Keeping hens · Territory rules

Can you keep backyard chickens in the Northwest Territories, Canada?

In the Northwest Territories, your city, town, village or hamlet council may make bylaws on domestic animals (the hamlet text read may be out of date), so check with it. Whether keepers must register wasn't established.

Read from 7 official sources24 passages quotedChecked October 27, 2026

At a glance

Registering your flock

Not established

Where hens can live

Set locally

Bird-flu housing orders

Status needs rechecking

Welfare rules

Rule with conditions
Set locally

Who decides where hens can live

The law we read gives a named local body its own powers over where hens can live. What the checked sources say:

  • A city, town or village council, and a hamlet council, may make bylaws for municipal purposes respecting domestic and feral animals and activities in relation to them. A hamlet’s bylaw power is subject to all enactments of the Northwest Territories and Canada.
  • Check with your city, town, village or hamlet council for its bylaws on keeping chickens.

No territory-wide permission for or ban on backyard chickens was found in the sections read (Cities, Towns and Villages Act s. 70; Hamlets Act s. 72; Herd and Fencing Act ss. 1 and 2). The Herd and Fencing Act’s running-at-large rules apply to “animals” defined as horses, cattle, sheep, swine and goats. The territory’s list of consolidated Acts (as archived 12 October 2026) shows a newer Hamlets Act consolidation dated 10 August 2026, which was not read, so the hamlet sentences reflect the consolidation as archived 8 November 2025 and may be out of date. The Charter Communities Act, the Tlicho Community Government Act, planning rules and local bylaws were not read.

Registration: not established in the sources we read.

The law's own words are quoted under rules on keeping poultry below.

How to check: Look up the local rules where you live (the ordinances, bylaws or zoning of the body named here), or ask that office, before you get hens.

A sourced reading of the law in the Northwest Territories, Canada, not legal advice. Local bylaws and zoning, property or tenancy rules, and any local rooster or coop limits aren't covered here yet: check your local rules before you get hens.

Keeping your flock

These findings cover the scope stated below. They do not determine whether chickens are allowed at a particular home. City zoning, property restrictions and other local rules are outside this research.

Registering as a poultry keeper

Not established from the sources checked

Jurisdiction: Northwest Territories

Applies to: The Northwest Territories’ list of consolidated territorial Acts and regulations (Department of Justice legislation page, as archived 12 October 2026).

Outside this finding's scope

  • No territorial Act on animal health, animal identification or animal welfare was found among the Act titles in that list, so no keeper registration duty was found. The list says not all statutes and regulations are consolidated there, and regulations under other Acts were not searched, so this is not proof that no duty exists.
  • Registration does not give permission to keep chickens at a particular property.

Authority: Not established from the sources checked.

Fee: Not established from the sources checked.

The official wording

  • This page provides an alphabetical listing of consolidated territorial Acts and associated regulations.

    Legislation page, introduction · Checked

  • Please note that not all Northwest Territories statutes, regulations and court rules are consolidated in this service.

    Legislation page, Disclaimer · Checked

Bird-flu housing orders

Current status needs rechecking

An official current-status link has not been established.

Orders can change between checks. A missed check or an expired order does not establish that no order applies.

Housing-order finding as checked on 2026-10-27

The scope and conditions below are a dated record, not confirmation of today's position.

Not established from the sources checked

Uses housing orders in this scope: Not established from the sources checked.

Jurisdiction: Northwest Territories

Applies to: Federal powers under Canada’s Health of Animals Act (current to 30 September 2026), which apply across Canada including the Northwest Territories. No territorial animal health Act was found among the Act titles in the territory’s list of consolidated Acts (as archived 12 October 2026).

Outside this finding's scope

  • The federal powers quoted here restrict the movement of animals into, out of and within declared places and zones. They do not show a power to require birds to be kept indoors, so whether housing orders are used in the Northwest Territories was not established. This finding does not establish that any order applies now.

What the checked sources say

  • A federal inspector or officer who suspects or determines that a disease exists in a place, and is of the opinion that it could spread or that animals or things entering the place could become affected, may declare in writing that the place is infected. No person may take an animal into, or remove one from, an infected place without a licence from an inspector or officer.
  • The federal Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food may declare an area where a disease is believed to exist a primary control zone. Designated animals may then be moved into, within or out of the zone only under a permit from the Minister.
Checked
Recheck due

Historical evidence, as checked

These quotations record what was checked on the dates shown. They do not confirm an order's current status.

  • 22 (1) Where an inspector or officer suspects or determines that a disease or toxic substance exists in a place and is of the opinion that it could spread or that animals or things entering the place could become affected or contaminated by it, the inspector or officer may in writing declare that the place is infected

    Health of Animals Act s. 22(1) · Checked

  • 25 (1) No person shall, without a licence issued by an inspector or officer, remove from or take into an infected place any animal or thing.

    Health of Animals Act s. 25(1) · Checked

  • 27 (1) If the Minister believes that a disease or toxic substance exists in an area, he or she may, by order, declare the area to be a primary control zone,

    Health of Animals Act s. 27(1) · Checked

  • (3) No person shall remove from, move within or take into the primary control zone a designated animal or thing except in accordance with a permit issued by the Minister.

