Outdoors Card and Ontario fishing licence. Read from Ontario MNR on 2026-09-29, schedule 2026-01-01.
An adult Ontario resident pays C$26.57 for a one-year sport fishing licence plus C$8.57 for the Outdoors Card, C$35.14 before tax and C$39.71 with 13% HST. A one-day licence, C$12.21, needs no card. Canadian residents under 18 or 65 and over fish free with government ID.
| Licence | Ontario resident | Canadian resident | Non-Canadian |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outdoors Card (three calendar years; not needed for a one-day licence) | C$8.57 | C$8.57 | C$8.57 |
| Sport fishing licence, one day | C$12.21 | C$15.21 | C$24.86 |
| Sport fishing licence, eight days | — | — | C$54.38 |
| Sport fishing licence, one year | C$26.57 | C$55.81 | C$83.19 |
| Sport fishing licence, three years | C$79.71 | C$167.43 | C$249.57 |
| Conservation licence, eight days | — | — | C$31.52 |
| Conservation licence, one year | C$15.07 | C$33.43 | C$52.71 |
| Conservation licence, three years | C$45.21 | C$100.29 | C$158.13 |
Prices in CAD as the agency publishes them; residency categories, and whether tax is included, vary by province and are noted below. All fees are before the 13% HST, which Ontario applies to every product with a fee. The 2026 fees are in effect until 31 December 2026, and every licence runs by calendar year: a one-year licence ends on 31 December of the year printed on it, a three-year licence on 31 December of its third year.
Pick your residency and how many days you expect to fish this calendar year. The cheapest combination comes first, with the Outdoors Card added where the licence needs it and 13% HST on top.
Cheapest: one-year sport licence, C$39.71 with 13% HST (C$35.14 before tax, including the C$8.57 Outdoors Card).
| Option | Before tax | With HST | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| one-year sport licence + Outdoors Card | C$35.14 | C$39.71 | Ends on 31 December of the year printed on it. |
| 3 one-day sport licences | C$36.63 | C$41.39 | No Outdoors Card needed; sport limits. |
Totals are our arithmetic: Ontario’s published fee plus 13% HST, rounded to the cent; the licensing service may differ by a cent. Canadian residents under 18 or 65 and over need none of these.
Ontario and Canadian residents under 18 or 65 and over can fish with a government-issued card or licence that shows their name and date of birth, with no Outdoors Card and no licence, and they keep the sport licence limits. Anyone holding an Ontario accessible parking permit or a CNIB card can use it as a licence, whatever their residency, as can a person who needs another’s direct help to fish because of a disability under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act. Ontario residents who serve or served in the Canadian Armed Forces can use their Forces ID (NDI 20), Record of Service Card or Veteran’s Service Card (NDI 75). Non-Canadians 65 and over need a licence; non-Canadians under 18 can fish on a licence holder’s limits, or buy their own. Members of Indigenous communities exercising Aboriginal or treaty rights in their territory generally need neither card nor licence.
| Who fishes without buying one | What to carry, and the limits |
|---|---|
| Canadian residents under 18 | Government ID with name and date of birth; sport limits. |
| Canadian residents 65 and over | Government ID with name and date of birth; sport limits. |
| Canadian Armed Forces, serving or veteran (Ontario residents) | Forces ID NDI 20, or Record of Service / Veteran’s Service Card NDI 75. |
| Accessible parking permit or CNIB card holders | Any residency; the permit or card is the licence. |
| Anglers who need another person’s direct help to fish | Any residency; the helper needs a licence only if they fish too. |
| Non-Canadians under 18 | With a licence holder, on that person’s limits; or at an organized camp with photo ID and camp card, on conservation limits. |
| Family fishing periods | Ontario and Canadian residents, four times a year, with government ID and conservation limits. |
Everyone else needs the Outdoors Card with the licence, except on a one-day licence.
Family fishing periods in 2026, for Ontario and Canadian residents carrying government ID and keeping to conservation limits: Family Fishing Weekend 14–16 February, Mother’s Day weekend 9–10 May, Father’s Day weekend 20–21 June and Ontario Family Fishing Week 27 June–5 July. All four have passed; the 2027 dates will be in the 2027 regulations summary.
