How to Get a Hunting Licence in BC

If you are working out how to get a hunting license in BC, the path is shorter than it first looks. You pass the CORE hunter education exams (a written test and a firearms-handling test), send your completion form to the BC Wildlife Federation (BCWF), add the hunting credential to your free Fish and Wildlife ID, then buy a resident hunting licence and the species licences you need. This guide covers each step, with fees as of October 2026, the age rules, LEH, and how to prepare. When you want to check where you stand, our BC CORE practice test follows the written exam format.

Canada Licence Prep is an independent study aid. We are not affiliated with BCWF or the Province of British Columbia. Exam rules can change, so confirm details with your examiner and the current Synopsis.

How to get a hunting license in BC: the steps at a glance

Step	What you do	Cost (as of October 2026)
1. Prepare for CORE	In-person course, BCWF online course, or self-study with the manual	Examiner-set / $98 + GST / manual $32
2. Written exam	90 multiple-choice questions, at least 68 correct	$30 per attempt, paid to the examiner
3. Practical exam	Safely handle 2 of 5 action types, at least 23 of 30	$30 per attempt (or exempt with a CFSC report form)
4. Graduation certificate	Send the examiner's document of completion to BCWF	$30
5. FWID and hunting credential	Register in WILD online or at FrontCounter BC / Service BC	Free
6. Hunting licence	Resident licence to hunt all game	$32 including the conservation surcharge, plus GST
7. Species licences and LEH	Deer, elk, moose, bear and others; draw for limited-entry hunts	Varies by species

Sources: BCWF CORE program, the BC hunting licences page and the 2026–2028 Hunting and Trapping Regulations Synopsis.

Add those up and a self-study candidate who passes both exams first time pays about $155 before GST and species licences. If you plan to hunt with a gun, you also need a federal firearms licence, which is a separate course and application (see how to get a PAL in BC).

Key fact: The CORE written exam has 90 questions and you need 68 correct. That means you can afford to miss 22, but not 23.

What CORE is and who needs it

CORE stands for Conservation and Outdoor Recreation Education. It has been BC's hunter education program since 1974, and BCWF runs it on behalf of the Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship. BCWF keeps the graduate records and maintains the province-wide network of certified examiners who give the exams.

You need a hunting credential on your FWID profile to buy most BC hunting licences. CORE is the usual way to get one if you live in BC and are 10 or older. Two exceptions matter:

• Training from elsewhere counts. BC accepts a hunter safety certificate issued by another province, territory or country. If you passed the Alberta course, for example, you do not redo CORE (our guide to getting a hunting licence in Alberta explains that program). Documents in a language other than English or French need a notarized translation.
• Youth and initiation licences. These two licence types do not require hunter training, but they come with strict supervision rules and limits, covered further down.

Non-residents without proof of hunter training can only buy a restricted licence and must hunt with a guide outfitter, assistant guide or permit-to-accompany holder.

CORE is not the same as a PAL

CORE is provincial and shows you can hunt safely and legally in BC. The Possession and Acquisition Licence (PAL) is federal and lets you possess and acquire firearms. To hunt with a rifle or shotgun you generally need both. To hunt only with a bow, CORE and your BC licences are enough.

If you have passed the Canadian Firearms Safety Course (CFSC), you can skip the CORE practical exam, but only if you bring the completed CFSC report form showing you passed. BCWF states plainly that a PAL card is not accepted for the exemption. Our free PAL practice test covers the CFSC written side.

CORE course vs challenge exam: choosing how to prepare

BCWF describes three ways to get ready. All three end the same way: you sit the written and practical exams in person with a certified CORE examiner.

Option 1: an in-person course with a certified examiner

Examiners around the province run classroom courses and give the exams at the end. Course length and schedule vary by examiner. Fees are set by each examiner, so ask what is included: the manual, the exam fees, the graduation fee, and whether there is time to practise with dummy firearms. The Synopsis notes that classroom instruction is not compulsory but is recommended.

Option 2: the BCWF online CORE course

The online course (run on the BCWF platform and developed by Silvercore) costs $98 plus GST as of October 2026. That price includes the mandatory $30 graduation certificate, but not your in-person exam fees. Access lasts up to 365 days and there is a free demo of the first lessons. Completing the online course does not give you a licence on its own: you still book the exams with an examiner.

Option 3: self-study and challenge the CORE exam

If you learn well from a book, you can buy the CORE manual ($32 from the BCWF store as of October 2026; Crown Publications lists the 2025/2026 edition at a higher price), download the free Synopsis from gov.bc.ca, study on your own, then book what examiners call an exam challenge. This is the cheapest route. The Synopsis estimates about 21 hours of self-study and firearm-handling practice.

