It is actually all very silly. It is the way the law is written. It obviously was not the original intent of the law at the time it is written, but our current government has decided to start interpreting it down to the very letter according to the ministry / Front Counter. Here is how they are playing it:
----
Referring to the Wildlife Act for clarification, we find the following:
11 (1)A person who hunts wildlife commits an offence unless the person holds all of the following:
(a)a hunting licence issued to the person under this Act;
(b)any limited entry hunting authorization that is required by regulation;
(c)any other licence that is required by regulation;
(d)any other permit that is required by regulation.
And then we refer to the regulation:
"You must carry all your species licences while hunting, both cancelled and uncancelled. If you buy your species licence online, it will be mailed to you subject to Canada Post delivery times. If you buy your species licences in-person, you will obtain them immediately."
And of the definition of hunting of course:
"Hunt & Hunting - includes shooting at, attracting, searching for, chasing, pursuing, following after or on the trail of, stalking, or lying in wait for wildlife or attempting to do any of those things, whether or not the wildlife is then or subsequently wounded, killed or captured:
(a) with intention to capture the wildlife, or
(b)while in possession of a firearm or other weapon."
-----
So what they are saying, is that when you purchase online, it is issued to you, but there is a period of time before you will possess it, and until then since you cannot carry it, you would be committing an offence by doing anything that falls under the definition of hunting.
It's quite ridiculous. I spent a couple weeks trying to argue about it, or push them to at least update the website if they are going to take that stance and change it from:
"Species licences bought online will be mailed. Allow approximately three weeks BEFORE your hunt."
to:
"Species licences bought online will be mailed. You will be required to wait up to three weeks BEFORE commencing participation in ANY hunting of ANY species once an online tag has been ordered"
I went as far as talking to a lawyer about it and our conclusions are about the same. Is it an offence according to the letter of the law? Yes. The definitions of "hold", "carry" and "hunting" are all quite clear. Would any Conservation Officer actually charge/fine a person for participating in a grouse hunt because he ordered a cougar tag that has been in the mail for 2 weeks? Very unlikely. Would a judge uphold said charge/fine? Also very unlikely. Combined Vegas odds on receiving a penalty that sticks? Virtually none. However, according to our current government, it is against the law.
It's all very dumb, but since it's easy enough to order tags in advance, in light of all this, I go that route so I can focus energy on hunting instead of thinking about the legal mess and how greasy our government seems to want to be towards hunters.