British Columbia · licensing

How to Get a Hunting Licence in British Columbia

By Hunters Guide. Reviewed against B.C. government and BC Wildlife Federation sources on September 18, 2026.

To hunt in British Columbia you need five things, in this order. A free Fish and Wildlife ID (FWID). A B.C. residency credential. A hunting credential, earned by passing the CORE program. A hunting licence bought through the province's WILD system. Then species licences and tags, for whatever you plan to hunt. Most people get through the whole process in four to eight weeks. The licence itself? $32 for a standard resident.

What you need before you can hunt in B.C.

A B.C. hunting licence requires five separate credentials, and they stack in a fixed order. There's no skipping ahead.

1. Fish and Wildlife ID (FWID). A free personal ID number, and the account everything else hangs off.
2. B.C. residency credential. Proof you live here. The ID you submit needs "an issue date at least 6 months prior to your application date".
3. Hunting credential. For most people this means passing CORE. Once you pass, it goes on your FWID profile.
4. Hunting licence. Bought each year through WILD.
5. Species licences and tags. These are separate purchases, per animal.

Why does the order matter? There's no licence without a credential on file, and no credential on record without an FWID. People book a CORE exam first, then find out they need the ID number to register. Get the FWID first. It's free and takes minutes.

What is CORE, and do you have to take it?

CORE is the province's hunter education program. The BC Wildlife Federation runs it on behalf of the Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship, and puts it this way: "The Conservation and Outdoor Recreation Education (CORE) program is British Columbia's hunter education program."

Is it required? For a B.C. resident, almost certainly. The BCWF states that "The successful completion of the program is required for B.C. residents age 10 or older who wish to obtain hunting credentials." Trained in another province? Our guide to whether hunter education transfers sets out what each government publishes.

Age 10. That surprises people who assume there's a teen minimum. There isn't.

There's one real exemption. Anyone who has already completed the Canadian Firearms Safety Course (CFSC) is exempt from the practical firearms handling portion of CORE. The written exam still applies. Only the handling test drops off, which saves a fee and a scheduling headache. Which course to book first is in CORE or CFSC. The federal licence the CFSC leads to is in how to get a PAL.

What the CORE exam covers

The CORE exam is two separate tests, a written examination and a practical firearms handling test, which are scored independently of each other.

The written test is the bigger of the two. The BCWF confirms that "The written examination consists of 90 multiple-choice questions based on the CORE Manual" and that "You must obtain at least 68 points overall to pass the written examination." Roughly 76%, then. That's a real pass mark, not a formality.

The content spans conservation, ethics, law, first aid, firearm safety, animal identification, bird identification, and Indigenous hunting practices. Birds are where people quietly come unstuck. Telling a diving duck from a dabbling duck on a small printed image is harder than it sounds, so drill it before exam day. Our BC CORE practice test has 100 questions across the same topics, each answer explained. If it does go wrong, see what happens if you fail the CORE exam.

On the practical side, you're tested on safe handling of two of the five firearm action types. The BCWF notes that "A minimum score of 23 out of 30 is required for a pass."

Each of the two tests costs $30, paid to the examiner. Pass, and there's a $30 administration fee to the BCWF for the graduation certificate. Budget $90 if you write both, or $60 if your CFSC exempts you from the practical.

How to get a Fish and Wildlife ID

A Fish and Wildlife ID is a free personal identification number that gives you access to B.C. hunting and freshwater fishing services in WILD. Two routes lead to one.

Online, log in to WILD with either a Basic BCeID or a BC Services Card Account. That's the faster route if you already have one of those logins. Setting up a Basic BCeID from scratch adds a few minutes, with no waiting period.

The other route is in person, at a FrontCounter BC office, a Service BC office, or a participating vendor. Handy if the online login gives you trouble (it occasionally does).

Neither way costs anything. A site charging you for an FWID is the wrong site.

What a B.C. hunting licence costs

A standard B.C. Resident hunting licence costs $32, which is a $25 base fee plus a $7 Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation (HCTF) surcharge. The prices below don't include 5% GST.

Look at the senior rate. The province confirms that "Seniors (65 years of age or older) are eligible for a B.C. Resident Hunting Licence at a reduced cost." At $7, it matches the youth licence.

The licence is digital. The province says "You can choose to print these licences from your FWID profile but it is not required." So the base licence doesn't hang on a printout.

Species licences work differently, and this catches people. They're issued on waterproof, tearproof paper that can't be printed at home. The province also requires all current year species licences to be physically carried while hunting. Digital licence, paper tags. Keep that split in mind.

Do you need species licences and tags too?

A species licence is a separate permit, bought per animal, that authorizes you to hunt one particular species. The base hunting licence is general permission to hunt, not permission to hunt a particular animal.

You buy species licences separately through WILD, and they come on that waterproof paper. Limited Entry Hunting (LEH) is another system again: a draw you apply to for high-demand species and areas. Its deadlines don't move for anyone. Check them early in the year, not in the fall. Every species licence price is in our B.C. tag fees.

What animals can you hunt in B.C.?

Fourteen animals need their own species licence on top of the base licence: bison, black bear, bobcat, caribou, cougar, elk, lynx, moose, mountain goat, mountain sheep, mule deer, Haida Gwaii deer, white-tailed deer and wolverine. That's the province's own list. Its species licence page opens with "Species licences are required for hunting the following animals in B.C."

Where and when each one opens is a different question. Seasons, areas and limits vary by region and change, so read them in the current hunting and trapping synopsis, not here. How to read a synopsis walks through it. The price of each licence is in our B.C. tag fees.

How long the whole thing takes

Four to eight weeks is realistic, and almost all of it is waiting for a CORE exam date.

The FWID and the licence purchase take minutes each. Most people study 10 to 20 hours for CORE. The real bottleneck is examiner availability, which gets ugly from August onward as everyone tries to be ready for fall. Hoping to hunt this season? Book the exam before you finish studying, not after.

How B.C. stacks up against the other provinces is in how long a hunting licence takes.

Questions about BC hunting licences

Can you hunt in B.C. with an Alberta hunting licence?

British Columbia sells its own hunting licence through its own WILD system. A licence bought from another province isn't a B.C. licence, so hunting both provinces in one season means dealing with both provinces. Whether a hunter education credential earned elsewhere is accepted is a separate question. Each province publishes its own position on that; there's no one national answer.

What is the pass mark for the CORE exam?

At least 68 points out of 90 on the written examination, or about 76%. The practical firearms handling test is scored on its own and requires 23 out of 30. Pass one and fail the other, and the pass doesn't carry you.

Do you need a PAL to hunt in British Columbia?

Not for the hunting licence itself. CORE is the provincial hunter certification, while a Possession and Acquisition Licence (PAL) is the separate federal licence to acquire firearms. Many hunters take the CFSC first, since it both leads to a PAL and exempts them from the CORE practical test.

How much does it cost to become a hunter in B.C. in total?

Roughly $120 to $130 for a first-year adult resident, before gear. About $90 of that is CORE fees and $32 is the resident licence. The FWID costs nothing. Species licences and LEH applications come on top, depending on what you hunt.

Is there a minimum age to hunt in British Columbia?

CORE can be completed, and hunting credentials held, from age 10. Youth licences are priced at $7 including the surcharge. Younger hunters face supervision requirements, so check the current regulations synopsis before heading out.