Submit fisheries licensing requests through DFO's National Online Licensing System: who it covers, GCKey or Sign-In Partner sign-in, the request and status steps, paying fees, and printing the licence to carry on board.
Applies in: CA
The National Online Licensing System, called NOLS on DFO pages, is where standard fisheries licensing business is done online in Canada. Online Licensing states it plainly: the Department's licensing services are now provided online through the National Online Licensing System. Frequently Asked Questions - National Online Licensing System adds the scope: all standard licensing transactions are available through the online system, replacing payment, request, and renewal services previously offered over the counter by DFO. That is the whole premise of this guide, and it is also its limit. The official pages describe the sign-in, the request steps, the fee-payment steps, and the printing steps in detail, as menu and screen names, not as a click-by-click tour of the signed-in service. The full list of request types in the drop-down menu sits inside the signed-in system and is not reproduced on any official page, and no dollar fee amount for any licence appears on any official page. Where a step could only be described from inside the signed-in service, this guide says so and tells you what to check on screen instead of inventing the click or the figure.
One warning belongs before anything else. Two DFO pages give different wordings about whether you will be told by email when a request's status changes. Section 4 and the fourth FAQ preserve both wordings side by side. Do not wait for an email to learn that a request was approved, denied, or needs payment. Check Request Status in the system yourself, on the day you file and again after any interval the fishery notice for your fishery states.
NOLS does not cover every fisheries licence in Canada, and it does not carry every licensing transaction. Check both points before registering, because registering in the wrong system, or filing a request the system does not carry, wastes the one thing a fishing season does not give back: time before the opening.
The coverage test comes first. Frequently Asked Questions - National Online Licensing System states that the system is used by DFO to issue commercial and commercial-communal fishing licences nationally, as well as recreational fishing licences in Eastern Canada (Atlantic Canada and Quebec), and where applicable to issue fisher registration cards, including crew members. Online Licensing states the same coverage from the holder's side: the system applies to holders of fishing licences managed by DFO, including holders of commercial licences, holders of commercial-communal licences, holders of recreational fishing licences in Eastern Canada (Atlantic Canada and Quebec), and international fishers and registered fish harvesters, including crew members. If your licence is in one of those groups, NOLS is the system. If it is not, do not assume NOLS will still accept the request: the FAQ's answer to licensing business that cannot be done through the system starts from being registered, then points to the catch-all request type in section 3, and the regional contact route in section 6 is the fallback when the system genuinely does not carry the transaction.
The British Columbia recreational exception is the one hard exclusion on the official pages, and it is stated without qualification. The FAQ asks whether the system applies to recreational fishing licences in British Columbia and answers no: recreational fishing licences in British Columbia can be obtained via the National Recreational Licensing System. A British Columbia recreational licence is therefore not a NOLS request at all. Do not register in NOLS for it, and do not file a catch-all request for it in NOLS. Commercial and commercial-communal licences in British Columbia are a different matter: the FAQ's national wording for those licences includes no British Columbia exclusion, and the Pacific Region fishery notices direct commercial harvesters to NOLS for payment and requests. Keep the two cases apart. Province decides the recreational case; licence type decides the commercial case.
The transaction test comes second. All standard licensing transactions can be completed online, according to the FAQ, and the transactions the pages name are renewing licences and paying licence fees, renewing vessel registrations, submitting licensing requests such as vessel transfers and checking the status of requests, printing licences, licence conditions, and other licensing documents, updating personal information such as adding an email address, and appointing representatives. Online Licensing names the same set in its own words: paying the fees associated with fishing licences, vessels, or fisher registration cards; submitting licensing requests such as vessel transfers; printing licensing documentation; appointing a representative; and appointing an individual to do business on behalf of an Organization. If the transaction you need is one of those, it belongs in NOLS. If it is not, check the fishery notice for your fishery and region before concluding the system cannot do it, because notices name transaction routes fishery by fishery.
One regional exclusion is verified on a notice and is worth knowing before you start, because it looks exactly like a NOLS transaction and is not one. FN0164-COMMERCIAL - Groundfish - 2026 Licence Issuance Information, a Pacific Region notice sent February 18, 2026, states that for transactions not currently available in the National Online Licensing System, such as vessel replacement, notice of change of ownership of a commercial vessel, and nominations, licensing services will continue to be available via email at fishing-peche@dfo-mpo.gc.ca with Pacific Region in the subject line, or by calling the toll-free line at 1-877-535-7307 and requesting to speak with the Pacific Region. That wording is scoped to the Pacific Region and to the transactions it names. It does not prove those transactions are unavailable in NOLS in every region, and this guide does not extend it beyond the notice. But if you are in the Pacific Region and your transaction is vessel replacement, a change of ownership notice, or a nomination, use the notice's route. Do not file it as a catch-all NOLS request and wait for a status change that the system was never set up to give.
Finally, check the mail expectation. NOLS replaces mailed licensing documents. The FAQ states that renewal reminders, licence conditions, and other licensing documents will no longer be sent by mail, that these documents will be available in the account for review and printing, and that DFO will email you when new information is available in the account, while the Department may also continue to mail other types of information. Keep the email address on the account current and checked, because it is the address DFO uses to tell you something new is waiting in the account. A stale email address does not stop the licence from being issued, but it does stop you hearing about it.
