Ontario · licensing

How to Get a Hunting Licence in Ontario

By Hunters Guide. Checked against Government of Ontario sources on September 21, 2026.

To hunt in Ontario you need four things: an Outdoors Card, hunter accreditation on file with the province, a hunting licence for the game you want, and a tag where the species requires one. Hunt with a gun and there's a fifth, a federal one. In government fees, a first season on small game comes to $31.33 plus HST.

What you need before you can hunt in Ontario

An Ontario hunting licence sits on top of five steps that the province treats as a checklist rather than a menu. The CFSC step only applies if you'll hunt with a gun.

1. Pass the Ontario Hunter Education Course, including the exam.
2. Take the CFSC too, if you plan to hunt with a gun.
3. File your hunter accreditation in person at a participating ServiceOntario location that offers hunting licence services.
4. Buy an Outdoors Card. $8.57 plus HST, good for three calendar years.
5. Buy your licence and any tags for the species you want.

People tend to reverse steps three and four. Ontario won't sell hunting products until your accreditation is on file, and licences need a card to attach to. That first visit is in person only, not online or by phone. Ontario says online submission arrives in early 2027.

What an Ontario hunting licence costs

An Ontario hunting licence is a per-species product priced on top of an Outdoors Card, so the total depends on what's being hunted rather than on one flat annual fee. The table uses 2026 resident fees, exactly as published on ontario.ca's hunting licence page for Ontario residents, read on October 19, 2026. In Ontario's words, "All fees are in Canadian dollars and are subject to 13% HST." If the ministry publishes no figure, the cell says that.

Some things don't fit in a table. Ontario has no separate wild turkey licence. The province says a turkey tag "is required in addition to your small game licence," so a spring turkey hunter's first year adds up to $57.66 plus HST: $8.57 for the card, $22.76 for the small game licence and $26.33 for the tag. Moose works the other way round. There's a $35.29 licence, then a separately priced tag by animal type. Moose allocation and elk draw applications cost $15.00 each, while deer draw applications are listed as "No fee." For every province's tag prices, species by species, see hunting tag fees by province.

Small game only? Then a first season runs $31.33 plus HST in government fees. That's before the course, and before the PAL if you're hunting with a gun. The RCMP sets that federal fee, not Ontario. Our PAL guide lists it. How Ontario's bill compares with everyone else's is in hunting licence cost by province.

The Outdoors Card and how to get one

An Outdoors Card is the identification card that every Ontario hunter and angler carries. The province calls it "a plastic, wallet-sized identification card issued by the ministry that allows you to hunt or fish."

Each card lasts three calendar years. Renewals open on the first Tuesday of December. There are four ways to buy or renew: online through the Fish and Wildlife Licensing Service, by phone, at a licence issuer, or at ServiceOntario. They'll ask for your name, date of birth and address. And, oddly enough, your height and eye colour.

Mail delivery can take up to 20 days, but there's no need to wait on it. The licence summary from your purchase works as temporary proof, on paper or on your phone. If a one-year or three-year small game licence is bought at the same time, it gets printed on the back of the card.

Does the Ontario Hunter Education Course let you hunt with a firearm?

On its own, the Ontario Hunter Education Course qualifies you to hunt with a bow but not a gun. It is the fifth item on the list, and it causes more confusion than anything else in Ontario. For a gun, Ontario requires the federal Canadian Firearms Safety Course on top of it. So that's two accreditations from two levels of government, on two separate pieces of paper.

The hunting regulations summary is direct about it: "Successful completion of the course, and purchase of applicable licences allows hunters to hunt with a bow in Ontario." The very next sentence adds that "To hunt with a gun, successful completion of the Canadian Firearms Safety Course (CFSC) is required."

Why the mix-up? Most people sit both on the same weekend. The ministry notes that "The Ontario Hunter Education Course and the CFSC are often delivered together in-person." It's one classroom and one instructor, but still two credentials. Taking them together doesn't fuse them into one document.

The RCMP handles the firearms half. Ontario doesn't. For federal firearms accreditation, the province accepts a valid possession and acquisition licence, a minor's licence, or proof of completing the course, and that documentation goes with you in the field. Our guide to getting a PAL in Canada walks through that application end to end.

What the Ontario Hunter Education Course covers

The Ontario Hunter Education Course is the province's mandatory hunter training. Some people take it in person with a certified instructor. Others do it online as self-directed learning. Both finish with an exam that has to be passed, and both lead to the same credential.

