Rules for non-resident hunters in Québec

A number of special rules apply to you if you are a non-resident of Québec.

You are considered a non-resident if you do not have an address in Québec or if you have not lived there at least 183 days during the year preceding your hunting activities, including a hunter’s certificate application or the purchase of a hunting licence or if you do not meet the conditions set out in the government’s regulations.

If you are a non-resident, you are not required to have a hunter’s certificate in order to obtain a hunting licence or an attestation to hunt wild turkey. You may hunt game species with a firearm, crossbow or bow. However, in doing so you must use the weapons and gear authorized for each species in each hunting season.

If you are a Canadian citizen and satisfy the definition of resident of Québec when you apply for a hunter’s certificate to handle a firearm, you may be exempt from some of eligibility requirements for the certificate, provided you are able to present a certificate or proof of equivalency issued by a Canadian province or territory.

As a non-resident hunter, you are also subject to additional restrictions on the purchase of a hunting licence and access to certain hunting territories or areas, depending on the species you wish to hunt. These restrictions are indicated below.

All species

If you wish to hunt north of the 52nd parallel or east of Rivière Saint-Augustin in zone 19 south (PDF 4.70 Mb), you must use the services of an outfitter, although the services in question need not necessarily include lodging.

Moose

As a non-resident hunter, you must comply with the same rules as resident hunters for the zone licence for moose and the requirement to purchase your licence before midnight on the date if you wish to use it during the firearm hunting season. On the other hand, you cannot obtain a female moose hunting licence (random draw).

To hunt moose south of the 52nd parallel, you must, as a non-resident, use at least two services offered by an outfitter, including lodging, or you must hunt in a ZEC or a wildlife reserve.

You are exempt from these requirements for hunting south of the 52nd parallel if you:

• are a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police or the Canadian Armed forces and carry out your duties in Québec (or you lived in Québec immediately before establishing your residence outside Québec in order to carry out your duties).
• are a member of a diplomatic mission or a consular post established in Québec, or a member of the service personnel at the mission or post.
• are accompanied by a member of your immediate family (grandparent, parent, brother, sister, spouse, child, grandchild or a child or grandchild of your spouse) who is a resident of Québec and holds a valid or expired moose hunting licence, provided, in the latter case, that it was issued between April 1 and March 31 of the current year.
• are accompanied by a resident who holds a valid or expired moose hunting licence, provided, in the latter case, that it was issued between April 1 and March 31 of the current year. For the purposes of this provision, the resident may accompany only one non-resident per year.
• or a member of your immediate family own private land entered on the assessment roll of a municipality in Québec and hunt moose within the boundaries of that land. A vacation lease on public land does not qualify as private land.

White-tailed deer

As a non-resident, you cannot obtain an antlerless deer hunting licence (random draw).

Black bear and American woodcock

If you wish to hunt black bear or woodcock south of the 52nd parallel, you must, as a non-resident, use at least two services offered by an outfitter, including lodging, or you must hunt in a ZEC or wildlife reserve.

If you hunt black bear on the territory of an outfitter without exclusive rights in zones 13 (PDF 3.39 Mb) and 16 (PDF 2.42 Mb), you must obtain a special licence issued by the outfitting operator, in addition to your regular non-resident’s black bear hunting licence.

Wild turkey

As a non-resident, you may hunt wild turkey without obtaining the attestation required by resident hunters.

Small game

You may hunt species considered to be small game. However, you cannot obtain a licence to hunt frogs or a licence to snare hares and Eastern cottontail rabbits.

As a non-resident, you must comply with all the provisions listed in the section entitled Transportation, registration and exports, and in addition you must register your big game kill at a registration station before leaving Québec.

A punched transportation coupon serves as authorization to transport a white-tailed deer, a moose or a black bear, or any part of these animals including all or part of the fur, outside Québec.

Please remember that you must declare your hunting weapon when going through Canadian customs.

Fur

As a non-resident, you do not need a dealer’s licence or a tanner’s licence or an export form to export raw fur that is the product of your own hunting. However, if you sell or tan a pelt in Québec, you must obtain a licence from a regional wildlife management office, even if the fur or pelt is a product of your own hunting.

Black bear and wolf

The black bear and wolf are covered by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Therefore, when these animals, parts of animals or derivative products are exported outside Canada, they must be accompanied by a CITES export permit  in order to enter the importing country. The permit is issued by the Canadian government. To obtain it, please visit the website of Environment and Climate Change Canada  or call 1 800 668-6767.

However, if you are a resident of Canada or the United States, you do not need a CITES export permit if you wish to export from or import into Canada a black bear or part of a bear that is the product of your own hunting activities, in your personal luggage, provided the bear or part of a bear is fresh, frozen or salted. If it is stuffed, dressed or otherwise preserved, or if it is transported by a person who did not kill it, you will need a CITES export permit.

A non-resident hunter between 12 and 15 years of age inclusively who is hunting with a crossbow or bow must be accompanied by a person who is at least 18 years of age and has a valid or expired non-resident’s hunting licence issued between April 1 and March 31 or a hunter’s certificate with the code A or B.

A non-resident hunter who is at least 12 years of age but under 18 years of age who wishes to hunt with a firearm must be accompanied by a person who is at least 18 years of age and has a valid or expired non-resident’s hunting licence issued between April 1 and March 31, or a hunter’s certificate appropriate to the type of weapon used.

For additional information on young hunters.