Registration is the first step for a new user of any kind. Online Licensing states that the first step for a new user of any kind is to register on the system, and that the system is designed to allow licensing transactions on your own behalf, as a representative of a DFO client, or on behalf of an Organization. The rest of this section follows the FAQ's account of what registration takes, because the FAQ is the page that states the requirements directly. Do not treat any other federal sign-in you hold as automatically sufficient until the NOLS screens accept it: the FAQ names two credentials, and this guide names only those two.
The two requirements are short. Frequently Asked Questions - National Online Licensing System states that two things are required to register: a GCKey or Sign-In Partner user ID and password, and an email address. It adds a practical suggestion, not a requirement: you may wish to have a paper and pen on hand to write down important information during the registration process. The email address matters beyond registration: the FAQ states you need an email address when you register so the Department can email you when you have a message on the system. Use an address you actually read during the fishing season, not an address that is checked once a month. If you do not have an email account, the FAQ suggests setting one up, for instance by searching for email services on the Internet. That is the whole of the FAQ's advice on the point, and this guide adds nothing to it.
Either credential works for registration, and an existing GCKey works too. The FAQ states that a GCKey username and password, or Sign-In Partner login information, is a secure way for DFO to recognise the identity of a person using the system, and answers yes to whether the GCKey you already have can be used to access the online licensing system. To create a DFO profile for the first time, the FAQ directs you to access the National Online Licensing System, follow the instructions to create a GCKey username and password, and then self-register with the licensing system, referring to the user training manual for more information. This guide draws on section 5 of the manual only, so the field-by-field self-registration steps are not reproduced here: follow the instructions on screen, write down the important information as the FAQ suggests, and do not close the registration partway through on the assumption that the system saved it, since no official page states that it does.
Sign-In Partner login has its own route and its own list, and the list deserves a same-day check. The FAQ states that Sign-In Partner login runs through SecureKey Concierge, that it allows login with information you may already use for an online system such as online banking, and that at present SecureKey Concierge has ten banking partners: TD Canada Trust, BMO Financial Group, Choice Rewards, Tangerine, Caisses populaires acadiennes, Caisses populaire, Royal Bank, Desjardins, CIBC and Scotiabank. The FAQ page carries a date modified of 2022-10-26, so treat that list as the list as of that page, not as a live guarantee. If the bank you do business with is not on the list, the FAQ directs you to get a GCKey user ID and password, referring to the Getting your GCKey material and video tutorial. Choose the credential you already hold where you can, get a GCKey where you cannot, and do not delay registration until the week a licence is due to discover that neither route is ready.
The DFO passcode is the third credential-like item in the system, and confusing it with the GCKey is the easiest registration mistake to make. The FAQ draws the distinction in one question: a GCKey user ID and password is a secure way for the Department to recognise the identity of a person using the system, while a DFO passcode is used to recover your National Online Licensing System profile. All DFO passcodes expire if unused, according to the FAQ, and you should contact DFO to request a new passcode if yours expired without being used, or if you have lost it. Two recovery cases are stated separately. If you have lost your GCKey file, the FAQ states you must register again to get a new GCKey user ID and password, and must also contact DFO to be provided with a new DFO passcode to connect the new GCKey to your NOLS account. If you have forgotten your GCKey password, the FAQ directs you to GCKey Support, where customer service representatives are available by telephone, you will be asked questions to validate your identity, and you need the answers you provided during GCKey registration before a new password is issued. Keep the passcode, the GCKey answers, and the email address together in a place you can find them outside the fishing season, because a lost passcode plus a lost GCKey file together mean two separate recovery steps, not one.
Two other ways of using the system are verified on the official pages, and both matter on the day of filing because they decide whose account the request lands in. As a representative, the FAQ states you need four things: a GCKey or Sign-In Partner user ID and password, a DFO online profile, a delegation code, and an email address. You need to provide your delegation code to the DFO client you wish to represent, because that client needs the code to appoint you as representative. A client can assign three roles to a representative, administrative, financial, and operational, and a client and representative can perform the same transactions. There is a delegation limit in place: the FAQ states the system has a delegation limit set, and if you receive the limit warning when entering a delegation code, contact DFO or your representative for assistance. No number for the limit is stated on the page, and this guide states none. Do not appoint representatives one after another until the warning appears and then treat the warning as a fault: stop, contact DFO, and sort the appointments before filing. On behalf of an Organization, the FAQ states that a person identified as authorised to conduct transactions for one or more Organizations can log in with GCKey or Sign-In Partner credentials to access the accounts of the Organizations, that the Organization name, type such as a corporation, and telephone number will be included in the Organization section of the profile, and that Pacific vessel-based licences will appear as Organizations and will not include a telephone number. Once logged in, that person can renew licences, submit requests, pay fees, and receive notifications for any of the Organizations. When you submit or check a request as a representative or for an Organization, the request instructions require you to select the account name you wish to work from first, as section 3 and section 4 set out. Selecting the wrong account files the request against the wrong holder, and no official page describes a way to move a submitted request between accounts.
Submitting a request in NOLS is a sequence, not a form to download. The request instructions page gives the sequence in seven numbered steps, and the user training manual gives the same sequence with the limits that decide whether a submission is complete. Follow the sequence in order, and read the instructions linked from the request screen before typing anything: the manual's warning on this point is explicit, and it is the step most easily skipped.