The syllabus has six areas: hunting safety and equipment, regulations and laws, hunter responsibilities, wildlife management, hunting techniques, and wildlife identification. That last one quietly catches people out. Our Ontario hunter education practice exam is written to the same six areas.

One thing Ontario leaves out is the pass mark. The ministry says only that the exam has to be passed. No percentage shows up on its hunter education pages or in the hunting regulations summary. Ask your instructor what the mark is on the day. Course fees are the same story: whoever teaches sets them, and the ministry doesn't publish them.

How do tags and game seals work in Ontario?

A tag is a component of a hunting licence that authorizes you to hunt the species named on it, subject to the conditions printed on the tag. Ontario requires one for moose, deer, elk, black bear and wild turkey, and for wolf or coyote in certain Wildlife Management Units.

Hunted in Ontario years ago? Forget what you remember. The province confirms that "Yellow sticky stock game seals are no longer used." These days tags get printed at home or at a licence issuer, right after purchase or once draw results land.

Ontario's handling rules are strict, and they fall on the hunter. The tag gets notched with the date, month and time immediately after the kill, at the site, before the animal is moved. It has to stay intact and legible, which in practice means a plastic holder or a resealable bag. It's carried at all times. Attaching it to the animal only comes into play when the hunter isn't accompanying it.

After the season, mandatory hunter reporting catches people. Anyone issued a tag for deer, elk, black bear, wild turkey, or wolf and coyote is covered. So is anyone issued a moose licence. The report is still due if you came home empty.

How long it takes to get set up in Ontario

Getting hunt-ready in Ontario means waiting on other people's calendars rather than on government processing. Budget a few weeks.

The course is the long pole. From late summer on, instructor availability tightens badly, and the ministry's own advice is to get training and accreditation done well before the season. Compare that with the ServiceOntario visit, which takes an afternoon. The card and licence take minutes.

Need the federal side too? Start it first. A first PAL takes at least 28 days, and the RCMP publishes no end-to-end time. Our guide to how long a PAL takes has the detail, and how long a hunting licence takes lines Ontario up against the other provinces.

Trained outside Ontario? What each government publishes about outside credentials is in our guide to whether hunter education transfers.

Questions about Ontario hunting licences

Do you need a PAL to hunt in Ontario?

Not for bow hunting. Hunting with a gun is different: Ontario requires completion of the Canadian Firearms Safety Course plus a valid possession and acquisition licence, a minor's licence, or proof of completing the course. The Ontario Hunter Education Course doesn't cover that part.

How old do you have to be to hunt in Ontario?

Ontario sets the resident minimum at 16 years old, or 15 with written parental consent. Residents aged 12 to 14 have another route, the Hunter Apprenticeship Safety Program, hunting under a licensed mentor. Ontario also asks for parental consent on an Outdoors Card for anyone under 16.

What is the pass mark for the Ontario hunter education exam?

Ontario doesn't publish one. The ministry says only that the exam has to be passed. No percentage appears in its hunter education pages or in the hunting regulations summary. Figures quoted elsewhere come from course providers, so check the mark with your instructor.

How much does it cost to start hunting in Ontario?

About $31.33 plus HST in government fees for a small game setup. That's $8.57 for the Outdoors Card and $22.76 for a one-year small game licence. Instructors set course fees; the ministry doesn't.

How much is a turkey tag in Ontario?

$26.33 plus 13% HST for a resident spring wild turkey tag. A fall tag costs the same. Both figures come from the 2026 fee table on ontario.ca's hunting licence page for Ontario residents, checked October 19, 2026. Ontario notes that a turkey tag is required in addition to a small game licence, and that licence is $22.76 for one year.

How much is a deer tag in Ontario?

$43.86 plus 13% HST for a resident deer licence and tag. A black bear licence and tag costs the same. Some Wildlife Management Units sell an additional deer tag, also $43.86. All three come from the 2026 fee table on ontario.ca's hunting licence page for Ontario residents, checked October 19, 2026.

Can you use hunter education from another province in Ontario?

Ontario publishes its own position on credentials earned in another jurisdiction. The wording turns on the reader's own circumstances, so it doesn't work as a blanket rule, and we won't squeeze it into a yes or a no here. Take your documentation to ServiceOntario and confirm your own case against what Ontario currently publishes.