Fisheries Restructuring and Adjustment Measures

On June 19, 1998, the Government of Canada announced restructuring and adjustment measures worth $730 million to assist individuals and coastal communities affected by the closure of the Atlantic groundfish industry. The restructuring measures will ensure that there will continue to be a fishery for future generations. The adjustment measures will provide individuals with the necessary tools to access opportunities in the new economy and assist communities to diversify their economies and capitalize on opportunities beyond the fishery.

The key components supporting Atlantic groundfish industry restructuring and adjustment include: adjustment measures, licence retirement, early retirement, a final cash payment and economic development.

To ensure that current and former TAGS recipients have access to the necessary tools and resources to leave the fishery, a total of $135million has been allocated for a range of adjustment measures. These include: related income support to assist individuals to become self-employed and to provide practical work experience and training to develop new skills; mobility assistance to help people willing to move to find new employment opportunities; and changes to the Employment Insurance (EI) regulations whereby weeks of paid TAGS income support will count as labour force attachment in order to make it easier for clients to re-qualify for EI and thus encourage them to take available work.

To reduce the size of the fleet, a voluntary licence retirement program will be offered, building on lessons learned from previous efforts. Consultations with industry on design will begin shortly. Up to $250million has been allotted for this initiative.

Pending final discussions with provinces, a cost-shared, federal-provincial early retirement package will be made available to eligible TAGS clients who opt to permanently exit the fishery and not avail themselves of any of the other options. Consultations with the provinces must be completed before further details can be released. The federal government contribution to early retirement will be $65million.

Those clients who do not opt for the licence retirement or early retirement programs will receive a final cash payment which will represent the maximum amount they would have received if TAGS had continued to its original termination date of May15, 1999. Those who receive this lump sum payment will also be eligible for adjustment programming. $180 million has been reserved for this initiative.

The Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) and Canada Economic Development (CED) will develop collaborative community and regional economic development initiatives with provinces and other partners. These initiatives will have goals such as: improving the investment climate for the private sector; investing in competitiveness and innovation by assisting small and medium sized businesses and supporting strategic infrastructure initiatives. Provincial governments will be invited to cost-share economic development efforts. Depending on individual circumstances, a number of different federal-provincial arrangements are envisaged. A total of $100million in federal funding has been set aside for economic development measures. Provincial allocations will be based on the number of TAGS clients in each province.

EMP/SKILLS - Skills and Employability Department