Employment Insurance (Fishing) Regulations (SOR/96-445)

8.3 A week relating to employment in the labour force is a week in which the fisher has no insurable earnings and is

• (a) a week in respect of which the fisher has received or will receive

  • (i) workers’ compensation payments, other than a lump sum or pension paid in full and final settlement of a claim made for workers’ compensation payments,

  • (ii) under a wage-loss indemnity plan, any earnings by reason of illness, injury, quarantine, pregnancy or care of a child or children referred to in subsection 23(1) of the Act,

  • (iii) indemnity payments referred to in paragraph 35(2)(f) of the Employment Insurance Regulations, or

  • (iv) earnings because of which, under section 19 of the Act, no benefits are payable to the fisher;

• (b) a week in which the fisher was

  • (i) attending a course or program of instruction or training to which the fisher was referred by the Commission or by an authority designated by the Commission,

  • (ii) employed under the Self-employment employment benefit or the Job Creation Partnerships employment benefit established by the Commission under section 59 of the Act or under a similar benefit that is provided by a provincial government or other organization and is the subject of an agreement under section 63 of the Act,

  • (iii) prevented from establishing an interruption of earnings by virtue of the allocation of earnings in accordance with section 36 of the Employment Insurance Regulations,

  • (iv) serving a week of the waiting period, or

  • (v) serving a week of disqualification under section 28 of the Act or disqualified under section 30 of the Act for a week of unemployment for which benefits would otherwise have been payable to the fisher;

• (c) a week of unemployment due to a stoppage of work attributable to a labour dispute at the factory, workshop or other premises at which the fisher was employed; or

• (d) a week in respect of which benefits have been paid or were payable to the fisher, including a week in respect of which provincial benefits within the meaning of Part III.1 or III.2 of the Employment Insurance Regulations have been paid to the fisher.

Unemployment of Fishers

• 9 (1) Subject to subsections (2) to (6), section 31 of the Employment Insurance Regulations does not apply to persons who are claimants under these Regulations.

• (2) A claimant who is a self-employed person engaged mainly in fishing, whether it is an insurable employment or not, or who operates a business in fishing on the claimant’s own account or in a partnership or co-adventure in fishing, or a claimant who is mainly employed in fishing, whether it is an insurable employment or not, in an employment in which the claimant controls the claimant’s working hours, shall not be regarded as unemployed during any period in respect of which the claimant remains so engaged or employed.

• (3) A fisher is unemployed and available for work in respect of the fisher’s employment, engagement or operation of a business in fishing, whether it is an insurable employment or not, during the benefit periods referred to in subsection 8(11).

• (4) Notwithstanding subsection (3), where a fisher is offered and refuses suitable employment in fishing without good cause, the fisher shall be disqualified from receiving benefits, other than special benefits, for a number of weeks that is not less than 7 or more than 12.

• (5) Subsections 28(2) and (5) to (7) of the Act are applicable for the purposes of subsection (4).

• (6) For the purposes of this section, a person who is ordinarily a fisher does not cease to be a fisher while engaged in any of the incidental work referred to in the definition “fisher” in subsection 1(1), even though the person is not engaged in making an actual catch during that time.

Determination and Allocation of Earnings in Periods of Unemployment

• 10 (1) For the purposes of section 19 of the Act, the determination and allocation of earnings of a person who is claiming benefits under these Regulations shall be made in accordance with subsections (2) to (4).

• (2) Where a claimant under these Regulations has any earnings from an employment in fishing under a contract of service, whether it is an insurable employment or not, or has any earnings other than from an employment in fishing, the claimant’s total earnings shall be determined in accordance with section 35 of the Employment Insurance Regulations and allocated in accordance with section 36 of those Regulations.

• (3) The earnings determined in accordance with subsection 5(2) or (3) shall

  • (a) in the case of earnings from a catch consisting of fish other than cured fish, be allocated equally to each day of the fishing trip; and

  • (b) in the case of earnings from a catch consisting of cured fish, be allocated to the week of delivery of the catch.

• (4) For the purposes of subsection 19(3) of the Act, the period referred to in that subsection is the period in respect of which earnings are allocated under paragraph (3)(a) or (b) of this section.

Increase in Required Insurable Earnings

• 11 (1) Despite subsections 7.1(1) to (2.1), (6) and (7) of the Act, the amount of insurable earnings that an insured person requires under section 8 to qualify for benefits is increased to the amount set out in the applicable column of the table to this subsection if the insured person accumulates one or more violations in the 260 weeks before making an initial claim for benefits.