Start from the left-navigation menu. Online Licensing - Submitting a Request and Checking the Request Status states step 1 as clicking the Submit Request link under the Requests section of the left-navigation menu. National Online Licensing System - User Training Manual states the same entry point in its own words: to submit a request or check the status of a request, select the Submit Request hyperlink or the Request Status hyperlink from the left navigation menu. If you are acting as a representative or submitting on behalf of an Organization, step 2 of the instructions page requires you to select the available account name you wish to work from before choosing a request type. Do not skip the account selection because your own name looks right on screen: the account you select is the holder the request will be filed against.
Choose the request type, then any sub-type, and use the Select button after each choice. Step 3 of the instructions page states to choose the request type from the drop-down menu and click the Select button, and that you may need to select a request sub-type from the drop-down menu if applicable, clicking Select again after choosing it. The manual states the same order: choose the request type from the drop-down menu and press Select, then choose among the request sub-types listed and press Select. The manual adds the instruction that governs everything after: once you have selected your request type, make sure to read the request instructions carefully before submitting your request, as they contain important details. The instructions page gives the same step as step 4: click the Instructions hyperlink, Click here for instructions on how to submit your request, which opens in a new window and provides a description of the request and all the details you will need to submit it. The instructions for each request type are therefore the specification for that request. This guide cannot reproduce them, because they live behind the request screen for each type and sub-type, and no official page lists them. Read the instructions window for the exact type and sub-type you selected, in full, before touching the Comments box. A vessel transfer, a designated vessel submission, and a catch-all request do not share one set of required details, and the instructions window is where the differences are stated.
Put the request details in the Comments box, in the form the instructions require. Step 5 of the instructions page states to insert any request details by clicking into the Comments box as indicated on the instructions page. The manual adds the size of the box, which is a practical limit worth knowing before drafting: there is a minimum of five characters and up to 1,900 characters available for all comments. Draft the comment before opening the request screen where the details are long, count it against the 1,900-character ceiling, and paste it in once it fits. The comments box is designated for the details laid out in the request instructions, according to the manual, so a comment that restates the request type without the instructed details is an incomplete request, however clearly it is written. Include every identifier the instructions name, such as vessel name and registration number where the instructions call for them, exactly as the instructions spell them, and keep a copy of the comment outside the system. Once a request is completed, comments can no longer be added to it, as section 4 sets out, so the comment submitted is the comment DFO works from.
Attach documents only where the instructions require them, and only in the file types the manual allows. Step 6 of the instructions page states that if the instructions require you to attach documents, click Browse to upload documentation, and click Add Another File to include more than one document. The manual states the allowed types directly: only PDF, DOC, DOCX, JIF, JPG, PNG and TXT documents may be uploaded. Convert anything else before starting the request, and name files so you can tell them apart in the Attached Documents list later. If the instructions do not require documents, do not attach background material in the hope it helps: the request is judged on the instructed details and documents, and extra material attached to the wrong request type is material DFO must still work through. If the instructions do require a document you do not yet have, stop before submitting. A submitted request with a missing required document is not a placeholder that holds your place in a queue on any wording on the official pages.
Click Submit, and keep the Request ID. Step 7 of the instructions page states to click Submit to submit the request, and Cancel to cancel it, and adds the note that a unique Request ID number will be generated once you have submitted the request, and that you should include this number in all correspondence with the Department. The manual states the same outcome in its own words: you will always receive a notification in the system when a new request has been submitted from your account, and the Request Status page is used to view the status of submitted requests, with the Request ID number in the Request Status menu as the way to view further details, modify, edit, or add comments and documents. If you no longer wish to submit, the manual states you can select Back to return to the system. Write the Request ID down with the date and time of submission, the request type and sub-type selected, and a copy of the comment and the names of the documents attached. That record is the proof of what was filed, and it is the reference DFO asks for in later correspondence.
If the request type is not in the drop-down menu, use the catch-all route rather than the nearest type. The FAQ states that if the request type is not listed in the drop-down menu, select Licensing Services Not Listed Above and provide information in the comments box about the request you wish to submit, and repeats the same instruction in its Licensing Requests section with more detailed information in the comments box. The catch-all is a real route, not a dead end, but it puts the whole burden of description on the comments box: state what the request is, which licence, vessel, or registration it concerns, and what action you are asking DFO to take, within the 1,900-character limit, and attach the documents the situation requires in the allowed file types. Do not use the catch-all for a transaction the fishery notice states is handled outside NOLS, such as the Pacific Region transactions in section 1. The catch-all files a request inside NOLS; the notice route keeps the transaction outside it. Choosing the wrong one delays the transaction either way.
A submitted request is not finished business. It has a status, the status can change, and the official pages disagree about whether you will be emailed when it does. This section gives the checking steps both pages agree on, the six status wordings the manual lists, and both notification wordings, preserved rather than reconciled.
