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Quebec · licensing

How to Get a Hunting Licence in Quebec

By Hunters Guide. Every figure below was read on the Québec government and Fédération québécoise des chasseurs et pêcheurs pages cited, on September 19, 2026.

Quebec runs on two documents: a permanent hunter's certificate, then a hunting licence sold per species and per season. One is earned once. The other comes back around every year. The course is $49.47, and a resident white-tailed deer licence is $68.41 with tax included.

A first-timer's path in Quebec, in order

Four stages for a resident starting from zero. Each stage hands something to the next one.

1. The code. Quebec publishes A for bows and crossbows, F for firearms and airguns, and P for trapping. The province adds that "Since 2007, Code F no longer authorizes hunting with a crossbow."
2. The course. IHF for code F, IHBC for code A, both online through FédéCP, both listed on the federation's English pages at $49.47. Want a gun of your own? The PAL still needs the CFSC, $113 through FédéCP. FédéCP warns that a firearm hunter's certificate issued after April 1, 2026 "will no longer be recognized as proof for obtaining a PAL."
3. The certificate. Quebec publishes My Hunting and Fishing Account as the place a certificate number is entered, viewed and downloaded in wallet format.
4. The licence. The province states that a licence is purchased "online through the My Hunting and Fishing Account platform or go to one of our sales outlets", and notes that licences are also sold by some outfitters, in some ZECs and in wildlife reserves.

Stage four has a checkout detail attached. Quebec's purchasing page lists, among the things done at the counter, "present your hunter's certificate number if you are a resident of Québec". That number is what the till asks for, which is why stage three sits where it does.

One more thing to plan around. FédéCP runs its training as Sécurité nature, and publishes this before you book around a season opener: "allow a period of 3 to 4 weeks following your course before receiving your certification."

What Quebec hunting licences cost

Quebec prices licences by species and residency, so there's no single figure. The table below is the province's own, headed "Hunting Licences 2026-2027", read September 19, 2026.

One note under that table matters when comparing provinces: "The fees below include tax and the contribution payable to the Fondation de la faune du Québec." Course pricing sits separately with the federation, at $49.47 either way. Moose with a firearm has a deadline too: the same page says to "purchase your licence before the deadline". The dates by zone are on Quebec's licence categories page.

What Quebec requires before it issues a hunting licence

A hunter's certificate is Quebec's permanent proof of hunter training, coded for the weapon the training covered. The province ties licence sales to it. The certificate comes first in every version of the published route.

Quebec's wording is careful rather than absolute: "In Québec, you normally need a hunter's certificate in order to obtain a hunting licence." That "normally" is doing real work. The same page lists published exceptions, including an introductory licence, and licences to snare hares and eastern cottontail rabbits or to hunt frogs.

The conditions Quebec sets out for a resident are short: "Be at least 12 years of age", the training for the weapon intended, and "passed the requisite exams." Read September 19, 2026.

How the IHF and IHBC courses work

The IHF and IHBC are Quebec's two entry courses, one built around firearms and one around bows and crossbows. Each one ends in a certificate carrying a different code. Both are published as online courses of 12 lessons.

Quebec's English page names them "Introduction to Hunting with a Firearm (IHF)" for code F and "Introduction to Hunting with Bows and Crossbows (IHBC)" for code A, and publishes both as online only. The structure is identical either way: "Online course of 12 lessons lasting 5 hours", five questions at the end of each lesson, and a passing grade the province states as "80% for each lesson."

Eligibility reads the same for both: "Be 12 years of age or older (when the course is taken) and a Québec resident." FédéCP spells the residency test out further, stating registrants "must be at least 12 years old, be domiciled in Quebec and have resided in the province for at least 183 days during the last year."

The bow side lost a practical component years ago, and Quebec still says so: "On July 7, 2020, the Practical Bow Test was abolished as a requirement to obtain a hunter's certificate to hunt with a bow or crossbow (code A)." The two sources also disagree on length. Quebec publishes the IHBC at five hours, FédéCP at "Duration: 6 hours". Both read September 19, 2026.

Who gives the courses behind a Quebec hunter's certificate?

The Fédération québécoise des chasseurs et pêcheurs, or FédéCP, is the organisation Quebec names as the provider of the training behind a certificate. The province sets the requirement. The federation delivers the course.

