All About Ontario Boating and Fishing Licences

June 4, 2025

Planning a fishing trip in Ontario? If you plan on using a motorized boat, you’ll need to bring along both your boating and fishing licenses.

Let us walk you through the process of obtaining these federal and provincial licenses, so that you can enjoy Ontario’s beautiful waterways legally as soon as the season opens.

Fishing in a motorized boat in Ontario? You’ll need a Pleasure Craft Operator Card

First, your boating proof of competency. Anyone operating a motorized boat in Ontario needs a Pleasure Craft Operator Card (PCOC), widely referred to a boating license. It’s the law.

While it might seem like a simple administrative task, the RCMP, provincial and municipal police forces and other authorities enforce this legal requirement (overseen by Transport Canada), and getting caught without a licence can result in significant fines.

How to get your Pleasure Craft Operator Card

Obtaining your boating licence is a simple, three-step process. First, you need to take a Transport Canada-approved boater safety course, such as the one offered by Drive A Boat Canada.

Next you need to pass an online boating safety test. Drive A Boat Canada offers unlimited free retries for this multiple-choice, open-book exam!

Once you pass, you’ll gain immediate access to a temporary card, allowing you to go boating right away. Your lifetime Pleasure Craft Operator Card (PCOC) will be mailed to you.

All three steps cost a combined total of $59.95 (with group discounts available).

Ontario fishing licence regulations

Your PCOC, or boating license, allows you to go boating in any type of motorized vessel used for recreational purposes. This includes fishing, but you’re not quite ready to cast the first line. Next, you need to get your fishing license.

There are two steps to getting a valid Ontario fishing license:

Step One: Get an Outdoors Card.
Step Two: Get the right type of fishing license.

1. How to obtain an Ontario Outdoors Card

The Ontario Outdoors Card is issued by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, and is required by Canadian citizens, Ontario residents and all non-residents to go fishing in Ontario. It is valid for three years, and costs $8.57 + HST.

An Outdoors Card can be purchased directly on the Ontario Fish and Wildlife site. You’ll need to provide basic information to get your card, such as your name, date of birth, height and eye colour, and mailing and residential address.

You do not need an Outdoors Card if you are under 18 or over 65, as long as you carry a government-issued ID that includes your name and date of birth. If you are only going fishing for one day, you can purchase a one-day or 8-day sport fishing licence instead of an Outdoor Card. For all other situations, Ontario law stipulates that you need to carry an Outdoors Card.

2. How to obtain an Ontario Fishing License

After you have purchased your Outdoors Card, you can proceed to the next step: getting your fishing license. Your fishing licence(s) will be listed on the back of your Outdoors Card and on your Licence Summary (available in digital or printable format).

You can purchase both types of Ontario fishing licences online. For both types of license, anglers must follow the catch and possession limits in Ontario.

Sport fishing licence: Gives you full catch and possession fishing privileges.
Conservation fishing licence: Gives you reduced catch and possession limits. You must immediately release muskellunge, Atlantic salmon, and aurora trout when caught with a conservation license.

The cost of a fishing license can range from $12 for a one-day license to $170 for a three-year license. For more details, visit Province of Ontario website.

Note that there are a few exceptions to the law surrounding fishing licences. You do not need a fishing license if:

You are under age 18 and are fishing with someone who has a valid license.
You are a veteran or active member of the Canadian Armed Forces
You carry an Ontario accessible parking permit
You are a member of a First Nations community and are fishing for food, social, or ceremonial purposes within your recognized traditional or treaty lands (proof of community membership required).

Canadian families can also enjoy going fishing without a licence four times a year! But remember, there are no exceptions for carrying a valid Pleasure Craft Operator Card.

Ontario Family Fishing Week (June 28–July 6, 2025)
Family Fishing Weekend (February 15–17, 2025)
Mother’s Day Weekend
Father’s Day Weekend

Go fishing in Ontario!

With your Pleasure Craft Operator Card PCOC and the right fishing license, you’re ready to go! Assemble your boating safety equipment, find a correctly-fitted life jacket or PFD and make sure you’re following your boat’s maximum capacity rules. For more boating rules, regulations and safety tips, check out the Brive A Boat Canada Boating Resources Library!

Top 10 fishing destinations in Ontario

Lake Ontario: Incredible fishing and trophy fish, especially salmon fishing by boat.
Lake of the Woods: For walleye, perch, crappie, pike, muskie, sturgeon, trout, and bass.
Lake St. Clair: A great place for muskie.
Lake Simcoe: For smallmouth bass, perch, whitefish, and trout. This location hosts several bass tournaments.
Lake Nipigon: Nearly 1900 square miles of incredible fishing. A former world-record 14.5 lb brook trout was caught on this lake, and there are also plenty of pike, lake trout, walleye, and whitefish.
Bay of Quinte: The walleye capital of the world, thanks to the autumn and winter migration to the bay. It also contains pickerel, salmon, pike, trout, perch, and bass.
Lake Erie: A large population of yellow perch as well as bass, trout, salmon, carp, and walleye.
Niagara River: Fish for steelhead, salmon, and sturgeon. In the lower area of the river, catch trout, walleye, bass, and muskellunge.
St. Lawrence River: An abundance of fish and beautiful scenery! From 40 lbs muskies to bass, perch, bluegill, crappies, and bullhead.
Saugeen River: Catch brown trout, brook trout, and resident rainbows here. Also steelhead runs and good resident smallmouth bass and musky fishing.

Get your boating licence from Drive a Boat Canada

Safety is the key to having a great day of fishing, either alone or with friends or family. Drive A Boat Canada offers a Transport Canada-accredited online boating safety course that over 2 million Canadians have followed. You’ll learn about navigation rules, how to choose a PFD, what to do if your boat capsizes, and much more. You can finish the course, take the test and print your boating licence in just a few hours. Register today to get started!