To protect the environment and ensure safety, anglers must register new or previously unregistered ice fishing huts on area lakes.

Registration is free and helps prevent anglers from abandoning their huts, which can end up in waterways when the ice thaws.

- Huts must be registered in Fisheries Management Zones 9, 10, 11 and 12 in Sault Ste Marie, North Bay, Sudbury, Timmins, Wawa and Chapleau districts. To register your ice hut in Zones 10 and 11, call your local ministry office at 705-564-7823 for Sudbury or North Bay at 705-475-5550 or any local ministry office for other zones. Generally, this may be done over the telephone. Once registered, an ice fishing hut can be used anywhere in Ontario.

- Registration numbers on ice huts must be at least 6.3 centimetres (2.5 inches) in height and clearly displayed on the outside of the hut.

- Tent-style ice huts made of cloth or synthetic fabric that have a base area of seven square metres (75.4 square feet) or less when erected do not need to be registered.

- It's a good idea to place huts on 15 cm (six-inch) high wooden blocks to make it easier to remove them at the end of the season. Ice hut owners must keep the area around their huts clear of garbage.

- Anglers must remove ice huts from the waters of Zone 9,10 and 11 by March 31st. Huts in Zone 12 above Lake Timiskaming Dam must be removed by March 31 Below Lake Timiskaming Dam they must be removed by March 15th

- It is an offence under the Public Lands Act to leave an ice hut out after ice break even if it is before the specified removal date.

Learn More

- For ice hut registration in other districts, refer to the 2012 Recreational Fishing Regulations Summary available from licence issuers, ServiceOntario/ Government Information Centres, or on the ministry's website at ontario.ca/fishing.

- For more information on ice hut registration and requirements, contact your local ministry office.