Check the status through Request Status, not through the submission screen. Online Licensing - Submitting a Request and Checking the Request Status gives seven steps for checking a request status and modifying a request. Click the Request Status link under the Requests section of the left-navigation menu. If acting as a representative or on behalf of an Organization, select the available account name you wish to work from. Select the Request ID link to open the request type in more detail. You can still see the Instructions and Request Details for the request and can take note of the Request ID for future reference. If you wish to amend the request or provide additional information, click into the Comments box. If required, click Browse to upload additional documentation, and Add Another File for more than one document. You can view previously attached documents under Attached Documents, including documents uploaded by DFO. Click Submit to submit the changes, or Cancel to cancel them. The manual gives the same route in shorter form: this page is used to view the status of all submitted requests, and to view further details, modify, edit, or add comments and documents, click the available Request ID number within the Request Status menu. All new comment updates sent regarding the request appear in the Previous comments text box, and you may reply to DFO comments by clicking in the comments text box. All attachments appear in the Attached Documents section, and additional documentation can be uploaded with Choose File and Add Another File, followed by Submit at the bottom of the Request Detail screen, or Back to return without submitting the changes.
The six status wordings are the vocabulary of the check, and they are worth learning before the first check so a status is not misread. National Online Licensing System - User Training Manual lists the possible status changes DFO can make to a request as: DFO Approved; DFO Denied; DFO Approved, Payment Pending; DFO Cancelled; Initiator Cancelled; and Recipient Cancelled. DFO Approved, Payment Pending is not an approval to fish on: it is an approval whose payment is still outstanding, and section 5 sets out how the payment is made and what releases the documents. A status of DFO Denied or DFO Cancelled is a decision to act on, not a status to wait out: contact DFO through the route in section 6, quoting the Request ID, and ask what further step, if any, the decision leaves open. No official page states a general time within which DFO must change a status, and this guide states none. The only interval verified on an official page is scoped to one fishery, and it is stated as such in section 6.
Amendments have a hard edge. The manual states that comments and documents can no longer be added if the request has been completed, and that you should submit a new request if you wish to provide other comments or documents. Amend while the request is still open: add the comment or document through Request Detail and Submit, and keep the new comment and document names with the original record. Once the request shows as completed, do not keep adding material to the old Request ID in the hope it will be read. Submit a new request, state that it follows the earlier Request ID, and include the new material in full. The instructions page's step for amending a request, clicking into the Comments box on the Request Detail screen, applies to a request that is still open. It does not reopen a completed one.
Now the notification conflict, stated in full. The FAQ states that once you have successfully submitted a request, you will receive a notification via the system as well as an email notification indicating that your request has been submitted, that a unique Request ID number will be attributed to each request, that you will also receive an email notification if the status of one of your requests changes, but that you will need to log in to check the exact status of your request, on the Request Status page. The request instructions page states that you will receive a notification in your account under the Notifications screen when you have submitted a request, and that you will not be informed of any changes to your requests by email or through the Notifications screen, and must follow its steps to check the status or amend the request. Those two wordings cannot both describe the same behaviour for status changes. The FAQ page carries a date modified of 2022-10-26; the instructions page carries a date modified of 2017-09-26. Neither page states that it supersedes the other, and no official page resolves the difference. This guide therefore does not promise an email when a status changes, and does not promise that no email will arrive. The working rule is the one both pages support: log in, open Request Status, and read the status yourself. Check on the day you file, so a request filed under the wrong type or with a missing document is caught while it can still be amended, and check again after any interval the fishery notice for your fishery states. If an email arrives, treat it as a prompt to log in, not as the status itself.
Fees in NOLS are paid from the account, against the fees the account lists. No fee amount is stated in this guide, because no fee schedule was, and a figure copied from a fishery notice for one fishery and one year would mislead every other reader. The amount you owe, for the licences, vessel registrations, and fisher registration cards on your account, is the amount shown in Current Fees on the day you pay, and the Payment Deadline field where it appears is the date that governs that fee. Pay that amount, through the route you choose, and finish the route: for bank payments, finishing means allocating the credit in NOLS, not merely sending the money.
Start at Pay Fees and review before paying anything. National Online Licensing System - User Training Manual states that you may use the system to pay licence, fisher registration, vessel registration, and any additional fees, that you will always be notified when new fees have been added to your account, and that you must pay these fees and the transaction must be processed by DFO before your documents will be released to your account for printing. To pay, click the Pay Fees link under the Payments section on the left-navigation menu. The Current Fees section will list all fees you presently owe. Click in the white box beside each fee you wish to pay and a checkmark will appear; click a second time to deselect. If paying more than one fee, click Recalculate to reflect the total of all fees selected before clicking Checkout. The Pay Fees, Checkout screen will show all fees selected and the total amount of the payment: review the list to ensure it is correct, and click Back to return to the Pay Fees screen if anything needs changing. The FAQ adds one practical point: you can pay the fees to fish in more than one fishery at the same time using the system. Select every fee you intend to pay in that session before Checkout, rather than paying fishery by fishery and re-entering the payment flow each time.
Before proceeding to Pay Now, two steps in the manual come first, and skipping either one creates work later. First, print the Transaction Statement. The manual states that if you are ready to proceed, click the National Online Licensing System Transaction Statement button to print a statement, and that this step is important to take even if you plan to pay by credit card right away, because you should attach the statement to the transaction receipt after making a payment. Second, read the declaration the manual shows at this point in the flow: before proceeding to Pay Now, you must first read the Declaration of Inshore Regulations Compliance and check the box at the bottom of the declaration. The manual presents that declaration step inside the Pay Fees flow in section 5.3. This guide states it as the manual states it, and does not extend it to fisheries or payments the manual does not name. If no declaration appears on screen for the fees you are paying, follow the on-screen steps for those fees as shown, and do not go looking for a declaration form outside the payment flow.
