Bear hunting changes proposed

The province is proposing significant changes to Ontario’s bear hunting regulations.

The changes, which were posted to the Environmental Registry of Ontario (ERO) on Friday, Nov. 21, would include extending the spring prohibition of hunting black bear cubs or females accompanied by cubs to the fall hunting season.

They would also strengthen enforcement of the prohibition on the possession of bear gall bladders through a regulatory amendment to explicitly prohibit the possession of bear bile outside of the gall bladder. 

The regulatory amendments under the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act (FWCA) will be open for public comment until Jan. 5, 2026.

Population objectives will guide harvest

A major component of the proposed changes is based on the finalization of upper and lower population objectives in an area, the proposal states. These will be based on ecological, social, cultural, and economic considerations, and will be used to set harvest management guidelines.

As part of the initial development of black bear population objectives, the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) is also seeking public feedback about them. Once population objectives are finalized, the MNR is proposing to use them as benchmarks for evaluating population status and supporting harvest management decisions.  

They say this approach would:

• Create new, adaptive harvest management tools to respond to changes in bear populations that fall above or below the established population. Of note is the proposal to manage harvest pressure through a resident draw for bear tags in areas where the MNRs want to support a population increase. Conversely, in areas where bears are exceeding their population objectives, more opportunities (eg. second tags) could be offered.
• Use harvest sustainability indicators to support evaluating trends between population monitoring surveys.  
• Support harvest opportunities while maintaining a healthy black bear population for years to come.
• Guide the allocation of harvest opportunities within and between the resident and tourism (non-resident) sectors, adapting to shifts in demand. 

The proposal notes that any changes to provincial guidelines would recognize and respect the Aboriginal and treaty rights of Indigenous communities in relation to black bears in Ontario. 

Implementation period

The proposal calls for a phased approached with a five-year implementation period, if/when guidelines and population objectives ranges are approved. Black bear population monitoring and collection of hunter reporting data would continue to occur throughout that period, allowing the ministry to review or refine the final population objective ranges prior to full implementation. 

During this transition, a pilot project in the Saugeen Bruce Peninsula would use population objective ranges to inform harvest management decisions, namely a tag draw to control hunter harvest, officials stated. Similar tag draws would not be implemented in the remainder of the province until the five-year pilot project is complete. 

Changes for bear outfitters

Bear outfitters would also be affected by proposed changes to bear management areas and the development of licensing systems to distribute opportunities through the tourism industry.

The MNR says the proposed guidelines would provide greater certainty on hunting opportunities in advance, shift away from the current static approach of harvest opportunities, and allow for the allocation of vacant Bear Management Areas. It notes that the proposed approach to equitably distribute opportunities through area-based allocation would result in some operators losing hunting opportunities while others gain them.

A full description of the proposed changes is detailed in ERO post number 025-0761, titled “Proposal to update the province’s black bear management approach.”
It can be found online at: www.ero.ontario.ca/notice/025-0761

The Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters (OFAH) urges hunters to read and comment on the proposal and provide input regarding bear populations.

“These changes are a significant departure from how we've managed bears and bear hunting in the past,” OFAH Policy Manager Mark Ryckman stated. “Hunters need to take the time to review the details and provide meaningful feedback. I guarantee that anti-hunters will be flooding the Minister's office with comments, so we need to ensure we do the same.”

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