Northwest Territories · licensing

How to Get a Hunting Licence in the NWT

By Hunters Guide. Every line below was read on the Government of the Northwest Territories pages cited, on September 19, 2026.

The Northwest Territories runs hunter education as a free government course, and Environment and Climate Change states that Resident and Non-Resident hunters are required to complete it before a hunting licence is issued. The price sits on the tag instead: $24 for a resident big game tag.

One boundary up front: this page covers the general licensing process only, rights-based harvesting is governed separately, and questions about that belong with the territorial government and the relevant Indigenous government or organisation directly.

A first-time hunter's steps in the NWT, in order

The department publishes a four-step sequence on its Hunter Education fact sheet, running from the course to the licence, in these words.

1. Step 1. "Study and pass the course online or in person, or challenge and pass the exam"
2. Step 2. "Print your completion certificate"
3. Step 3. "Visit your local or regional ENR office to have your completion certificate signed by staff"
4. Step 4. "Obtain your hunting licence"

Step three carries a naming wrinkle. The fact sheet says ENR, an older departmental name, while the current web pages say ECC office. Same counter, two labels. The department publishes [email protected] and 1-867-767-9055.

What NWT hunting tags and harvest fees cost

A tag is the species-specific authorisation attached to the animal after a kill, and in the NWT it's the part with the price on it. The department states that "Fees for a resident hunting licence are charged for the tag, and vary by species of game."

The fee list the department links is headed "Hunting fees and Licences Effective starting July 1, 2022" and footed "Updated June 2022". These are the general big game tag columns from it, read September 19, 2026.

Harvest fees sit on top of the tag for non-residents, and they're the larger number. The same schedule lists a Moose harvest fee of $475 and a Grizzly Bear harvest fee of $2,376, each applying to both Non-Resident and Non-Resident Alien, plus $25 to replace a lost licence or permit. The application page adds that these fees "are reassessed every five years."

The NWT hunting licence for each type of applicant

A hunting licence in the NWT is the departmental document issued at an ECC office. Environment and Climate Change publishes three general categories of it, sorted by residency.

Those wordings come from the department's NWT residents and non-NWT residents licence pages, read September 19, 2026. Each answers "Where can I get it?" identically: "Available in person from your local or regional ECC Office." No online counter is published.

Two more details sit on the application overview. The department states that "The minimum age to obtain a hunting licence is 12 years old," with youth under 18 holding the consent of a parent or guardian and accompanied by an adult harvester. It also states that "Non-NWT residents must use the serviced of a licensed NWT outfitter and guide to hunt big game." That typo is the department's, not ours.

What Environment and Climate Change publishes about NWT Hunter Education

NWT Hunter Education is the territory's own hunter training course, published by the department the Northwest Territories names Environment and Climate Change. The department's page states the training rule in one sentence.

That sentence reads: "Starting January 1, 2020, all Resident and Non-Resident hunters will be required to take government-issued Hunter Education training prior to being issued a hunting licence in the Northwest Territories (NWT), under the Wildlife Act." The department repeats it in the present tense on its licence application page, opening with "As of January 1, 2020". Read September 19, 2026.

The department also states that "Hunter Education is a free course designed to teach hunters of all backgrounds and experience levels how to be respectful of wildlife, people, the environment and themselves while hunting," and adds, in its own fact sheet, that "Hunter Education is recommended for all harvesters, regardless of experience level."

How the NWT Hunter Education course is delivered

Delivery is the format a course is offered in, and the NWT publishes three of them: online, in person by request, and an exam challenge with no course attached.

The department's page opens with "Northwest Territories (NWT) Hunter Education is now available online!" It then states that "The course is also available in-person, by request. There will be a minimum participant requirement," and offers a third door: "You can also challenge the exam without taking the course by contacting [email protected]."

Two notes. The registration link hands off to an outside course provider, so the sign-up screen is not a gov.nt.ca screen. And that minimum participant number is not published.

What is in the NWT Hunter Education course?

The course content is the list of modules a student works through, and Environment and Climate Change publishes seven of them by name.

1. The Responsible Hunter
2. Ecology and Wildlife Management
3. NWT Hunting Laws, Acts and Regulations
4. Hunting Skills
5. Planning and Preparation
6. The Hunt
7. Survival Skills

That's the whole published outline, from the Hunter Education page on September 19, 2026. No hours, question count or pass mark sit alongside it.

