Province freezes hunting licence fees, removes service fees for all hunters in Ontario

Officials with the provincial government say they have decided to make hunting in Ontario more affordable by putting a stop to hunting fee increases and removing the $2 service fee.

"We're making it easier for Ontarians to enjoy the great outdoors by keeping hunting licences affordable," Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry, John Yakabuski stated in a written release on Thursday. "This year, there will be no price hike and no service fee. This will put approximately $1.6 million back into the pockets of the hard-working people of Ontario."

In addition to freezing the hunting licence fee, the government has also updated hunting regulations to make things better for hunters across the province, which includes a new Licence Summary that can be saved on a mobile device or printed at home, as well as paper tags that replace the old game seals.

"The hunting industry contribute nearly half a billion dollars to the Ontario economy," Yakabuskisaid. "Our hunters are some of the best stewards of our lands and waters and we want to make it easier for them to enjoy our world class natural resources."

According to Thursday's release, the province has also added two new licence-free fishingeventsthis year on the weekends of Mother's Day and Father's Day.

Information on those two events as well as details of the changes made to the hunting regulations can be found on the Government of Ontario website.