Paying by credit card goes through a third-party payment site. The manual states to click Pay Now on the Pay Fees, Checkout screen, after the steps above, and that you will be directed to a secure, third-party website where the payment will be processed. Before entering card information, review the total amount to ensure it is correct; if it is incorrect or changes are needed, click the Return to National Online Licensing System hyperlink. If the information is correct, enter the name on the credit card, the card number, and the expiry date, then enter an email address so a confirmation of payment email may be sent, and click Pay with your Credit Card. A receipt of the payment transaction will appear: click Print this Page at the top of the receipt to print a copy, and attach the receipt to the Transaction Statement printed earlier. The FAQ states the card brands accepted for online payment: credit card (Visa, Master Card, American Express, Diner, Discover, JCB), using the Receiver General Buy Button, or payment online through your own registered banking institution. If a card payment is refused, the FAQ states to make sure the card information was entered correctly, and if refused again, to call the toll-free number on the back of the card to make sure there are no issues with the card or credit, and to contact DFO if that is not the issue. Do not re-enter the same card repeatedly in the hope a later attempt passes: check the card first, as the FAQ directs.
Paying through a financial institution is a two-part payment, and the second part happens back inside NOLS. The manual states that to pay by telephone banking, online banking, an automated banking machine, or at an in-person teller, you need to set up Fisheries and Oceans Canada as a payee with your National Online Licensing System Account Number. The manual lists a number of major financial institutions offering payee services to DFO, including Bank of Montreal, Scotiabank, Royal Bank of Canada, TD Canada Trust, National Bank, CIBC, HSBC, Caisse centrale Desjardins du Quebec, and Credit Union Central of Canada, and states the payee or merchant name will normally be listed as DFO-MPO Peche Com Fishing, with alternate payee names used by some institutions. Treat that institution list as the list on the manual page, and confirm your institution still lists DFO as a payee on the day you pay, since adding a payee is at each institution's discretion and must be initiated by the institution. You will be prompted to provide your 12-digit National Online Licensing System Account Number. If your institution is not a participating or clearing institution and does not include DFO as a payee, the manual gives the alternatives: pay online with a credit card directly through NOLS, or pay at another participating bank or financial institution that includes DFO as a payee, noting the institution may require opening an account or paying a transaction service fee. You cannot use TelPay third-party electronic bill payment services: the manual states the Receiver General for Canada requires fund transfers directly from the client's financial institution to the Receiver General, with no middle agent.
Once the bank payment is made, wait, then allocate. The manual states you will need to wait a few business days while the bank processes the payment to the Department and the Department places the credit into your NOLS account, that you will receive a notification when the credit has been put into your account, and that you then need to log in to apply the credit to the fee payment you intended to pay. It states the point twice, in bold terms: you are not finished paying your fees until you allocate the credit that you gave to the bank, and that was placed into your account, against these fees. To allocate, click the Credit Allocation hyperlink on the left-navigation menu, tick the box beside each fee to pay with the credit in the Available Credit part of the Account Information section, click Recalculate if paying more than one fee, click Checkout to see the confirmation screen with the fees and total, review it, and click Pay Now so the credit is automatically applied. If the credit is short of the total, pay only the fees it covers in that allocation, and pay the remainder through Pay Fees as a separate payment. Do not treat a bank statement showing the money left your account as proof the licence fee is paid: until the credit is allocated in NOLS, the fee shows as unpaid and the documents are not released.
Cheques are not a route at all. The manual states that DFO will not accept cheques in person or via mail under any circumstances, and that all cheques received will be returned to the client with follow-up information on how to register in NOLS or appoint a representative. Do not mail a cheque with a note asking DFO to apply it to a licence fee. It will be returned, and the fee will still be outstanding on the account. The in-person bank option in the manual is not a cheque option: to pay at the bank in person, bring the printed Transaction Statement, with the NOLS Account Number and the amount ready to provide to the teller, through the payee arrangement described above.
The Payment Deadline field is the date to watch, where it appears. The manual states the new Payment Deadline field was introduced on October 30, 2025, that it indicates the final date by which fees can be paid, and that fees posted to the account prior to the launch date, October 30, 2025, will not display a payment deadline, as the feature was not available at that time. It adds that all existing regulations and policies still apply whether or not a payment deadline date is shown, giving as the example that licence fees must be paid in advance of fishing activity and to obtain licences and conditions. Read that together with the FAQ's statement that annual licence renewal fees are adjusted under the Service Fees Act by the Consumer Price Index, as stated in the Pacific Region notices: the amount and the deadline are account-specific, and the account is the source for both. If a fee on the account shows a Payment Deadline, pay by that date. If a fee shows no deadline because it predates the field, do not read the blank as no deadline at all: the regulations and policies still apply, and the fishery notice for that fishery is the place to check the governing date. After payment, check Payment History. The manual states to click the Payment History link under the Payments section, to review payment history regularly to ensure all online payments have been processed, that by default the screen shows payments over the past six months, with options for 1 day, five days, 1 month, 6 months, 12 months, or All, and that the Payment History screen only reflects payments made using NOLS. Once a payment has been processed, the Department records the information and releases the documents to be printed, which could be the licence, licence conditions, fisher registration, vessel registration, or specific request documents, depending on the fees paid.