	In-person course	Online course	Self-study challenge
Cost to prepare	Set by the examiner	$98 + GST (includes $30 graduation fee)	Manual about $32
Exam fees	Ask if included	$30 written + $30 practical, extra	$30 written + $30 practical
Handling practice	Usually built in	You arrange it	You arrange it
Best for	First-time gun handlers	Busy schedules, rural areas	Confident readers, people with a CFSC report form

Exam tip: The challenge route saves money, but nobody watches your firearm handling before the practical. If you have never opened a lever or pump action, book a short session with an examiner or a club, or take the CFSC first and use the report form exemption.

Finding a CORE examiner and booking your exam

BCWF publishes a CORE examiner contact list as a PDF on its CORE page (the version current in October 2026 was updated on 21 September 2026). Availability varies by region, so contact examiners early.

1. Download the list and contact two or three examiners near you (BCWF asks that you call before 7 pm).
2. Ask whether they offer a challenge session or only a full course, the date and length of the session, and whether the written and practical can be done the same day.
3. Ask which identification to bring and whether you may use the Synopsis during the written exam. Some course providers report that it is allowed; the rule comes from the examiner and BCWF, so get the answer from them.
4. Complete the registration form your examiner gives you before the first exam. Keep it and bring it to every exam session until you have passed both tests.
5. Bring $30 for each exam you sit that day.

If you cannot find an examiner, BCWF answers questions at core@bcwf.bc.ca or 1-888-881-2293.

The CORE written exam: format and subjects

The written exam has 90 multiple-choice questions based on the CORE manual and the Hunting and Trapping Regulations Synopsis. You need at least 68 points to pass, which is about 75.6 percent. Supplemental material in the manual is not tested.

BCWF does not publish a time limit for the written exam, so ask your examiner. Our mock allows 120 minutes. You may also see older third-party pages that quote 75 questions and 56 to pass. The current BCWF page (checked September 2026) gives 90 and 68, and that is what we use.

The eight subjects on the written exam

1. Conservation: wildlife management, habitat and carrying capacity.
2. Ethics: fair chase, landowner relations and wounded game.
3. Law and regulations: the Wildlife Act, FWID, licences, hunting hours, closed areas and compulsory inspection. Our BC law and regulations note summarizes the rules that come up most.
4. First aid and survival: hypothermia, shelter, signalling and trip plans.
5. Firearm safety: safe carries, zones of fire, crossing obstacles, transport and storage.
6. Animal identification: deer species, elk, moose, sheep, goats, bears and furbearers.
7. Bird identification: ducks, geese and upland birds by silhouette, colour and flight.
8. Indigenous Peoples and hunting in BC: treaty and Aboriginal rights, licensing exemptions and respectful conduct.

Identification makes up two of the eight subjects, so it carries a lot of weight. Study pictures until you can name species from markings alone, then test yourself with wildlife identification practice questions. Our wildlife identification note lists the features examiners like to ask about.

Rules that catch people out

These BC rules differ from other provinces:

• Game hunting hours run from one hour before sunrise to one hour after sunset (migratory birds use half an hour).
• No firearm with live ammunition in the breech or an attached magazine in or on any vehicle or other conveyance.
• A hunting shotgun's magazine must be plugged to hold no more than two cartridges.
• Full metal jacket bullets are not allowed for hunting.
• The road allowance extends 15 m either side of the centre of a road with fewer than three lanes.

Retakes

If you fail the written exam, you can retake it, but not on the same day. Each attempt costs another $30, paid to the examiner.

Key fact: A failed CORE exam must be retaken on a different day. Book your first attempt early enough that a retake still fits before the season you want to hunt.

The practical firearms-handling exam

The practical tests safe handling, not shooting. You handle two of the five action types using dummy ammunition, which includes identifying the correct ammunition and loading and unloading. You need 23 out of 30 to pass. The examiner supplies the firearms.

Examiners look for consistent safe habits: the muzzle always pointed in a safe direction, your finger off the trigger and outside the guard, the action opened and the chamber checked as soon as you pick up a firearm, and correct handling when you pass it to someone. If you know the ACTS and PROVE routines from the federal course, you already have the core of it. Our page on ACTS and PROVE and the ACTS and PROVE study note explain them step by step.

If you bring a completed CFSC report form showing you passed, you are exempt from this test and save the $30.

After you pass: graduation certificate, FWID and your old Hunter Number

1. Document of completion. When you have passed both exams, the examiner gives you a document of completion.
2. Graduation certificate. Send that form to BCWF with the $30 administration fee (cheques payable to the B.C. Wildlife Federation). BCWF mails your certificate (rush Xpress Post costs $25).
3. FWID. Use the graduation certificate to request your Fish and Wildlife ID, either online through the province's WILD system or in person at FrontCounter BC or Service BC. The FWID is free and you must be 10 or older.
4. Credentials. Your FWID profile holds three credentials: identity, residency and hunting. The BC resident credential must be renewed every three years. Online credential applications can take up to three business days; in person, they are processed on the spot. See the province's WILD credentials page for the documents accepted.

