Program directory · Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Fisheries Management
- Department
- Fisheries and Oceans Canada
- Program code
- BTF01 (FO)
- Core responsibility
- Fisheries
- In Departmental Plans
- 2018-19 – 2026-27 · New since an earlier plan
What it does
The Fisheries Management program administers Canada’s fisheries in consultation with Indigenous groups, federal departments, other levels of government, private industry, and non-governmental stakeholders. The program promotes sustainability, allocating harvestable resources amongst Indigenous rights holders, commercial harvesters, and recreational anglers. It derives authority from the Fisheries Act, Species at Risk Act, and related regulations and relies on scientific assessments to develop tools such as Integrated Fisheries Management Plans and Rebuilding Plans.
Source: the department's Program Inventory, via GC InfoBase.
History and lineage
First appears in GC InfoBase's actual spending by program in 2018-19. The data does not record when a program was created; it may be older than its first appearance here, which is limited by the sources (program spending starts in 2010-11, Departmental Plans in 2018-19).
| Program | Relation | Years with data | Actual spending over those years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fisheries Management | This program | 2018-19 – 2028-29 | $908M |
No earlier or later program in the same department has a similar name.
Significant changes in scope and budget
Detected from the data: renames between plans, programs it appears to replace, merge with or split into (matched by name), year-over-year changes in spending of at least 25% and $5M, or in employees of at least 20% and 25 FTEs, linked budget measures, and results indicators added or dropped.
| Year | What changed | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2019-20 | Spending $103M, against $75.6M in 2018-19 (+37%). | Actual spending (GC InfoBase) |
| 2020-21 | Spending $218M, against $103M in 2019-20 (+111%). | Actual spending (GC InfoBase) |
| 2021-22 | Employees (FTEs) 629, against 521 in 2020-21 (+21%). | FTEs (GC InfoBase) |
| 2021-22 | Spending $135M, against $218M in 2020-21 (−38%). | Actual spending (GC InfoBase) |
| 2023-24 | Indicators added: % of key fish stocks in the cautious and healthy zone | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2023-24 | Indicators dropped: % of major stocks in the cautious and healthy zone | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2023-24 | Spending $157M, against $108M in 2022-23 (+46%). | Actual spending (GC InfoBase) |
| 2024-25 | Spending $112M, against $157M in 2023-24 (−29%). | Actual spending (GC InfoBase) |
| 2026-27 | Planned employees (FTEs) 429, against 648 in 2025-26 (−34%). | FTEs (GC InfoBase) |
| 2026-27 | Indicators added: % of prescribed fish stocks that were harvested at or below established level | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2026-27 | Indicators dropped: % of key fish stocks in the cautious and healthy zone | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2026-27 | Planned spending $63.4M, against $101M in 2025-26 (−37%). | Latest Departmental Plan |
Success criteria
The program's indicators from its department's Departmental Results Framework: the target set in each year's plan, and the result reported the following year. Source: GC InfoBase.
Historical: targets against results
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-20 | ≥ 52% | 2020 | 48% Between 2015 and 2017 stocks were added to the survey. Many of these stocks have not been assigned a Precautionary Approach (PA) stock status (e.g. Critical zone, Cautious zone, Healthy zone) because they do not have PA reference points and may lack the data needed to identify reference points. Thus, these stocks have been assigned an Uncertain status. Adding more stocks to the Uncertain status c… | Not met |
| 2020-21 | ≥ 52% | 2021 | 46% Due to a large number of stocks being added and having a default status of "uncertain," the percentage of stocks in the cautious and healthy zone has declined. DFO continues the work needed to identify reference points for all the stocks in the survey. | Not met |
| 2021-22 | ≥ 55% | 2022 | 44% The total number of stocks on DFO’s annual sustainability survey for fisheries is used as denominator to calculate this indicator. The stocks are each assigned to one of the following categories: healthy, cautious, or critical stock zones or uncertain status. Uncertain status means that mainly due to data limitations a stock could not be assigned to any of the three zones. “Uncertain” does not me… | Not met |
| 2022-23 | ≥ 55% | 2023 | 48% While the trend is increasing, 40 per cent of the stocks on the 2021 survey had an uncertain stock status and while they are counted as key stocks, they do not add to the number of stocks in the cautious or healthy zone. DFO continues the work needed to identify reference points for all the stocks in the survey. | Not met |
Current: the 2026-27 plan's targets
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≥ 80% | 2027 | — | Planned |
Future goals: targets due after 2026-27
No targets with a later due date.
Spending and employees: planned against actual
Spending
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | $110M | $75.6M |
| 2019-20 | $153M | $103M |
| 2020-21 | $60.9M | $218M |
| 2021-22 | $201M | $135M |
| 2022-23 | $136M | $108M |
| 2023-24 | $132M | $157M |
| 2024-25 | $108M | $112M |
| 2025-26 | $101M | — |
| 2026-27 | $63.4M | — |
| 2027-28 | $62.2M* | — |
| 2028-29 | $54.9M* | — |
Employees (FTEs)
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | 736 | 446 |
| 2019-20 | 507 | 498 |
| 2020-21 | 458 | 521 |
| 2021-22 | 495 | 629 |
| 2022-23 | 638 | 622 |
| 2023-24 | 566 | 622 |
| 2024-25 | 564 | 637 |
| 2025-26 | 648 | — |
| 2026-27 | 429 | — |
| 2027-28 | 425* | — |
| 2028-29 | 383* | — |
Planned spending, plan by plan
Each row is one year's Departmental Plan and its forecast for the next three fiscal years; read a column down to see how the forecast for one year changed. The last row is what was actually spent. Click an amount for its source. Biggest changes in federal spending plans
| Plan | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | 2026-27 | 2027-28 | 2028-29 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 plan | $110,425,910 | $126,402,982 | $124,899,929 | ||||||||
| 2019-20 plan | $152,782,012 | $155,897,517 | $137,207,308 | ||||||||
| 2020-21 plan | $60,898,188 | $58,015,524 | $52,740,315 | ||||||||
| 2021-22 plan | $200,986,975 | $53,438,907 | $52,909,928 | ||||||||
| 2022-23 plan | $135,623,785 | $98,799,757 | $96,022,435 | ||||||||
| 2023-24 plan | $132,206,523 | $101,781,063 | $98,869,018 | ||||||||
| 2024-25 plan | $107,504,282 | $104,858,918 | $58,971,835 | ||||||||
| 2025-26 plan | $100,762,808 | $62,503,582 | $58,915,298 | ||||||||
| 2026-27 plan | $63,367,345 | $62,152,824 | $54,857,589 | ||||||||
| Actual | $75,559,145 | $103,176,344 | $217,921,345 | $135,223,230 | $107,685,186 | $156,851,402 | $111,995,164 |
Actual spending is from Departmental Results Reports and the Public Accounts, as published in GC InfoBase. FTEs are full-time equivalents.
