Updates to the list of municipalities permitting Sunday gun hunting

At the request of five municipalities we have amended O. Reg. 663/98 to include the Municipality of Lambton Shores, Town of Plympton-Wyoming, Municipality of West Perth, Municipality of Southwest Middlesex, Township of East-Zorra Tavistock to the list of areas where Sunday gun hunting is permitted.

Background

Prior to 2006, most of the Sunday hunting regulations were implemented in the 1950s. Gun and archery hunting on Sundays was allowed in northern Ontario, as well as archery hunting on Sundays in southern Ontario and gun hunting on Sundays in 25 municipalities in the southern part of the province. Those municipalities specifically requested that Sunday gun hunting be allowed in their areas.

Populations of many wildlife species in Ontario are healthy. While this is generally good news, there are some local instances where the public has expressed concern regarding the impact of abundant wildlife on habitat degradation, wildlife health, animal/vehicle collisions, and agricultural crop and livestock damage. The agricultural community, including farmers and other landowners, have requested Sunday gun hunting be allowed as a beneficial and cost-effective means of helping address local concerns.

The environmentally significant aspects of this regulation were considered during consultation with municipalities and the public on a proposal to expand areas where Sunday gun hunting could occur during the spring through fall of 2005. During this period, over 230 municipalities in southern Ontario were asked to advise of their interest in permitting Sunday gun hunting within their areas and were told that Sunday gun hunting would not be allowed in their area unless requested.

As a result, a notice of proposal was posted on the Environmental Registry - RB05E6807 from October 20, 2005 to November 21, 2005 proposing to add 67 municipalities and 14 geographic townships to the existing 25 municipalities where Sunday gun hunting could occur.

Ontario Regulation 24/06 was filed with the registrar of Regulations on February 6, 2006. These changes took effect on September 1, 2006, and enacted the proposal above adding the 67 additional municipalities and 14 geographic townships to a new schedule in Ontario Regulation 663/98 of areas where Sunday gun hunting is permitted.

Ongoing list of municipalities

Since that time, there have been 24 amending regulations in response to requests from municipalities to be added to the list of areas where Sunday gun hunting is permitted:

• Reg. 393/06 which came into effect on August 18, 2006 (Registry Number RB06E6009) added 20 additional municipalities and all or part of 4 geographic townships to the list of where Sunday gun hunting is permitted and removed two municipalities from the list
• O. Reg. 80/07 filed with the registrar of Regulations on March 6, 2007. These changes took effect on March 30, 2007, added 20 additional municipalities to the list of where Sunday gun hunting is permitted
• O. Reg. 357/07 which came into effect September 1, 2007, added 13 municipalities to the list
• O. Reg. 280/08 which came into effect September 1, 2008 added 12 municipalities to the list
• O. Reg. 72/09 which came into effect April 1, 2009 added 2 municipalities to the list
• O. Reg. 282/09 which came into effect September 1, 2009 added 3 municipalities to the list
• O. Reg.124/10 which came into effect April 1, 2010 added 3 municipalities to the list
• O. Reg. 329/10 which came into effect September 1, 2010 added 5 municipalities to the list
• O. Reg. 63/11 which came into effect April 1, 2011 added 1 municipality to the list
• O. Reg. 401/11 which came into effect September 1, 2011 added 4 municipalities to the list
• O. Reg. 39/12 which came into effect April 1, 2012 added 3 municipalities to the list
• O. Reg. 237/12 which came into effect September 1, 2012 added 3 municipalities to the list
• O. Reg. 232/13 which came into effect on September 1, 2013 added 3 municipalities to the list
• O. Reg. 67/14 which came into effect on April 1, 2014 added 4 municipalities to the list
• O. Reg. 160/14 which came into effect on September 1, 2014 added 4 municipalities to the list
• O. Reg. 60/15 which came into effect on April 1, 2015 added 1 municipality to the list
• O. Reg. 242/15 which came into effect on September 1, 2015 added 1 municipality to the list
• O. Reg. 42/16 which came into effect on April 1, 2016 added 3 municipalities to the list
• O. Reg. 288/16 which came into effect September 1, 2016 added 5 municipalities to the list
• O. Reg. 334/17 which came into effect September 1, 2017 added 2 municipalities to the list
• O. Reg. 54/18 which came into effect April 1, 2018 added 1 municipality to the list
• O. Reg. 36/19 which came into effect April 1, 2019 added 1 municipality to the list
• O. Reg. 293/19 which came into effect September 1, 2019 added 1 municipality to the list
• O. Reg. 454/20 which came into effect September 1, 2020 added 3 municipalities to the list

Restrictions

Sunday gun hunting is subject to all restrictions associated with public safety and conservation, including requirements under the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act. Where Sunday gun hunting is allowed, it is subject to no-discharge by-laws that municipalities have enacted under the Municipal Act to address public safety concerns. Where these bylaws are in place, they apply to both Crown and private lands, throughout the gun season.