What happened to the Hunter Number

Older guides talk about the BC Hunter Number. The FWID replaced it. If you had a Hunter Number, the province converted it: your FWID is your old number with three extra digits, and you can find it by logging in to WILD with your Hunter Number, last name and date of birth. You may only have one FWID, and you must know or produce it, with photo ID, when an officer asks.

Hunting licences and species licences in BC

Buy licences online at gov.bc.ca/hunting, at Service BC or FrontCounter BC, or at participating stores. Basic hunting licences are electronic and sit on your FWID profile.

Hunting licence (2026)	Fee including conservation surcharge
BC resident, all game	$32
BC resident 65 or older	$7
Youth licence (ages 10 to 17)	$7
Initiation licence (18+, once in a lifetime)	$19
Non-resident (Canadian)	$75
Non-resident alien	$180

GST is extra. Of the $32 resident fee, $7 goes to the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation for conservation projects.

Species licences

For many big game species you also need a species licence. Resident fees in the 2026–2028 Synopsis include deer $15, black bear $20, caribou $20, elk $25, moose $25, cougar $30, mountain goat $40, mountain sheep $60 and bison $70. Residents do not need a species licence for wolf, small game or upland game birds. Hunting migratory birds such as ducks and geese also requires the federal Migratory Game Bird Hunting Permit.

A few rules to know before you buy:

• Species licences are printed on waterproof paper and you must carry every one you bought that year while hunting, both cancelled and uncancelled.
• If you buy a species licence online, it comes by mail, so allow for delivery times. In person you get it immediately.
• Licences for some species, including cougar, caribou, mountain goat and mountain sheep, are not valid until two days after the date of issue.
• All hunting and species licences expire on 31 March each year.

Minimum ages, youth (junior) licences and the initiation licence

Nobody under 10 may hunt in BC, and allowing a child under 10 to hunt is an offence. From 10 onward, the options depend on age and training.

Situation	Licence	Training needed	Supervision	Own bag limit
Age 10 to 17, no course	Youth licence, issued to a parent or guardian on the child's behalf	None	Always, by a qualified adult	No (hunts under the supervisor's limit)
Age 10 to 17, passed CORE	Regular resident hunting licence	CORE	Always, by a qualified adult	Yes
Age 18+, never held a BC licence	Initiation licence (once in a lifetime)	None	Always	No species licences allowed
Age 18+, passed CORE	Regular resident hunting licence	CORE	Not required	Yes

The youth licence is what older guides call the junior licence. The youth cannot buy species licences with it. A 14-year-old who passes CORE and holds a regular licence can buy species licences, though they still hunt under close supervision until 18.

A supervising hunter must have an FWID with the right credentials, have held a hunting licence in at least three previous licence years (an initiation licence does not count), not be prohibited from possessing firearms, and supervise no more than two youth or initiation hunters at once.

For guns, federal law adds its own rules for minors (the RCMP issues minor's licences to youths aged 12 to 17); ask a CFSC instructor.

Limited Entry Hunting (LEH) in BC

Some hunts, such as certain bull moose, antlerless deer and mountain goat seasons, are open only to hunters who win a Limited Entry Hunting authorization in the draw.

1. You need an FWID with an active BC resident credential and a hunting credential to apply.
2. The province publishes the LEH Synopsis each spring with the hunts, zone maps and deadlines (see gov.bc.ca/leh). LEH application fees apply.
3. If you are drawn, the authorization appears on your FWID profile. It is not mailed.
4. You still need a resident hunting licence and the right species licence to hunt.
5. If you win a shared authorization, carry its harvest report section while hunting and tell everyone in your group as soon as there is a kill.

Exam tip: LEH, compulsory inspection and species licences all appear in the law and regulations subject. Know which document does what: the FWID identifies you, the hunting licence lets you hunt, the species licence covers a particular animal, and the LEH authorization lets you hunt a limited-entry season.

Your study plan

1. Take the free 20-question BC CORE diagnostic to see which of the six topic areas need the most work.
2. Read the BC CORE exam guide, then the regulations and identification notes.
3. Download the current Synopsis from gov.bc.ca and read the general rules and your region's pages.
4. Sit the free full-length BC CORE mock exam: 90 questions, 68 to pass. Aim for 75 or more before you book.
5. Drill your weakest subjects with topic practice, for example hunting regulations questions. Topic practice, mocks 2 to 10 and all study notes come with Pro.
6. Prefer paper? Print the free questions at /print/bc-core-hunter.
7. Book your exams with a certified examiner and arrange handling practice, or bring your CFSC report form.