, increasing from 55% to 60% of average insurable earnings) or increasing the level of maximum insurable earnings.

In a few focus groups (both EI fishing and EI regular claimants), participants stated that the impact of the divisor was significant, and because it is subject to fluctuation, it made it difficult for them to understand the insurable earnings required to receive the maximum weekly benefit rate if they were claiming EI fishing benefits. There were a few EI fishing claimants who stated the divisor was not a concern because participants had little difficulty reaching the maximum threshold.

Incomes for EI fishing claimants have steadily risen over the evaluation period and are shown in Figure 11 and 12 below in real 2019 Canadian dollars. The average total income (T1) for an EI fishing claimant has risen from approximately $27,000 in 2001 to almost $80,000 in 2021. Gross fishing incomes have also seen an increase from just under $70,000 to just over $105,000 in 2021. The amount of EI benefits received^{Footnote 23} in a year has seen a smaller increase from approximately $10,000 in 2001 to approximately $18,600 in 2021.

Text description of figure 11

Year	Gross fishing	Net fishing	EI benefits	Total income
2000	52270	19893	8471	23256
2001	49353	18613	8698	22985
2002	45644	18554	9563	24278
2003	34477	14205	7042	18702
2004	38337	15157	8699	22193
2005	39796	15716	8236	22927
2006	41655	16668	8925	25191
2007	39644	15544	9118	24843
2008	37235	14916	9347	24642
2009	42493	17170	9122	26804
2010	43079	19595	9704	29707
2011	42007	18798	10344	30137
2012	42829	19165	10203	30451
2013	51253	25078	10271	35457
2014	53324	27530	10860	38022
2015	59136	31219	10974	41240
2016	55829	28630	11481	42180
2017	55799	28410	11989	43680
2018	55430	28460	12368	44369
2019	50975	23514	13273	46427
2020	68769	37466	13898	59140
2021	52270	19893	8471	23256

• Source: EI administrative data

Text description of figure 12

Year	Gross fishing	Net fishing	EI benefits	Total income
2000	88443	29433	12879	33358
2001	83865	29752	13525	34688
2002	81574	29236	16285	37768
2003	66883	23385	10514	28254
2004	78989	25809	12670	33319
2005	76430	23301	12431	32223
2006	79927	26593	13067	35681
2007	75759	23734	13688	35089
2008	66720	18929	13807	31778
2009	68160	21239	13619	33567
2010	80052	28869	14588	41121
2011	81850	30055	15165	42916
2012	77166	28629	15712	42650
2013	91257	37813	16026	51148
2014	103549	48431	16672	60871
2015	106563	49600	16897	62516
2016	116908	55458	17801	71660
2017	103185	45823	18704	66559
2018	111102	49171	19211	70766
2019	78987	31646	19482	59729
2020	124431	63430	21024	89988
2021	88443	29433	12879	33358

• Source: EI administrative data

4.6 Working while on claim

While on claim, EI fishing claimants may continue to work either in fishing related activities or in off-season regular employment. For EI fishing claimants, their benefits were typically not affected as income earned while on claim was typically below the 90% threshold. Table 4 (below) provides the statistics on all EI fishing claims and the share of those which had their weekly benefits reduced for the 2018 fishing year.^{Footnote 24} Among fishing claims, those which were established by claimants who claimed in both seasons (35.2%) were more likely to experience reductions in claims, compared with claims from claimants who established only 1 summer (20.7%) or 1 winter (19.2%) fishing claim. However, in total, the amount of benefits reduced for claims established in both seasons represented 3.7% of the total fishing benefits they would have received otherwise.

• Source: EI administrative data

In most focus groups of self-employed fishers, there were mentions of a scarcity of employment in some regions. Others also mentioned the only jobs available were low paying or minimum wage jobs, so most self-employed fishers stated they were even less motivated to work when their hourly take-home wage would have been half of minimum wage after their EI benefits were reduced by 50 cents for every dollar of earned income.

4.7 Temporary measures

During the evaluation period, 2 temporary measures were introduced that affected EI fishing benefits either directly or indirectly.

Commodity prices downturn

In the wake of the commodity (Oil and Gas) prices downturn, the Government of Canada announced special measures in Budget 2016. The temporary measures targeted 15 EI economic regions that exhibited a sharp and sustained increase in the unemployment rate without showing significant signs of a recovery, including regions with significant EI fishing claims. The temporary measures included an additional 5 weeks of entitlement for all EI regular claimants for a total entitlement of up to 50 weeks for claims established between January 4, 2015 and July 8, 2017.