Quebec says so in the opening line of its course page: "The course required to obtain a hunter's certificate are given by the Fédération québécoise des chasseurs et pêcheurs (FédéCP) and can be taken at any time of the year." The typo is the province's, not ours. That page links straight out to the federation's English course pages for firearm and bow and crossbow.

How the annual licence differs from the hunter's certificate

A hunter's certificate records training and stays with the person. A hunting licence is a dated product sold for one species and one season. Quebec publishes both halves plainly.

On the certificate: "The certificate is permanent, unless cancelled by the courts." On the licence: "A hunting licence expires at the end of the hunting season for the animal in respect of which it was issued." A small game licence "expires on the date indicated on it", and big game and wild turkey licences also expire once the transportation coupons have been used.

Carrying rules split the same way. Quebec states that "A hunting licence is personal to you, and you must always carry it with you when hunting." The certificate is treated differently: "You do not need to carry this certificate with you", outside two named situations the page lists.

Which parts of the Quebec record are published only in French?

Quebec publishes its hunting licence and certificate pages in English and French, but a few names and acronyms stay French in both versions. No other province has that wrinkle, and it is where the two versions part company.

Start with the acronyms. English readers get "Introduction to Hunting with a Firearm (IHF)". The same page in French gives "Initiation à la chasse avec arme à feu (ICAF)", and the bow course as "Initiation à la chasse avec arc ou arbalète (ICAA)". Two courses, four acronyms. If a receipt says ICAF, that's the IHF.

The administering body has no English name either, and the government contact block on the English certificate page is French only, listing the "Direction du service à la clientèle et des permis". Checked September 19, 2026.

The federal side is a separate government and a separate document, covered in our guide to the PAL in Canada. How the thirteen jurisdictions name their credentials sits on how to get a hunting licence in Canada, and the rest of the provincial set is on the guides hub.

Questions about Quebec hunting licences

These five come up most, answered from the government and federation pages linked above and read on September 19, 2026.

Does Quebec require a hunter’s certificate before it sells a hunting licence?

Quebec publishes it as the normal condition. The provincial hunter’s certificate page states that "In Québec, you normally need a hunter’s certificate in order to obtain a hunting licence," and the purchasing page lists presenting a hunter’s certificate number as one of the things a resident does at the counter. Quebec also publishes named exceptions on the certificate page, including introductory licences and licences to snare hares and eastern cottontail rabbits. Checked September 19, 2026.

What are the IHF and IHBC courses in Quebec?

They are Quebec’s two entry courses for the hunter’s certificate. The English government page names them "Introduction to Hunting with a Firearm (IHF)" for code F and "Introduction to Hunting with Bows and Crossbows (IHBC)" for code A, and publishes both as online only. The French version of the same page names the identical pair "Initiation à la chasse avec arme à feu (ICAF)" and "Initiation à la chasse avec arc ou arbalète (ICAA)", so the acronym changes with the language. Checked September 19, 2026.

What is the passing grade for the Quebec hunter education courses?

Eighty percent per lesson. Quebec’s course page publishes the structure as an "Online course of 12 lessons lasting 5 hours", states that "At the end of each lesson, you must answer five questions to assess your understanding of the content," and gives the passing grade as "80% for each lesson." That figure is published for both the IHF and the IHBC. Read September 19, 2026.

Does a Quebec hunter’s certificate expire?

Quebec publishes it as permanent. The provincial certificate page states that "The certificate is permanent, unless cancelled by the courts," and that "The certificate is permanent once issued, and will bear one of the following codes." The hunting licence beside it is the dated half: the purchasing page states that "A hunting licence expires at the end of the hunting season for the animal in respect of which it was issued." Checked September 19, 2026.

Is the Canadian Firearms Safety Course still part of the Quebec certificate?

Not as a provincial condition, by Quebec’s own wording. The course page states that "As of April 1, 2026, passing the Canadian Firearms Safety Course will no longer be a provincial requirement for obtaining the hunter certificate with a firearm," while adding that it remains a federal requirement in the contexts the federal government defines, including a Possession and Acquisition Licence application. The FédéCP still schedules and prices the CFSC on its own English course page. Read September 19, 2026.