Migratory Birds Regulations, 2022 (SOR/2022-105)

Marginal note:Hunting by minors

• 32 (1) Minors may obtain a migratory game bird hunting permit set out in item 1, column 1, of Schedule 2 without paying the fee set out in column 2 and may obtain a habitat conservation stamp without paying the fee set out in item 9, column 2 of that Schedule.

• Marginal note:Must be accompanied

  (2) A minor who holds a permit referred to in subsection (1) must not hunt migratory game birds unless they are accompanied by an individual who

  • (a) is the holder of a migratory game bird hunting permit;

  • (b) has held such a permit in a previous year; and

  • (c) is not a minor.

• Marginal note:Number of minors accompanied

  (3) The accompanying individual must not accompany at any one time more than two minors who hold a permit referred to in subsection (1).

Marginal note:Permit expiry

33 A migratory game bird hunting permit expires on June 30 following the date of issue.

Marginal note:Obligation to have permit on person

• 34 (1) The holder of a migratory game bird hunting permit must have the permit on their person while they are

  • (a) hunting; or

  • (b) in a place other than their primary or habitual residence and in possession of a migratory game bird that is not preserved, or any murre, that was hunted under the permit.

• Marginal note:Must show permit

  (2) The permit holder must show the permit to a game officer immediately on request.

Marginal note:Invalidity of permit after guilty finding

• 35 (1) Subject to any court order made under subsection 16(1) of the Act or a decision made by the Minister under section 18.22 of the Act, a migratory game bird hunting permit ceases to be valid when its holder is found guilty of an offence under the Act, other than an offence resulting from the contravention of

  • (a) section 5.1 of the Act;

  • (b) sections 9 or 34, subsection 48(2), section 78, subsection 79(1) or (2) or section 81 of these Regulations; or

  • (c) the following provisions, if the offence is in respect of migratory birds or their eggs that are used for avicultural purposes:

    • (i) section 5 of the Act, or

    • (ii) paragraph 5(1)(a) or subsection 76(3), (4) or (7) of these Regulations.

• Marginal note:Prohibition — application for permit

  (2) Subject to any court order made under subsection 16(1) of the Act, a person who has been found guilty of an offence under the Act other than an offence referred to in paragraphs (1)(a) to (c) must not, during a 12-month period beginning on the day that guilty finding is made, apply for a migratory game bird hunting permit unless they have first obtained the Minister’s permission to do so.

Hunting Methods and Equipment

Marginal note:Prohibition – hunting where baiting has occurred

• 36 (1) A person must not hunt for migratory game birds within a radius of 400 m from any place where bait has been deposited unless the place has been free of bait for at least seven days or the bait was deposited in accordance with subsection 6(3) or (4) or an aviculture permit.

• Marginal note:Clarification

  (2) For the purpose of subsection (1), the following areas are not considered areas where bait has been deposited:

  • (a) an area of standing crops, whether or not it is flooded;

  • (b) an area of harvested cropland that is flooded;

  • (c) an area where crops have been harvested and placed in upright sheaves for drying in a field where they grew; and

  • (d) an area where grain is scattered solely as a result of normal agricultural or harvesting operations.

Marginal note:Authorized weapons

• 37 (1) A person must not hunt migratory game birds except with

  • (a) a bow that has a minimum draw weight of 18 kg and an arrow with a broadhead that has at least two sharp blades and is a minimum of 22 mm wide;

  • (b) a crossbow that has a minimum draw weight of 45 kg and a bolt with a broadhead that has at least two sharp blades and is a minimum of 22 mm wide; or

  • (c) a shotgun not larger than number 10 gauge that either

    • (i) is designed to be capable of holding no more than three cartridges, or

    • (ii) has had its capacity reduced to three cartridges in the magazine and chamber combined, by means of the cutting off or the altering or plugging of the magazine with a one-piece metal, plastic or wood filler that cannot be removed unless the gun is disassembled.

• Marginal note:Prohibition — cartridges and detachable magazine

  (2) A person must not, while hunting migratory game birds, have in their possession in the hunting area

  • (a) a shotgun that is holding more than three cartridges; or

  • (b) a detachable magazine capable of holding more than two cartridges.

