How to Get Your FWID in BC
Short answer
A Fish and Wildlife ID (FWID) is the permanent number BC attaches to your personal online hunting profile. It is free, it takes a few minutes to set up, and anyone can get one. You create it through the BC Hunting online service (WILD) with a Basic BCeID, or in person at a Service BC or FrontCounter BC office. The FWID on its own does not let you hunt. What lets you hunt is the hunting credential that gets added to your FWID profile once you pass CORE, BC's hunter education course.
If you already had a BC Resident Hunter Number from the old card system, you already have an FWID. It is the same number with three extra digits at the front.
What the FWID actually is
Until 2016 BC hunters carried a paper Hunter Number card. The province replaced it with the Wildlife Information and Licensing Data system, WILD, and every hunter now has one online profile. The FWID is the account number for that profile. Your hunting licences, species licences, Limited Entry Hunting applications and your hunter education credential all sit under it, and a Conservation Officer in the field can pull it up on a mobile device to confirm what you hold.
You need an FWID to buy any BC hunting licence, to buy species licences, to apply for LEH, and to be named on a permit to accompany a non-resident. Since February 2026 you also need one to buy a freshwater fishing licence, and old Angler Numbers were retired at the end of March 2026 without being converted, so anglers need an FWID too. Your legal name has to be on the profile. No nicknames.
Step by step: getting your FWID
- Get a login. WILD accepts a Basic BCeID or a BC Services Card Account. The BC Services Card Account is the smoother route, because it verifies your identity and grants your BC resident credential automatically if you qualify. A Basic BCeID works too, but you upload documents to prove identity and residency.
- Log in to WILD and create your Fish and Wildlife profile. The system generates your FWID automatically. Use your legal name exactly as it appears on your government ID. Proving your identity gives the profile verified user status, and that is what unlocks the hunting licence products in WILD.
- Prefer paper? Any Service BC office, FrontCounter BC office or participating licence vendor can set up an FWID for you at the counter. An application made in person is active immediately if it is approved.
- Add your hunting credential. This is the step people miss. A first-time BC hunter earns the credential by passing CORE. Submitting the proof is on you, not your examiner. You upload your CORE certificate to your WILD profile yourself, or take it to a FrontCounter BC or Service BC counter. Online credential applications take up to three business days to review. In person they are active immediately if approved.
- Buy your licence. With a verified FWID and the hunting credential in place, the Buy Licences link appears in your profile and you can purchase your resident hunting licence and species licences online, or over the counter at Service BC and FrontCounter BC.
Where CORE fits
CORE, the Conservation and Outdoor Recreation Education program, is BC's hunter education standard, administered by the BC Wildlife Federation. It is a two-day course with a 90-question written exam and a practical firearms handling exam. Passing CORE is how a first-time hunter earns the hunting credential for the FWID. Silvercore teaches CORE with BCWF-certified instructors and examiners at our training facility in Delta, BC, and in Langley, Victoria, Nanaimo, Parksville and the Comox Valley. The course is $210 plus tax with both exams included.
Hunter education you completed somewhere else can count. WILD accepts a document issued by another Canadian province or territory, or by an international jurisdiction, showing you successfully completed hunter safety training. If it is not in English or French, send a notarized translation with it.
One thing to be clear about, because we get asked every week: CORE and the PAL are different credentials from different levels of government. CORE is provincial and leads to your hunting licence. The PAL is your federal firearms licence, earned through the Canadian Firearms Safety Course, and is what lets you possess the rifle or shotgun you hunt with. To hunt with a firearm in BC you need both. The two courses are separate sittings; the RCMP does not allow the CFSC to be combined with CORE.
Common mistakes
- Creating two profiles. If you had an old Hunter Number, do not register a fresh FWID. Link the existing number. Two profiles for one person is a problem the province has to untangle by hand.
- Using a nickname. The profile is a legal record. Your ID name goes on it.
- Assuming the FWID is the licence. It is the account, not the permission. The licence is what you buy each year against it.
- Leaving the credential to the last minute. An online credential application can take up to three business days to review, so do not submit it the night before opening day.
- Forgetting the PAL. CORE gets you a hunting licence. It does not get you a firearm.
Continue on the Silvercore Path
- Take the course: CORE Hunter Education Course, the credential your FWID needs.
- Get your firearms licence: How to Get Your PAL in Canada, start to finish.
- Join the Silvercore Club: $59 a year, $5 million in liability coverage for lawful hunting and shooting across Canada and the United States, and free access to every Silvercore online course.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does an FWID cost in BC?
Nothing. The FWID is free. You pay for the hunting licence and species licences you buy against it, not for the ID itself.
Do I need a BCeID to get an FWID?
Online you need either a Basic BCeID or a BC Services Card Account. If you set up your FWID in person at Service BC or FrontCounter BC, the office handles it.
I have an old BC Hunter Number. Do I need a new FWID?
No. Your FWID is your Hunter Number with three additional digits. Log in or visit an office and have the existing number linked to your profile.
How long does it take to get the hunting credential on my FWID?
A credential application submitted online in WILD can take up to three business days to review. One made in person at a FrontCounter BC or Service BC office is active immediately if approved.
Can I get an FWID without taking CORE?
Yes. Anyone can create an FWID. You cannot buy a hunting licence against it until a hunting credential is on the profile, and for a first-time BC hunter that credential comes from passing CORE.
Does the FWID replace my PAL?
No. The FWID is provincial and covers hunting. The PAL is federal and covers firearms possession. A BC hunter using a firearm carries both.
Travis Bader Silvercore Outdoors