To examine the effects of the commodity downturn measures, the number of EI regular claimants who were previously self-employed fishers who established EI fishing claims located in affected regions were compared with those in unaffected regions. Figure 12 shows that while temporary measures were in effect, the net number of fishing-to-regular claimants continued to decrease with more claimants instead becoming regular-to-fishing claimants in both commodity regions and other regions. In commodity regions, 959 claimants established EI regular benefits claims after previously claiming EI fishing benefits while 1,494 claimants established claims for EI fishing benefits after previously claiming EI regular benefits. This results in the net change of -1.7% relative to the 30,782 EI fishing benefits claims that were established in the same regions during this period.

Text description of figure 13

Year	Commodity regions	Other regions
2011	0.1	-1.3
2012	0.1	-1.3
2013	0.6	-1.6
2014	-1.0	-2.2
2015	-1.3	-2.8
2016	-2.1	-3.4
2017	-2.9	-3.5
2018	-3.7	-3.1
2019	-3.5	-2.5

• Source: EI administrative data

In context, from 2005-2022 there were 24,814 cases where claimants established EI regular benefit claims and then within a 5-year period established EI fishing benefit claims. Of those who established fishing benefit claims after regular benefit claims, 9,992 (40.3%) of these claimants eventually returned to establish EI regular benefit claims within 5 years. For fishing-to-regular benefit claims, there were 18,752 cases recorded with 6,187 (33.0%) returning to establish an EI fishing benefit claim within 5 years after collecting regular benefits. Therefore, the number of EI claimants who claim either EI regular or EI fishing benefits and then later claim the opposite benefit type represent a small population relative to the number of EI fishing claimants who access benefits annually.

COVID-19 pandemic

The temporary measures^{Footnote 25} introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic did not appear to have any influence on off-season employment, as focus group participants did not indicate that they were significantly impacted during COVID in their specific situations. In some focus groups with fishing claimants, they noted that seasons were sometimes delayed or the value of the catch declined in some communities; however, their annual incomes during the COVID-19 pandemic were not drastically impacted. Some participants stated they remember receiving benefits quicker during the COVID-19 pandemic than for previous claims and that the time to process an application significantly improved and this has continued after the end of the temporary measures.

The minimum regional unemployment rate of 13.1% was applied to all EI economic regions between September 27, 2020 and September 25, 2021, which led to all fishers requiring a minimum of $2,500 in insurable earnings rather than an amount ranging between $2,500 to $4,200. Less than 1% of fishing claims established during the temporary measures qualified for fishing benefits due to the temporary $2,500 common entrance requirement, whereas around 2% of fishing claims qualified based on their insurable earnings used to establish 1 of their previous 2 claims of the same type, a temporary measure which allowed self-employed fishers to use earnings from a previous claim of the same type within the past 2 years to qualify for a new EI fishing benefits claim.

During the same period the minimum regional rate of unemployment was set at 13.1%, a divisor of 14 was uniformly used to calculate the weekly benefit rate of all EI fishing benefits claims, with a minimum weekly benefit rate of $500. Among fishing claims established when this first set of EI temporary measures was in effect, 6.9% of claims with a weekly benefit rate above $500 benefitted from a higher benefit rate (an additional $66 per week on average), whereas 8.6% of claims benefitted from the minimum $500 weekly benefit rate (an additional $231 per week on average). Moreover, 8.2% of fishing claims established between September 26, 2021 and November 20, 2021 benefitted from the minimum $300 weekly benefit rate.

5.1 Application process

When asked about their views on the delivery of EI fishing benefits, most groups of self-employed fishers expressed satisfaction with the delivery of benefits. In terms of creating and filing ROEs, few employers reported having issues and felt that the process worked very well, although it can be time consuming for large employers to create hundreds of ROEs.

Challenges in service delivery were identified by a few groups of EI fishing claimants when they required assistance from Service Canada during the application process. A few focus groups of EI fishing claimants mentioned that often they had to call several times or speak to several people who were knowledgeable enough to be able to provide correct information about their claim. For example, a few participants summarized this by saying that they had to spend hours on the phone with a Service Canada officer and often had to provide more details about their catch without obtaining accurate information on their claim.

In most of the focus groups with employers, participants also mentioned that they were aware that self-employed fishers had concerns with obtaining timely and accurate information when calling Service Canada for assistance. This finding was shared by a few key informant interviewees (4 of 22) who described that many times self-employed fishers had called to ask about fishing benefit applications but received advice related to EI regular benefits instead. Service Canada key informants shared their perspective on service delivery, suggesting that discrepancies between Service Canada officers and the variability and correct information was frustrating for system users.

