A hunter in Quebec has been ordered to pay a total of $20,000 for hunting snow geese without a permit

March 12, 2025 – Salaberry-de-Valleyfield (Quebec) – Environment and Climate Change Canada

On March 10, 2025, at the Salaberry-de-Valleyfield courthouse, Joey Proulx, a resident of Vaudreuil-Dorion, Quebec, pleaded guilty to one count of violating the Migratory Birds Regulations, 2022, after hunting snow geese without a permit. Proulx also pleaded guilty to one count of violating the Migratory Birds Convention Act, 1994, after deliberately hindering the actions of an enforcement officer in carrying out their duties. Proulx was convicted by the Court of Quebec and fined a total amount of $20,000, which will be directed to the Government of Canada’s Environmental Damages Fund. Proulx was also prohibited from applying for a Migratory Game Bird Hunting Permit and from hunting migratory birds until March 10, 2031.

On March 31, 2023, Environment and Climate Change Canada enforcement officers, accompanied by wildlife protection officers from the Quebec ministère de l'Environnement, de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques, de la Faune et des Parcs intercepted a group of hunters that included Proulx. He was hunting snow geese, a migratory game bird species, and did not have a valid hunting permit. In doing so, Proulx committed an offence under subsection 27(1) of the Migratory Birds Regulations, 2022, which is punishable under the Migratory Birds Convention Act, 1994. In addition, on March 31, 2023, he deliberately hindered the actions of an enforcement officer in carrying out their duties, by showing an invalid, illegally obtained hunting permit. Proulx thus also committed an offence under subsection 5.2(c) of the law.

Quick facts

• To hunt migratory game birds in Canada, you must have a valid Migratory Game Bird Hunting Permit and a Canadian Wildlife Habitat Conservation Stamp on the permit. These two documents are issued by the federal government and are valid in all provinces and territories.
• Most of the provinces and territories have additional requirements regarding hunting and/or carrying firearms. To familiarize yourself with those requirements and to find out whether there are additional restrictions on hunting migratory birds, check the applicable regulations of the province or territory and the municipality where you will be hunting.
• Environment and Climate Change Canada is responsible for enforcement of the Migratory Birds Convention Act, 1994, and its regulations. The purpose of this Act is to ensure the protection of migratory birds, their nests and their populations and to regulate human activities that are likely to harm them.
• The Environmental Damages Fund, created in 1995, is a Government of Canada program administered by Environment and Climate Change Canada. The Fund directs monies received from fines, penalties, court orders and voluntary payments to projects that will repair environmental damage or protect the environment. It aims to invest these sums in the regions where the environmental damage occurred.

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