Printing is part of the licensing transaction, not an afterthought to it. A licence that has been issued but not printed is not on board the vessel, and the official pages treat the printed copy as the compliance copy. Print promptly after the documents appear, check what was printed against what the account lists, and keep the proof of the request, the payment, and the printing together until the fishing activity the licence covers is finished.
Print from Print Documents, and remember the split between the two places documents live. National Online Licensing System - User Training Manual states to click the Print Documents link under the Licensing section on the left-navigation menu, using a computer connected to a printer, or to save the documents on a data storage device such as a USB key to bring to a local print shop. The Print Documents section will list fishing licences, fisher registration information, vessel registration information, and other licensing documents once all associated fees have been paid and the payments processed by DFO. Any document issued as a result of a request, such as a licence or licence conditions, fisher registration cards, or vessel registration documents, will be available for printing through the Print Documents hyperlink. Specific documents or forms related to requests, however, can only be viewed or printed in the Requests section: open the request and print the documents using Adobe or similar software. You will always be notified when a new document has been added to your account, according to the manual, and you are required to print the documents so you have them onboard when you participate in a fishery. To print a licence or condition document, click the document hyperlink in the Document Name column of the Licence / Condition Documents table, choose Open to print right away or Save to save the document to the computer or USB key for later printing, and print from the PDF browser. The same Open or Save process applies to fisher or Organization documents and to vessel registration documents, from their own tables on the same screen. The FAQ adds the format point: documents downloaded from the system are in Portable Document Format (PDF), and a PDF reader must be installed on the computer to access them. If a document will not open, the FAQ states you may need to download and save it before printing, and to contact DFO with the error message if saving fails. Internet access at libraries and other public locations typically includes printing services for a small fee, according to the FAQ, and documents saved on a USB key can be brought to a print shop.
Carry the paper copy, and keep the receipt with it. Frequently Asked Questions - National Online Licensing System states that a paper copy of the licence and licence conditions, and any other required paperwork, must be onboard the vessel during fishing activity to be in compliance with Regulations. It also states that licences issued through the system can be reprinted, and that the current process for licences lost at sea is still in effect. Reprinting is therefore the remedy for a lost printed licence, not a reason to leave the licence unprinted: reprint from Print Documents, or from the Requests section for request documents, before the next fishing activity. The FAQ also states you will need to print a copy of any invoices and attach them to the Transaction Statement received after making a payment. Keep the Transaction Statement, the payment receipt, the printed licence and conditions, and the Request ID record in one folder, paper or digital, so any question about whether a fee was paid or a request was filed can be answered from the folder rather than from memory. Check Payment History after every payment, as section 5 sets out, and check Print Documents after every payment is processed: a processed payment that has not released documents is a discrepancy to raise with DFO promptly, quoting the Request ID or the payment details shown in Payment History, not a delay to wait out.
What to check on the day of filing, in order, is the checklist below. Run it before the fishing activity the request or renewal covers, not after departure, and run it again whenever a fishery notice for your fishery sets a check interval.
Two scoped intervals from the Pacific Groundfish notice illustrate why the fishery notice for your own fishery matters, and why they must not be treated as national rules. FN0164-COMMERCIAL - Groundfish - 2026 Licence Issuance Information states that 2026/2027 Groundfish Trawl, Halibut, Sablefish, Rockfish, and Schedule II Other Species licence fees would be available for payment commencing February 18, 2026 in the Pacific Region through NOLS, that payment should be made prior to submitting a NOLS request with option selection or designated vessel information to avoid delays, and that where a NOLS request is submitted, the Comments section of the request should be checked within two business days of submission. It also states that for communal commercial licences, even though the fees are $0.00, clients are required to add a checkmark beside the licences to renew and click Checkout through NOLS, and that on the Department receiving the required payment and any applicable information or documentation, the licence will be issued and notification sent by email advising that a change has been made to the online account, with the licence documents, conditions, and receipt available to be printed at that time. Every element of that paragraph is scoped to Pacific Groundfish for 2026/2027. Another fishery, another region, or another year will have its own notice, its own fee availability date, and its own check interval. Find the fishery notice for your fishery and region, read its payment and request instructions, and follow those dates and intervals instead of carrying the Groundfish dates into a different fishery.
