How to buy an Ontario Fishing License

Most Canadian residents need an Outdoors Card to fish in Ontario if they are at least 18 years old but have not reached their 65th birthday.

If you have never had an Outdoors Card, you can request an application form be mailed to you by phoning the Outdoors Card Centre from anywhere in Canada at 1-800-387-7011.

Your Outdoors Card is good for three calendar years. You must have a fishing licence tag on the back of a plastic Outdoors Card OR a "Resident Fishing Licence and Outdoors Card Application" in order to have a complete and valid licence for fishing.

If you are a Canadian resident between 18 and 65 years of age and you want to fish in Ontario right away, you can buy a a "Resident Fishing Licence and Outdoors Card Application" from one of more than 2,000 licence issuers across the province. A temporary paper licence is effective immediately and valid until December 31 of the year in which it was purchased.

The fee for a temporary paper licence includes the cost of a three-year Outdoors Card.

If your Outdoors Card will soon expire, or has already expired, the fastest and easiest ways to renew your Outdoors Card are a three year renewal by credit card with a call to 1-800-288-1155 or online at the MNR Store.

Ontario Resident Hunters can also fish under the authority of their Outdoors Card (fishing/hunting version) with the appropriate fishing licence tag.

If you do not live in Canada, you need a non-resident licence to fish in Ontario.

Get more information on the Outdoors Card by calling the Outdoors Card Centre at 1-800-387-7011 . This toll-free number works from all regions of Canada, from Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Eastern Time).

You can buy either a Sport or Conservation fishing licence. The Sport licence allows full catch and possession fishing privileges. In most cases, the Conservation licence has a catch and possession limit that is lower than the Sport licence, and all of these fish must be released: muskellunge, Atlantic salmon, and aurora trout. Conservation licences cost less than Sport licences to reflect these reduced limits.

Outdoor Card Renewal Prices (English) || Outdoor Card Renewal Prices (French)

For more information, read pages 5-7 of the current Recreational Fishing Regulations Summary.

* Licences are not required by First Nations people fishing within their traditional territory, or by disabled Canadian residents please refer to page 4 of the fishing regulations for more information.

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