5.2 Timeliness and delivery

Most focus group participants who were self-employed fishers and fishing industry employees noted that they had few concerns with the delivery and service of fishing or regular benefits both from improvements in service and their previous experience applying for EI benefits claims. Some focus group participants spoke about how the service and delivery have improved over the past few years,^{Footnote 26} with timelier payment of benefits and fewer issues, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. External and internal key informant respondents (9 of 22) who provided feedback on the electronic filing option, all reported that it has significantly improved processing including reducing instances of missing ROEs, transcription errors, and delays in the delivery of benefits.

Processing of EI fishing benefits aligns with the timelines expected for all EI benefits claims, as most respondents indicated that the processing of fishing claims was typically straightforward and efficient, provided that all necessary documentation was accurate and complete. Some noted that the streamlined processes and automation contributed to quick approvals, especially when there were no contentious issues. However, some respondents highlighted recent delays, particularly when manual intervention was required by officers due to missing ROEs. Key informant interviews with Service Canada officers (9 of 22) shared a consensus view by noting that they met their service standards because fishing benefit claims were quicker to process given that there was just 1 self-employed fisher ROE and it was straightforward.

5.3 Accuracy and investigations

The Quality Services Division of Service Canada produces the quarterly Processing Excellence, Accuracy and Quality (PEAQ) report which prepares a summary of EI claims processing accuracy. For EI fishing claims in the 2022-2023 fiscal year,^{Footnote 27} 61 reviews were completed of EI fishing claims. There were 19 claims with issues identified with fact-finding^{Footnote 28} being incomplete as the most common error reported.

In addition to service quality, the Integrity Services Branch of Service Canada investigated on average 392 fishing claims per fiscal year (2013-2022) which represents approximately 0.16% of all EI claims investigated. The predominant investigation types were claimants possibly receiving Canada Pension Plan (CPP) payments while also receiving EI fishing benefits, followed by investigations of a discrepancy between reported and computer recorded earnings. Fishing claim investigations reported an average annual savings of $321,640 for the EI program which represented an average of 0.1% of all EI savings annually.

5.4 ROEs, designated employers, and filing

In most focus groups with employers, concerns with their obligations as the designated employer was expressed. Participants said that because the buyer completes and files the ROEs, they were seen as the designated employer for self-employed fishers; however, they did not consider their business to be the employer because they did not have authority in hiring the crew members on each vessel, in establishing sharing agreements for income allocation, or other aspects of their employment. They were also concerned that if a crew member was found not to have worked on a vessel as reported, it could negatively impact their business, since they relied solely on the captain’s documentation such as crew, crew share agreements, fishing days, to complete information for the ROEs.

In addition, employers were also concerned that because they were the deemed employer, that they had to pay the EI-portion of the employer contributions, which they also did not believe was fair. For example, it was explained, that 1 difficulty was from an operational perspective, as they have no authority to verify whether all the information received on the participation of crew members and their sharing agreement were accurate.

One participant from an employer focus group said that the buyer should not be responsible for paying the employer portion of EI because the buyer was not technically the employer.

Issuance of ROEs

Employer and self-employed fisher focus group participants used a mix of electronic and paper ROEs, with paper almost exclusively used for older workers^{Footnote 29} who either preferred paper or did not have access or the technical proficiency to use electronic methods according to participants who were employers. All 6 focus groups with 22 participating employers reported few issues or complications with issuing ROEs for self-employed fishers and said the process was straightforward. Employers noted that receiving necessary information from the captain or adjusting fishing dates and crew-sharing arrangements was typically not problematic.

Administrative data shows that self-employed fishers who had paid EI premiums and had an ROE issued ranged between 92.2% in 2001 and 85.5% in 2014. Since 2014, the ratio of self-employed fishers who received an ROE has steadily increased to 90.6% in 2021 as shown in Figure 13.

Text description of figure 14

Year	Percentage of fishers with an ROE
2001	89.2%
2002	89.9%
2003	89.0%
2004	89.0%
2005	89.3%
2006	88.8%
2007	88.5%
2008	87.5%
2009	87.9%
2010	88.1%
2011	88.5%
2012	87.8%
2013	87.8%
2014	85.5%
2015	87.4%
2016	87.5%
2017	87.8%
2018	88.6%
2019	89.8%
2020	89.7%
2021	90.6%

• Source: EI administrative data

Eligibility and Accessibility:

• Evaluation question 1. To what extent do the eligibility criteria (including the share of catch value) make the fishing benefits accessible?
  1. How have fishing moratoriums, number of days fishing, catch value fluctuation, and fisher's share affected eligibility?
  2. How have contributions (in other words, premiums paid) from fishers and fishing benefits received fluctuated since 2000 compared to comparable workers?