  	Column 1	Column 2	Column 3	Column 4	Column 5
  Item	Regional Rate of Unemployment	Minor Violation ($)	Serious Violation ($)	Very Serious Violation ($)	Subsequent Violation ($)
  1	6% and under	5,250	6,400	7,350	8,400
  2	more than 6% but not more than 7%	5,000	6,000	7,000	8,000
  3	more than 7% but not more than 8%	4,750	5,700	6,650	7,600
  4	more than 8% but not more than 9%	4,500	5,400	6,300	7,200
  5	more than 9% but not more than 10%	4,200	5,100	5,850	6,800
  6	more than 10% but not more than 11%	3,950	4,750	5,600	6,400
  7	more than 11% but not more than 12%	3,625	4,350	5,150	5,850
  8	more than 12% but not more than 13%	3,450	4,050	4,800	5,500
  9	more than 13%	3,200	3,800	4,350	5,100

• (2) [Repealed, SOR/2016-206, s. 14]

• (3) A violation shall not be taken into account under subsection (1) in more than two initial claims for benefits under these Regulations or Part I or VII.1 of the Act if the claimant qualified for benefits with the increased amount of insurable earnings in respect of each of those claims.

• (4) The value of a violation is the aggregate of

  • (a) the amount of the overpayment of benefits resulting from the act or omission on which the violation is based, and

  • (b) if the claimant is disqualified or disentitled from receiving benefits, or the act or omission on which the violation is based relates to qualification requirements under section 8, the amount determined, subject to subsection (5), by multiplying the claimant’s rate of weekly benefits by the average number of weeks of regular benefits, as determined under section 13 of the Employment Insurance Regulations.

• (5) The maximum amount to be determined under paragraph (4)(b) is the amount of benefits that would have been paid to the claimant if the claimant had not been disentitled or disqualified or had met the qualification requirements under section 8.

• (6) A violation accumulated by an individual under section 7.1 or 152.07 of the Act is considered to be a violation for the purposes of this section on the day on which the notice of violation was given to the individual.

Alternate Access to Special Benefits

• 12 (1) An insured person who is not qualified to receive benefits under section 7 of the Act and who is claiming special benefits qualifies to receive the special benefits if the person has at least $3,760 of insurable earnings from employment as a fisher in their qualifying period.

• (2) Notwithstanding paragraphs 8(2)(b) and (7)(b), when an insured person who qualifies under subsection (1) makes an initial claim for benefits, a benefit period shall be established for the person and, once it is established, special benefits are payable to the person in accordance with this section for each week of unemployment that falls in the benefit period.

• (3) Subject to subsection (4), sections 22 to 23.3 of the Act apply to the payment of special benefits under this section.

• (4) Notwithstanding section 18 of the Act, a claimant is not entitled to be paid special benefits for a working day, in a benefit period established under this section, in respect of which the claimant fails to prove that on that day the claimant was

  • (a) unable to work because of an illness, injury or quarantine referred to in subsection 40(4) or (5) of the Employment Insurance Regulations and that the claimant would otherwise be available for work; or

  • (b) entitled to benefits under any of sections 22 to 23.3 of the Act.

• (4.1) A fisher to whom benefits are payable under any of sections 23 to 23.3 of the Act and whose claim for benefits because of illness, injury or quarantine is made for a week that begins on or after the day on which this subsection comes into force is not disentitled under paragraph (4)(a) for failing to prove that they would have been available for work were it not for the illness, injury or quarantine.

• (5) Subject to section 18 of the Act, regular benefits and additional special benefits are payable for a week of unemployment to a claimant who has received special benefits under this section where

  • (a) the claimant has accumulated, since the beginning of the benefit period, insurable earnings from employment as a fisher that, when added to the insurable earnings from employment as a fisher in the claimant’s qualifying period, are equal to or exceed the applicable amount of insurable earnings in employment as a fisher set out in the schedule, determined by reference to the week in which the benefit period began; and

  • (b) pursuant to Part VIII of the Act, any regular benefits or additional special benefits are payable in that benefit period, based on the claimant’s insurable earnings from employment as a fisher in the claimant’s qualifying period.

• (6) Except as otherwise provided in this section, the provisions of the Act and these Regulations apply to claimants claiming benefits under this section.

Conversion

• 13 (1) Where a fisher is claiming benefits under the Employment Insurance Regulations, the following provisions apply:

  • (a) earnings from employment as a fisher shall be converted

    • (i) to hours of insurable employment as a fisher by dividing those earnings in the qualifying period by the minimum wage, or

    • (ii) to weeks of insurable employment as a fisher by dividing those earnings in the qualifying period by the product of the minimum wage multiplied by 35;

  • (b) if the date of delivery of a catch falls within the qualifying period described in section 8 of the Act, the earnings of the fisher from employment as a fisher, as determined in accordance with subsections 5(2) and (3), shall be allocated equally to each day of the fishing trip; and

  • (c) the earnings allocated under paragraph (b) to any day falling within the qualifying period are deemed, for the purposes of subsection 14(2) of the Act, to be insurable earnings in the calculation period but are not to be used to determine the calculation period under subsection 14(4) of the Act.

• (2) [Repealed, SOR/2016-206, s. 16]

• (3) The calculation set out in paragraph (1)(a) shall be used when it is necessary, for the purposes of the Act or any regulations made under the Act, to convert earnings to hours or weeks.