About the survey

Recreational fishing surveys are used in Ontario to learn about anglers and their fishing in the province. The survey has been delivered every 5 years since 1975 and provides regular opportunities to ask anglers about their behaviours, preferences and perspectives related to fishing in Ontario. It also helps collect important information about fishing activity and economic expenditures for recreational fishing in Ontario.

The 2025 recreational fishing survey helped us learn about:

  • 2025 Ontario fishing activity and economic expenditures
  • angler characteristics, target species preferences and behaviours and satisfaction
  • angler behaviours, awareness and attitudes related to bait use, fish stocking, watercraft regulations and aquatic invasive species
  • fish consumption behaviours and awareness of, and compliance with, the Guide to Eating Ontario Fish

Your feedback helps us manage and protect Ontario’s fisheries, keep Ontarians healthy and demonstrate the benefits of recreational fishing to anglers and communities.

We will report back on what we heard after we process and analyze all responses. Reports from previous surveys can be found in the survey results section.

Who can take the survey

Only anglers who received a survey invitation by mail or email were asked to complete the Ontario recreational fishing survey.

We randomly sampled anglers to participate in the survey. This helps ensure that we hear from a balanced sample that is representative of all licensed anglers in the province.

Contact us

For general survey inquiries, contact the Natural Resources Information and Support Centre:

To speak with the scientist leading this research, contact:

Dr. Len Hunt, Research Scientist     
Ministry of Natural Resources
Centre for Northern Forest Ecosystem Research
103-421 James Street South
Thunder Bay, Ontario
P7E 2V6

Your privacy matters

This voluntary survey is considered a lawfully authorized activity under the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act, 1997. Each survey contained a code linked to your personal information (name, mailing address and licensing data) contained in a secure file held by the ministry. We used these codes to send reminders during the survey. At the end of the survey, we removed the link to personal information to ensure all responses are anonymous. Only the name of the city or community you live nearest to, the type of Ontario fishing licences you held in 2025 and your gender remains with the responses. For more information about this survey, contact us.

Survey results

2025

Survey results will be available after we process and analyze all 2025 responses.

2020

Summary of results from the 2020 Ontario recreational fishing survey

2015

2015 Survey of recreational fishing in Canada: selected results for Ontario fisheries