Participation and usage:

• Evaluation question 2. What is the socio-economic profile (for example, marital status, education, and income) of self-employed fishers compared to comparable claimants? How has it changed since 2000?
• Evaluation question 3. What is the usage pattern (for example, frequency, duration) of self-employed fishers compared to comparable claimants?
  1. What are the impacts of the fishing benefit rules—such as the calculation of the benefit rate, the divisor, the waiting period, the working while on claim rule, the maximum duration, and the clawback rule—on fishing claimants?
  2. How have contributions (in other words, premiums paid) from fishers and fishing benefits received fluctuated since 2000 compared to comparable workers?
• Evaluation question 4. To what extent did fishing claimants also establish claims for EI regular benefits and special benefits since 2000?
  • To what extent have changes to the EI regular benefits impacted fishing claims, including the changes related to temporary measures, commodity price downturn measures, and the variation of the unemployment rates?
• Evaluation question 5. What are the effects of the fishing benefits on off-season work compared to the effects of regular benefits for comparable claimants?
  • What were the effects of the temporary measures on off-season work?

Delivery:

• Evaluation question 6. What works well and what improvements could be made to the delivery of fishing benefits?
  1. How does the delivery and service quality of fishing benefits (for example, delivery satisfaction, requirements reporting - ROE, payment and process accuracy, administrative reviews) compare to regular benefits?

Literature review

The literature review assessed EI fishing benefits and various international fishing industry support and subsidy schemes to identify if they have been effective at preventing layoffs and stabilizing employment during off-seasons and times of economic downturns. More broadly, the literature review helped contextualize the history and effect of EI fishing benefits within Canada and internationally in terms of its participation, usage, effect, design, and delivery of the benefit. Industry reports and surveys were included to provide more context on the fishing industry and the self-employed fisher population. The studies discussed in this literature review have been primarily collected using the EBSCO and Google Scholar search engines.

Temporary measures – 2020 to 2022

EI rules for claims established prior to September 27, 2020:

• between $2,500 and $4,200 insurable earnings threshold for self-employed fishers to qualify for fishing benefits depending on the regional unemployment rate
• $3,760 insurable earnings threshold for self-employed fishers to qualify for special benefits
• a 1-week waiting period must be served before a claimant can begin to receive EI benefits
• the benefit rate is calculated by using the earnings in the current qualifying period
• if a fisher qualifies for a regular benefits, the fisher must claim that benefit

EI rules for claims established between September 27, 2020 and September 25, 2021:

• $2,500 insurable earnings threshold for self-employed fishers to qualify for fishing or special benefits
• the claim could be based on their earnings in their current qualifying period, or the earnings used to establish a fishing claim of the same type (summer or winter) from 1 of the 2 previous years, whichever amount was the highest.
• the one-week waiting period was waived from January 31, 2021
• the benefit rate was calculated using either the earnings in the current qualifying period, or the earnings used to establish a fishing claim of the same type (summer or winter) from 1 of the 2 previous years, whichever was the highest
• the EI temporary measures also granted fishers the ability to claim fishing benefits even if they qualified for regular benefits

EI rules for claims established between September 26, 2021 and September 24, 2022:

• $2,500 insurable earnings threshold for fishers to qualify for fishing or special benefits.
• The claim could be based on their earnings in their current qualifying period, or the earnings used to establish a fishing claim of the same type (summer or winter) from 1 of the 2 previous years, whichever amount was the highest^{Footnote 31}.
• a 1-week waiting period must be served before a claimant can begin to receive EI benefits
• the benefit rate was calculated using either the earnings in the current qualifying period, or the earnings used to establish a fishing claim of the same type (summer or winter) from 1 of the 2 previous years, whichever was the highest^{Footnote 32}
• the EI temporary measures also granted fishers the ability to claim fishing benefits even if they qualified for regular benefits

EI rules for claims established after September 24, 2022:

• between $2,500 and $4,200 insurable earnings threshold for self-employed fishers to qualify for fishing benefits depending on the regional unemployment rate
• $3,760 insurable earnings threshold for self-employed fishers to qualify for special benefits
• a 1-week waiting period must be served before a claimant can begin to receive EI benefits
• the benefit rate is calculated by using the earnings in the current qualifying period
• if a fisher qualifies for regular benefits, the fisher must claim that benefit