If the system will not cooperate, or there is no internet access, the FAQ gives the fallback, and it starts with planning ahead. The FAQ states you need to plan ahead to ensure licensing needs are met prior to the next fishing season, that if the system ever goes down it should not be long before it is back up, and that should a major technical issue occur, DFO will process requests through a combination of email, telephone, fax, and in-person service, as required. For no internet access, the FAQ states public access to the internet, computer terminals, and printers is available at public libraries and other locations, that some Service Canada centres have computer terminals with internet access to Government of Canada websites including NOLS, and to call 1-877-535-7307 to find out if your community or a neighbouring community has internet access. Once registered, appointing a representative to manage some or all licensing transactions, including renewing licences, paying fees, submitting requests, and printing documents, is the FAQ's stated alternative for harvesters without internet access or without the computer skills the system requires, with the representative being a family member, friend, colleague, or other trusted individual. Contact DFO directly when the fallback is needed. Client Support gives email at fishing-peche@dfo-mpo.gc.ca, including your name and the DFO Region in which you are located, with a response within a few business days; toll-free telephone at 1-877-535-7307, Monday to Friday excluding holidays from 07:00 to 17:00 Eastern Time, with Alberta and British Columbia support available until 19:00 Eastern Time; and TTY at 1-800-465-7735. The Pacific Groundfish notice states the same toll-free number with hours of 07:00 to 19:00 Eastern Time for NOLS account support, which matches the Client Support page's Alberta and British Columbia extension rather than contradicting it: use the Client Support hours as the general statement, and the notice hours for Pacific NOLS support. For all other non-standard licensing transactions, and for questions specific to logbooks, the Client Support page directs you to contact your Region. Call or email before a deadline, quote the Request ID where a request exists, and keep a note of the advice given and the name of anyone spoken with, since a missed deadline is not cured by having tried the portal alone.
It depends on the kind of licence and where you fish. [Frequently Asked Questions - National Online Licensing System](https://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fisheries-peches/sdc-cps/eng-comm/faq/new-nouveau-eng.html) states that the National Online Licensing System is used by Fisheries and Oceans Canada to issue commercial and commercial-communal fishing licences nationally, as well as recreational fishing licences in Eastern Canada (Atlantic Canada and Quebec), and where applicable to issue fisher registration cards, including crew members. [Online Licensing](https://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fisheries-peches/sdc-cps/licence-permis-eng.html) adds holders of recreational fishing licences in Eastern Canada, and international fishers and registered fish harvesters, including crew members, to the same list. The one stated exclusion is British Columbia recreational fishing: the FAQ states plainly that the system does not apply to recreational fishing licences in British Columbia, which can be obtained via the National Recreational Licensing System. If your licence is a commercial or commercial-communal licence anywhere in Canada, or a recreational licence in Atlantic Canada or Quebec, NOLS is the system the pages describe. If it is a British Columbia recreational licence, do not start in NOLS. Three Pacific Region transactions are also outside NOLS in the notice — vessel replacement, notice of change of ownership of a commercial vessel, and nominations — and section 1 gives the email and telephone route the notice states for those.
Two things: a GCKey or Sign-In Partner user ID and password, and an email address. [Frequently Asked Questions - National Online Licensing System](https://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fisheries-peches/sdc-cps/eng-comm/faq/new-nouveau-eng.html) lists exactly those two, says an existing GCKey can be used to access the system, and explains that a GCKey username and password, or Sign-In Partner login information, is how DFO recognises the identity of the person using the system. Sign-In Partner login runs through SecureKey Concierge and lets you sign in with login information you may already use for an online system such as online banking; the FAQ names ten banking partners, and if your bank is not on the list, the FAQ directs you to get a GCKey user ID and password instead, so check the current partner list on the day you register rather than relying on the 2022 list on the FAQ page. To create a DFO profile for the first time, the FAQ says to access the National Online Licensing System, follow the instructions to create a GCKey username and password, and then self-register with the licensing system. The DFO passcode is a different thing from the GCKey: the FAQ states that a DFO passcode is used to recover your National Online Licensing System profile, that all DFO passcodes expire if unused, and that you should contact DFO to request a new passcode if yours expired or was lost. If you have lost your GCKey file, the FAQ says you must register again for a new GCKey user ID and password and contact DFO for a new passcode to connect the new GCKey to your NOLS account. If you have forgotten your GCKey password, the FAQ directs you to GCKey Support, where you will be asked questions to validate your identity from the answers given during GCKey registration before a new password is issued.
Select Licensing Services Not Listed Above and describe the request in the comments box. [Frequently Asked Questions - National Online Licensing System](https://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fisheries-peches/sdc-cps/eng-comm/faq/new-nouveau-eng.html) gives that instruction twice: for licensing business that cannot be done through the system, if the request type is not listed in the drop-down menu, select Licensing Services Not Listed Above and provide information in the comments box about the request you wish to submit, and in the Licensing Requests section, if the request type is not listed, select Licensing Services Not Listed Above and provide more detailed information in the comments box. Put the full detail in the comments box, not a one-line label: the comments box is where the request instructions tell you to put the details the request requires, and [National Online Licensing System - User Training Manual](https://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fisheries-peches/sdc-cps/products-produits/user-manual-utilisateurs-sec5-eng.html) states the box holds a minimum of five characters and up to 1,900 characters. Do not guess a neighbouring request type because its name sounds close: a request filed under the wrong type still carries its Request ID and its comments, and correcting it means a new request once the first is completed. If even the catch-all route does not fit, or the transaction is one of the Pacific Region transactions listed as not currently available in NOLS, use the contact route in section 1 and section 6 instead of forcing the request into the system.