Online at the Fish and Wildlife Licensing Service, by phone at 1-800-288-1155 (three-year licences, when renewing the Outdoors Card), or in person at one of the province’s 501 licence issuers, 80 of them ServiceOntario offices. Pay by Visa, Visa debit, Mastercard or Debit Mastercard; American Express is not accepted.
A new system in 2027. In early 2027 Ontario replaces the Fish and Wildlife Licensing Service with FishHuntON, a new website and a free mobile app for buying licences and Outdoors Cards. Until then the ministry asks anglers to keep using the current service and to update their email and address to make the move faster.
Buy from the agency or its official portal, linked in the sources below. A site that adds a processing fee on top of the agency price is a reseller.
The province’s own list of licence issuers, published as open data, with its most recent change on 2026-09-28: 306 year-round issuers, 115 seasonal ones, mostly outfitters and camps in the north, and 80 ServiceOntario offices. 92 of the issuers are Canadian Tire stores. The ministry advises calling before you go.
Year-round issuerSeasonal issuerServiceOntario
Most by town: Sioux Lookout 12, Kenora 10, Thunder Bay 9, Dryden 8, Red Lake 8, Atikokan 7, Ignace 7, Sault Ste. Marie 6, Sudbury 6, Toronto 6, Morson 5, Scarborough 5. Source: Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Fishing and Hunting Licence Issuer Location, Land Information Ontario, under the Open Government Licence – Ontario; the province’s issuer page.
Ontario asks most anglers for two things: the Outdoors Card, a plastic ID card valid for three calendar years, and a licence, either sport or conservation. The one-day sport licence is the exception and needs no card, which suits a single day on Lake Simcoe or the Bay of Quinte. The card is mailed, which can take up to 20 days, but the licence summary you get at purchase lets you fish the same day.
The two licences differ in the catch and possession limits. The regulations summary writes them as S-4 or C-2: four fish under a sport licence, two under a conservation licence. The conservation licence costs a little over half as much and is the one to buy if you release most of what you catch; a Canadian resident fishing on an ID exemption keeps sport limits.
Licences run from 1 January to 31 December, so a one-year licence bought in October covers three months for the full price, and a three-year licence bought now counts 2026 as its first year. Late in the season a few one-day licences can cost less; for an Ontario resident, three one-day licences already cost more than a year with the card.
Ontario prices by residency: Ontario residents, other Canadian residents and non-Canadians, who alone can buy eight-day licences. All prices are before the 13% HST added at purchase. A non-Canadian fishing for three days or more pays less with an eight-day licence and a card than with one-day licences.
The licence covers the whole province, but seasons and limits are set by fisheries management zone, 20 of them, and sometimes by water, in the regulations summary for the year. Each Ontario water page on this site names its rules and links the summary.
For an adult Ontario resident, C$26.57 for a one-year sport licence or C$15.07 for a one-year conservation licence, plus C$8.57 for the Outdoors Card every three years, all before 13% HST. A one-day sport licence is C$12.21 and needs no card. Other Canadians pay C$55.81 a year and non-Canadians C$83.19.
Yes, at the Fish and Wildlife Licensing Service run by the Ministry of Natural Resources, which issues the licence summary at once so you can fish while the Outdoors Card is mailed. In early 2027 it is being replaced by FishHuntON, with a mobile app.
At 65, if you are a Canadian resident: you fish with government ID showing your name and date of birth, under sport limits. The same applies under 18. Non-Canadians 65 and over still need an Outdoors Card and a licence.
The province’s list of licence issuers, last updated on 28 September 2026, includes 92 Canadian Tire stores. The ministry advises calling an issuer before you go, and the map on this page lists every one.
Yes. The licence is for fishing, not for keeping fish. The conservation licence, with lower limits and a lower price, is the one Ontario describes as suited to anglers who release most of their catch.
No. In 2026 every three-year licence costs exactly three times the one-year price. It saves two renewals, not money, and it ends on 31 December of its third calendar year.
Every Ontario water on this site carries a daily report and links back to this page. The Ontario hub has today's verdicts side by side; all Canada waters are filterable by type and species.