Non-resident hunting licences in Canada

Allocations vs draws

The key idea for a non-resident: in the West, your tag typically comes through the outfitter's allocation, not a personal lottery. Per the official Alberta authority, only outfitter-guide permit holders may hold allocations and contract with non-resident clients, and non-resident aliens cannot enter draws, obtaining licences through outfitter allocations only. Non-resident Canadians can enter some draws but are still bound by the accompanied-hunt rule. In British Columbia, guide outfitters hold exclusive territories under government allocation, so again the tag and the outfitter travel together. Verified July 2026.

Understanding the difference matters because it changes your whole plan. A draw is a lottery you enter yourself, hoping your number comes up in a given year. An allocation is a set share of tags a licensed outfitter is granted for their species and area, which they fill with clients. When you book an outfitter who holds the allocation for what you want, you are not gambling on draw odds, you are buying into a tag that already exists. For a foreign hunter shut out of the Alberta draw entirely, that is the difference between a hunt you can actually plan and a wall you cannot get over.

How the tag actually reaches you

In practice the sequence is simple, which is part of why the outfitter is worth the fee. You book a hunt with an outfitter who holds the allocation for your species and area. The outfitter contracts with you as a non-resident client, and the tag comes through that allocation. You show up, buy the licence and any tags that are on you rather than the outfitter, and hunt. Compare that to trying to accumulate draw odds as a foreign hunter, which for aliens in Alberta is not even possible. This is the difference between a system you can enter through a phone call and a lottery you cannot enter at all.

Note that hunt prices almost never include the licence and tags. On our Alberta Rockies hunts, licences and tags, the Alberta WIN card (Wildlife Identification Number), the wolf licence and GST are all listed as excluded from the hunt price, meaning they are your line items on top. Budget them separately using our cost guides.

Licence and tag fees by province

Every figure below is CAD, with GST charged on top, and traces to the official provincial fee source. These are current fees, not order-of-magnitude guesses, though provinces do adjust them year to year, so confirm the current-year number at the point of purchase.

Aliens vs non-resident Canadians

It is worth stating twice because most competing pages get it wrong. A non-resident Canadian and a non-resident alien are not in the same position on tags. The alien, meaning a hunter from outside Canada, cannot enter Alberta draws and depends entirely on outfitter allocations. The non-resident Canadian can enter some draws but is still bound by the accompanied-hunt requirement, so a tag on its own does not let them hunt alone. If you are American or European, plan your whole strategy around allocation, not draw odds. If you are a Canadian hunting another province, check that province's specific draw rules and remember you still need to be accompanied. The full requirement is on do you need a guide in Canada.

What to confirm before you pay

• The current-year figure for your exact licence and species tag; the fees above are official but adjust year to year.
• That you have an Alberta WiN card (Wildlife Identification Number) where required, since it is a separate excluded cost on top of the licence.
• Any species-specific tag not in the table above, such as an Alberta sheep licence (confirm on enquiry).
• Whether the outfitter handles any part of the licensing for you, or it is entirely on arrival.

Read the licence as a small, secondary line

The fees above are official, current figures, but they are still worth putting in perspective. On a premium Alberta hunt the licence and species tag are a small fraction of the total: an NRA moose licence at $350 plus a $75 certificate and a WiN card sits under a hunt fee in the thousands or tens of thousands. The Saskatchewan guided whitetail licence at $360 and the Newfoundland moose licence at $502 are the same story, a real line but a minor one next to the hunt price. Get it approximately right for planning and exactly right at the point of purchase.

The one discipline we keep is confirming the current-year number before you pay, because provinces do adjust fees. That is the same care that keeps us honest on the parts we cannot yet source to the dollar, like some species-specific tags. Our cost guides put the licence line next to the hunt price, GST, tips, travel and export so you see the whole stack before you commit, and the moment you are ready to pay, confirm the current figure with the province or your outfitter.