$5 billion loan program announced for Canadian aquaculture

Aquaculture producers and processors in Canada will have access to a $5 billion loan program recently announced by the Canadian government. The hope is that the money will help country's aquaculture sector to succeed in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The $5 billion Farm Credit Canada loan program was announced by federal minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Marie-Claude Bibeau. The announcement followed the federal government's earlier relief packages which included additional liquidity from the Business Development Bank of Canada and up to 75 percent wage subsidy for eligible employers.
 

Image credit: Abdallahh on Flickr
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Additionally, the new Canada Emergency Response Benefit offers a taxable benefit of up to $2,000 a month for up to four months for workers who lose their income as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

'During these unprecedented times, it is more important than ever that we work together across all orders of government to keep Canadians safe and communities supported. Today, we spoke for the second time in recent days, to discuss the rapidly evolving COVID-19 impacts on the fish and seafood industry in British Columbia,' Bernadette Jordan, minister of Fisheries, Oceans, and the Canadian Coast Guard and Lana Popham, minister of Agriculture for British Columbia, said in a joint statement on March 27th.

The Aquaculturists

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