• Marginal note:Prohibition — possession of shotguns

  (3) A person must not, while hunting migratory game birds, have in their possession in the hunting area

  • (a) more than one shotgun, unless each additional shotgun is unloaded and either disassembled or kept in a closed case; or

  • (b) a shotgun other than one referred to in paragraph (1)(c).

• Marginal note:Prohibition — single projectile

  (4) A person must not hunt a migratory game bird using a shotgun loaded with a cartridge containing a single projectile.

• Marginal note:Exception

  (5) Despite subsection (1), paragraph (3)(b) and subsection (4), a person may, in the following circumstances, hunt a migratory game bird using a rifle of a calibre of not more than 0.22 inches or a shotgun loaded with a cartridge containing a single projectile and have such a rifle or shotgun in their possession in the hunting area:

  • (a) the migratory game bird is hunted in a location that is in the Northwest Territories by a resident of that territory who may hunt migratory game birds in that location without a migratory game bird hunting permit referred to in section 30; or

  • (b) the migratory game bird is hunted in a location that is in Quebec and north of 50° north latitude by a resident of that province who may hunt migratory game birds in that location without a migratory game bird hunting permit referred to in section 30.

Marginal note:Non-toxic shot

• 38 (1) A person must not hunt a migratory game bird

  • (a) while having in their possession in the hunting area shot other than non-toxic shot; or

  • (b) using shot other than non-toxic shot.

• Marginal note:Exception for certain species

  (2) Subsection (1) does not apply to hunting American Woodcock, Band-tailed Pigeon, Murres or Eurasian Collared-Dove.

• Marginal note:Exception — Mourning Dove

  (3) Subsection (1) does not apply to hunting Mourning Dove in British Columbia.

• Marginal note:Definition — non-toxic shot

  (4) For the purpose of this section, non-toxic shot means any shot composed, by weight, of

  • (a) up to 100% iron, tungsten, tin or bismuth, alone or in any combination of those substances;

  • (b) not more than 45% copper;

  • (c) not more than 40% nickel;

  • (d) not more than 7% Nylon 6, Nylon 11 or ethylene methacrylic acid copolymer, alone or any combination of those substances; and

  • (e) not more than 1% all other substances combined.

Marginal note:Prohibition — birds and electronic bird calls

• 39 (1) A person must not hunt a migratory game bird using

  • (a) live birds, including non-migratory birds; or

  • (b) electronic bird calls, except in an area that is set out in column 1 of Table 2 in the relevant Part of Schedule 3 for which the use of an electronic bird call is set out in column 6.

• Marginal note:Exception — use of raptors

  (2) Despite paragraph (1)(a), migratory game birds may be hunted using raptors in any area of a province that is designated by the province as an area in which a person may hunt using raptors.

Vehicles

Marginal note:Prohibition — aircraft and motorized land vehicles

• 40 (1) Subject to subsection (2), a person must not hunt a migratory game bird from or using an aircraft or a motorized land vehicle.

• Marginal note:Exception — mobility-impaired person

  (2) However, a mobility-impaired person is permitted to hunt from an aircraft or motorized land vehicle if they are stationary.

• Marginal note:Definition — mobility-impaired person

  (3) For the purpose of subsection (2), a mobility-impaired person is an individual who

  • (a) if the hunting occurs in a province with laws allowing mobility-impaired persons to hunt from a stationary vehicle, is authorized to do so under those laws; or

  • (b) if the province has no such laws, holds a medical certificate that

    • (i) is signed by a medical practitioner lawfully entitled to practise medicine in any province,

    • (ii) attests that the individual’s mobility impairment is due to a condition that is not temporary and that severely limits the use of their legs, including being paraplegic, being hemiplegic, being dependent on a wheelchair to move about, having prostheses on both legs or having a leg amputated above the knee, and

    • (iii) attests that the medical practitioner has no medical reason to believe that the individual is incapable of competently operating the weapon that they use to hunt.

Marginal note:Prohibition — moving boats

• 41 (1) Subject to subsection (2), a person must not hunt a migratory game bird from or using a moving boat that is equipped with a motor or a sail.