Where is the NWT pass mark actually published?

Not on either page a prospective hunter would think to read. Environment and Climate Change uses the word pass without ever attaching a number to it. The number sits in a document published by a different department entirely: the Hunter Education Teacher Resource, issued by Education, Culture and Employment and updated November 2021.

On the public route it is explicit: "Each module ends with a quiz that participants must pass with a minimum of 75% to receive their Hunter Education Certificate." The same passage puts the online course at about 25 hours and describes it as focusing "exclusively on the content in the student manual". Read September 22, 2026.

There is a second route, and it is not scored the same way. For students taking the three-credit school course, the document sets out an option where a teacher writes on school letterhead that the student "received at least an average of 75% on the seven module quizzes", and the letter is forwarded to the department, which then issues the certificate. An average across seven quizzes and a minimum on each of the seven are different tests, and a student could clear one while failing the other.

The same document draws the line between the two itself, stating that "the online course is not equivalent to the 3-credit LDC Hunter Education", which it describes as carrying additional learning outcomes and assessment activities.

A figure of 80% circulates for the NWT on sites that do not cite anything. We could not find it in any Government of the Northwest Territories document. What is written above is quoted from the department's own teaching resource, which is dated November 2021, so it may have moved since. The department is the place to confirm it.

What the NWT does not publish on these pages

A gap is a question a government's own pages do not answer, and the NWT leaves several open.

• Question count. Not published, on the Hunter Education page or the fact sheet. The pass mark is no longer one of these gaps, but it is published by another department, and the section above sets out where.
• Course length. Not published by Environment and Climate Change. The teaching document puts the online course at about 25 hours.
• Minimum age for the course itself. Not published. The age 12 figure attaches to obtaining a licence, not to sitting the course.
• Certificate expiry. Not published.
• Online licence purchase. Not published. Both licence pages say in person, at an ECC office.

Seasons, zones and limits live in a separate document. The application overview links it as the NWT Summary of Hunting and Trapping Regulations, July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027. The federal firearms licence is a different government's paperwork, covered in our guide to the PAL in Canada. The national picture is in our national guide to getting a hunting licence, and the rest of the set is on the guides hub.

Questions about NWT hunting licences

What does the NWT call its hunter education program?

NWT Hunter Education. Environment and Climate Change publishes it under that name on its own Hunter Education page, and the departmental fact sheet is headed "Northwest Territories HUNTER EDUCATION". Both were read September 19, 2026.

What does NWT Hunter Education cost?

Nothing, as published. Environment and Climate Change states that "Hunter Education is a free course designed to teach hunters of all backgrounds and experience levels how to be respectful of wildlife, people, the environment and themselves while hunting." The departmental fact sheet uses the same word, calling it the free online Hunter Education course. Checked September 19, 2026.

How many modules are in the NWT Hunter Education course?

Seven. Environment and Climate Change lists them as The Responsible Hunter, Ecology and Wildlife Management, NWT Hunting Laws Acts and Regulations, Hunting Skills, Planning and Preparation, The Hunt, and Survival Skills. Read September 19, 2026.

Is there a published pass mark for NWT Hunter Education?

Yes, but not on the pages most people read. Neither the Environment and Climate Change Hunter Education page nor the departmental fact sheet attaches a number to the word pass, as read on September 19, 2026. A different department does. The Hunter Education Teacher Resource, published by Education, Culture and Employment and updated November 2021, states that "Each module ends with a quiz that participants must pass with a minimum of 75% to receive their Hunter Education Certificate." That is a minimum on each module rather than one overall score. Read September 22, 2026.

Is the NWT pass mark 75% overall, or 75% on every module?

The same document describes both, for two different routes. For the online certification course it states a minimum of 75% on each module quiz. For students taking the three-credit school course it describes a second route, in which a teacher confirms on school letterhead that the student "received at least an average of 75% on the seven module quizzes" and forwards the letter to the department, which then issues a certificate. An average across seven quizzes and a minimum on each one are not the same test. Read September 22, 2026.

Where does the NWT issue hunting licences?

In person at departmental offices. The Environment and Climate Change pages for both NWT residents and non-NWT residents answer the question of where to get the licence with the words "Available in person from your local or regional ECC Office." No online purchase route is published on those pages. Checked September 19, 2026.