When to apply
The special guide licence (SGL) application period closed Thursday, April 18.
It will reopen on April 1, 2025.
Canadian resident hunters must have an Environment Client ID
Before you apply, the Canadian resident hunter you want to guide will need to have their own Environment eServices account. You will need to include their Environment Client ID and legal last name on your application.
Get an Environment Client ID or log in
Canadian resident hunters: if you have hunted or fished in the Yukon before, you may already have an Environment Client ID. Use this to log in. If this will be your first time hunting or fishing in the Yukon, you will need to create an account.
We will reject any duplicate applications if they have the same non-resident hunter's name or Client ID after the first application has been received.
Where to apply for a special guide licence
Online
- Log in to Environment eServices.
- Select "Add licences and permits."
- Pay the $10 non-refundable application fee by credit card.
At Department of Environment offices
- Go to a Department of Environment office and request to apply for a special guide licence.
- Pay the $10 non-refundable application fee by cash, cheque or credit card.
Your application will be entered into a weighted lottery process.
You cannot make changes to your application, including the hunter to be guided or the species selected, once the deadline for applications has passed.
Withdrawing an application
Applications may be withdrawn at any time during the application period. This will result in your application being deleted with no refund. You may submit a corrected application provided the application period is still open, and pay the $10 non-refundable application fee.
Lottery results notification
Log in to your e-services account to confirm your success.
Success notifications were sent the week of May 6.
Getting your licence
If you are successful in the draw:
- Read the instructions contained within the success email. Your email will contain a code.
- Share the code with your Canadian resident hunter.
- Have your hunter purchase their big game hunting licence using their issued code.
- Go to a Department of Environment office to obtain licence printouts, seals and the required Outfitter/Chief Guide/Hunter report. Special guides can purchase seals on behalf of their hunter, provided that their hunter has already purchased their licence online.
Once a special guiding licence has been awarded, you cannot return it. The Canadian resident hunter will be ineligible to apply in the special guide licence lottery for 3 years.
Successful applicants should determine ahead of time if their non-resident hunter is able to travel to the Yukon.
What is a special guide licence?
The special guide licence (SGL) is an annual program that allows a Yukon resident to guide a Canadian resident to hunt for select big game species.
A hunter with a special guide licence can guide:
- a non-Yukon resident;
- who is a Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada.
Special guide licences are issued through a weighted lottery process.
You may guide one hunter each year you have a special guide licence. It's against the law to accept payment or reward of any kind for this service.
Hunters must meet all responsibilities as a guide found in the Yukon hunting regulations summary.
Licence requirements
To apply for a special guide licence, or for weighting purposes only, you must:
- be a Yukon resident who's at least 19 years old; and
- have a valid Yukon big game hunting licence.
The non-resident Canadian hunter you want to guide must:
- be a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident who's at least 12 years old at the time of application;
- be eligible to hold a hunting licence in their home province or territory;
- purchase their own seals if they are 14 years old or older;
- use your seals if they are 12 or 13 years old; and
- not have been special guided in the Yukon in the previous two hunting seasons.
You can only enter the special guide licence lottery once each year to guide one non-resident hunter. A non-resident hunter’s name can only appear on one application.
Available special guiding opportunities
You can choose a special guiding opportunity for either:
- moose or caribou (100 licences are available); or
- wood bison (25 licences available).
Each licence also includes opportunities to harvest black bear, coyote or wolf.
If you get a special guide licence for moose or caribou, the non-resident hunter can only harvest a moose or a caribou. They cannot harvest both.
Non-resident hunters cannot harvest these animals while being guided under a special guide licence:
- goat;
- sheep;
- elk;
- deer;
- grizzly bear; and
- wolverine.
Harvest fees
If a non-resident is successful on a specially guided hunt the following harvest fees will be due at the time of harvest reporting:
- Moose: $150
- Caribou: $150
- Wood bison (male): $500
- Wood bison (female): $150
- Black bear: $75
- Wolf: $75
- Coyote: $50
Lottery system
To fairly distribute special guide licences, the Government of Yukon uses a weighted, computerized lottery system that randomly selects applicants.
Your chances of being drawn depends on:
- the number of applicants; and
- your lottery weighting.
For every year you apply for a special guide licence and aren’t successful, your weighting will increase the next time you apply.
If you don't plan on guiding this year, you can still apply to increase your weighting for the next draw. Choose the "weighting only" option when you apply.
Hunting areas
Special guide hunting is limited to open Game Management Subzones:
- where residents are not restricted by permit hunts; or
- where other limitations such as a threshold hunt do not apply.
See the Yukon hunting regulations summary for details.
Maps of special guide hunting areas are also available.
Responsibilities after the hunt
Whether or not any wildlife was harvested, the Yukon resident hunter must:
- Complete the Outfitter/Chief/Guide/Hunter Report/Harvest Fee Receipt and Wildlife Export Permit form provided (commonly called an OHE) at Department of Environment offices.
- Ensure the form is signed by both the special guide and special guided hunter.
- Submit the form to any Department of Environment office within 10 days after the month that your hunt concluded.
- Pay any required non-resident harvest fees.
- Submit any compulsory biological submissions no later than 15 days after the end of the month in which the animal was harvested.
2024
A list of successful applicants is no longer posted online.
- 161 applications were for moose or caribou, black bear, coyote and wolf (100 awarded). The average weighting of drawn applicants was 2;
- 67 applications were received for bison, black bear, coyote and wolf (25 awarded). The average weighting of drawn applicants was 4; and
- 296 applications were for weighting only.
If you have further questions about the special guide licence, contact [email protected] or phone: 867-667-5652, or toll free in the Yukon 1-800-661-0408, ext. 5652.