• Marginal note:Exception — murres

  (2) An individual who is authorized to hunt murres may do so from any moving boat.

• Marginal note:Clarification — retrieval

  (3) For greater certainty, subsection (1) does not apply to the retrieval of a migratory game bird once it is legally killed or wounded.

• Marginal note:Moving

  (4) For the purpose of this section, a boat is considered to be moving if it continues to move because of motion that was imparted by its motor or its sails.

Retrieving Migratory Game Birds

Marginal note:Means for retrieval

• 42 (1) A person must not hunt migratory game birds unless they have adequate means at their immediate disposal for retrieving any such bird that they kill or injure.

• Marginal note:Prompt retrieval of killed bird

  (2) An individual who kills a migratory game bird must ensure that the bird is retrieved as soon as the circumstances permit.

• Marginal note:Prompt retrieval of wounded bird

  (3) An individual who wounds a migratory game bird must ensure that the bird is killed and retrieved as soon as the circumstances permit.

Daily Bag Limits

Marginal note:Prohibition

• 43 (1) Subject to subsection (2), a person must not in any area kill or take, in any one day, a number of migratory game birds of any species or group of species that exceeds the daily bag limit in that area for that species or group of species as set out in column 5 of Table 1 or, if applicable, of Table 2 of any Part of Schedule 3.

• Marginal note:Hunting in multiple areas

  (2) For an individual who hunts in more than one area set out in Table 1 or, if applicable, in Table 2 of one or more Parts of Schedule 3 in a single day, the limit in subsection (1) is the highest daily bag limit of all of the areas in which the individual hunts on that day.

• Marginal note:Birds found dead or wounded

  (3) For the purpose of subsection (1), a bird that is found dead and taken or found wounded, killed and taken must be included in the daily bag limit of the migratory game bird hunting permit holder who accepts to keep it, whether or not that permit holder hunted that bird.

Marginal note:Prohibition — daily bag limit reached

44 A person must not hunt migratory game birds of a given species once they have, on any given day, killed or taken the number of birds of that species or group of species that is referred to in section 43.

Possession

Marginal note:Fully-feathered wing or head

45 A migratory game bird that is eviscerated and plucked in accordance with paragraph (a) of the definition preserved in subsection 1(1) must continue to have a fully feathered wing or the fully feathered head attached until the migratory game bird is being frozen, made into sausage, cooked, dried, canned or smoked as described in that paragraph.

Marginal note:Possession limit

• 46 (1) Subject to subsection (3), a person must not have in their possession in any area at any time, a number of migratory game birds of a given species or group of species that were killed or taken under a migratory game bird hunting permit and that are not preserved that is in excess of the possession limit for that area and the species or group of species set out in column 3 of Table 1 or, if applicable, of Table 2 of any Part of Schedule 3.

• Marginal note:Possession limit for murres

  (2) A person must not have in their possession in any area at any time, a number of murres that were killed or taken under a migratory game bird hunting permit that is in excess of the possession limit for murres for that area.

• Marginal note:Exception — multiple areas

  (3) For an individual who has in their possession migratory game birds that are not preserved, or any murres, that were hunted in one or more areas set out in Table 1 or, if applicable, in Table 2 of one or more Parts of Schedule 3, other than the one in which the individual is located, the possession limit that applies for the purposes of subsection (1) or (2) is the greater of the possession limit for the area in which the birds were hunted and the possession limit for the area in which the individual is located.

• Marginal note:Birds from other provinces

  (4) Subsection (3) does not apply to an individual who hunted in an area that is in a province other than the one in which they are located unless they have on their person proof that they are authorized to hunt under provincial law in the area where the bird was hunted.

• Marginal note:Gift of birds

  (5) For the purposes of subsection (1) or (2), a migratory game bird that is not preserved, or any murre, that is given is counted towards the possession limit of the recipient of the gift once they accept it.

Marginal note:No longer counted

47 A migratory game bird is no longer counted towards an individual’s possession limit referred to in subsection 46(1) or (2) when they

• (a) give it to another person, if the gift is accepted in accordance with subsection 46(5); or

• (b) in the case of a migratory bird that is not a murre, preserve it.