Both official wordings are preserved here, because the two DFO pages do not say the same thing about email notification, and the safe course is the one both pages agree on: check Request Status in the system yourself. [Frequently Asked Questions - National Online Licensing System](https://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fisheries-peches/sdc-cps/eng-comm/faq/new-nouveau-eng.html) states that once you have successfully submitted a request, you will receive a notification via the system as well as an email notification indicating that your request has been submitted, that a unique Request ID number will be attributed to each request, that you will also receive an email notification if the status of one of your requests changes, but that you will need to log in to check the exact status, on the Request Status page of your profile. [Online Licensing - Submitting a Request and Checking the Request Status](https://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fisheries-peches/sdc-cps/products-produits/request-demande-eng.html) states instead that you will receive a notification in your account under the Notifications screen when you have submitted a request, and that you will not be informed of any changes to your requests by email or through the Notifications screen, and must follow its steps to check the status or amend the request. The request instructions page carries a date modified of 2017-09-26 and the FAQ page a date modified of 2022-10-26, but neither page says the other is superseded, so this guide does not pick one. Submit through Submit Request, keep the Request ID and include it in all correspondence with the Department, then check Request Status on the day you file and again after any interval the fishery notice for your fishery states, and treat an email about a status change as a bonus if it arrives, never as the check itself.
Pay only the fees your account lists, through Pay Fees, and finish the payment by the route you chose — a bank payment is not finished when the money leaves the bank. [National Online Licensing System - User Training Manual](https://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fisheries-peches/sdc-cps/products-produits/user-manual-utilisateurs-sec5-eng.html) states that you must pay the fees and the transaction must be processed by Fisheries and Oceans Canada before your documents will be released to your account for printing, that the Current Fees section lists all fees you presently owe, that you tick the box beside each fee, click Recalculate if paying more than one, and click Checkout to see the total before paying. By credit card, [Frequently Asked Questions - National Online Licensing System](https://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fisheries-peches/sdc-cps/eng-comm/faq/new-nouveau-eng.html) states you can pay by credit card (Visa, Master Card, American Express, Diner, Discover, JCB) using the Receiver General Buy Button, or online through your own registered banking institution, and the manual adds that you are directed to a secure third-party website, enter the name on the card, the card number, the expiry date and an email address for the confirmation, and receive a receipt to print and attach to the Transaction Statement. By financial institution, the manual states you set up Fisheries and Oceans Canada as a payee with your 12-digit National Online Licensing System Account Number, wait a few business days while the bank processes the payment and the Department places the credit in your account, and then log in and allocate that credit against the fee through Credit Allocation and Apply Credit — you are not finished paying until you allocate the credit. The manual also states DFO will not accept cheques in person or via mail under any circumstances. The Payment Deadline field, introduced on October 30, 2025, shows the final date by which fees can be paid where it appears; fees posted before that launch date will not display a deadline. No dollar fee amount is stated in this guide, because no fee schedule is stated on the official pages: the amount you owe is the amount shown in Current Fees on the day you pay.
Print the licence and licence conditions, and carry a paper copy on board: an electronic copy alone does not satisfy the wording on the official pages. [Frequently Asked Questions - National Online Licensing System](https://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fisheries-peches/sdc-cps/eng-comm/faq/new-nouveau-eng.html) states that a paper copy of your licence and licence conditions, and any other required paperwork, must be onboard your vessel during fishing activity to be in compliance with Regulations, that you will need to print your fishing licence and other licensing documents when they have been added to your account, and that licences issued through the system can be reprinted. [National Online Licensing System - User Training Manual](https://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fisheries-peches/sdc-cps/products-produits/user-manual-utilisateurs-sec5-eng.html) states that the Print Documents section lists your documents once you have paid all associated fees and the payments have been processed, that you are required to print the documents so you have them onboard when you participate in a fishery, and that you will always be notified when a new document has been added to your account. Print from Print Documents under Licensing in the left-navigation menu, save the PDF to a USB key and use a print shop if you have no printer, and note the split the manual draws: documents issued as a result of a request appear through Print Documents, but specific documents or forms related to requests can only be viewed or printed in the Requests section, by opening the request. Print before the fishing activity, not after departure, and keep the printed licence, conditions, and fee receipt together.
No dollar fee amount for any licence, fishery, or registration is stated in this guide, because no fee schedule is stated on an official page: the amount owed is the amount shown in Current Fees in the account. Also cut as unverified: any general processing or decision time for a licensing request, beyond the Pacific Groundfish notice's two-business-day Comments check, which is scoped to that notice; the full list of request types and sub-types in the signed-in drop-down menus; the field-by-field self-registration screens; whether the Declaration of Inshore Regulations Compliance appears for every fishery or payment, beyond the manual's placement of it in the Pay Fees flow; the current Sign-In Partner banking list, beyond the FAQ's ten partners as of its 2022 modification date; the delegation limit number, which the FAQ states exists without giving; any browser, device, or session-timeout requirement for NOLS; and any deadline or fee figure for another fishery taken from an unverified listing, including Euphausiid and Crab notices that were not checked. The notification conflict is not resolved in this guide: the FAQ and the request instructions page give different wordings on email notification of status changes, and both are preserved in section 4. Recheck the Online Licensing page and the FAQ page on the day you file, read the fishery notice for your fishery and region for its dates and check intervals, and contact DFO Client Support at 1-877-535-7307 if the screens, the request types, or the fees shown do not match what this guide describes.