    Health of Animals Act s. 27(3) · Checked

  • Minister means the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food;

    Health of Animals Act s. 2(1), Minister · Checked

  • Act current to 2026-09-30

    Health of Animals Act, currency note · Checked

Small-flock welfare minimums

Conditions apply to this finding

Jurisdiction: Northwest Territories

Applies to: Canada’s Criminal Code (current to 30 September 2026), federal criminal law that applies across Canada including the Northwest Territories. No territorial animal welfare Act was found among the Act titles in the territory’s list of consolidated Acts (as archived 12 October 2026).

Outside this finding's scope

  • These are federal criminal offences, not detailed care standards; local bylaws were not read.

What the checked sources say

  • It is an offence to wilfully cause, or as the owner wilfully permit, unnecessary pain, suffering or injury to an animal or a bird. It is punishable on indictment by up to five years’ imprisonment, or on summary conviction by a fine of up to $10,000, up to two years less a day in prison, or both.
  • It is an offence for the owner, or the person with custody or control, of a domestic animal or bird, or a captive wild one, to abandon it in distress or to wilfully neglect or fail to provide suitable and adequate food, water, shelter and care for it. It is punishable on indictment by up to two years’ imprisonment, or on summary conviction.

The official wording

  • (a) wilfully causes or, being the owner, wilfully permits to be caused unnecessary pain, suffering or injury to an animal or a bird;

    Criminal Code s. 445.1(1)(a) · Checked

  • (a) an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than five years; or (b) an offence punishable on summary conviction and liable to a fine of not more than $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term of not more than two years less a day, or to both.

    Criminal Code s. 445.1(2) · Checked

  • (b) being the owner or the person having the custody or control of a domestic animal or a bird or an animal or a bird wild by nature that is in captivity, abandons it in distress or wilfully neglects or fails to provide suitable and adequate food, water, shelter and care for it.

    Criminal Code s. 446(1)(b) · Checked

  • (a) an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than two years; or (b) an offence punishable on summary conviction.

    Criminal Code s. 446(2) · Checked

  • Act current to 2026-09-30 and last amended on 2026-07-18.

    Criminal Code, currency note · Checked

Rules on keeping poultry

Conditions apply to this finding

Jurisdiction: Northwest Territories

Applies to: The bylaw powers of city, town and village councils under the Northwest Territories’ Cities, Towns and Villages Act (consolidation as archived 7 November 2025) and of hamlet councils under the Hamlets Act (consolidation as archived 8 November 2025). The territory says these consolidations are not an official statement of the law.

Outside this finding's scope

  • No territory-wide permission for or ban on backyard chickens was found in the sections read (Cities, Towns and Villages Act s. 70; Hamlets Act s. 72; Herd and Fencing Act ss. 1 and 2). The Herd and Fencing Act’s running-at-large rules apply to “animals” defined as horses, cattle, sheep, swine and goats. The territory’s list of consolidated Acts (as archived 12 October 2026) shows a newer Hamlets Act consolidation dated 10 August 2026, which was not read, so the hamlet sentences reflect the consolidation as archived 8 November 2025 and may be out of date. The Charter Communities Act, the Tlicho Community Government Act, planning rules and local bylaws were not read.

What the checked sources say

  • A city, town or village council, and a hamlet council, may make bylaws for municipal purposes respecting domestic and feral animals and activities in relation to them. A hamlet’s bylaw power is subject to all enactments of the Northwest Territories and Canada.
  • Check with your city, town, village or hamlet council for its bylaws on keeping chickens.

The official wording

Selling eggs in the Northwest Territories, Canada? →Licence, small-flock line, markets and cartons, on their own page.Selling: Licence or permit

Elsewhere in Canada

Every region on the map →

Common questions

Do I have to register backyard chickens in the Northwest Territories, Canada?
Registration: not established. The finding covers: The Northwest Territories’ list of consolidated territorial Acts and regulations (Department of Justice legislation page, as archived 12 October 2026). Outside this finding's scope: No territorial Act on animal health, animal identification or animal welfare was found among the Act titles in that list, so no keeper registration duty was found. The list says not all statutes and regulations are consolidated there, and regulations under other Acts were not searched, so this is not proof that no duty exists. Registration does not give permission to keep chickens at a particular property.
Can I keep chickens in my backyard in the Northwest Territories, Canada?
The law we read gives a named local body its own powers over where hens can live. A city, town or village council, and a hamlet council, may make bylaws for municipal purposes respecting domestic and feral animals and activities in relation to them. A hamlet’s bylaw power is subject to all enactments of the Northwest Territories and Canada. Check with your city, town, village or hamlet council for its bylaws on keeping chickens. No territory-wide permission for or ban on backyard chickens was found in the sections read (Cities, Towns and Villages Act s. 70; Hamlets Act s. 72; Herd and Fencing Act ss. 1 and 2). The Herd and Fencing Act’s running-at-large rules apply to “animals” defined as horses, cattle, sheep, swine and goats. The territory’s list of consolidated Acts (as archived 12 October 2026) shows a newer Hamlets Act consolidation dated 10 August 2026, which was not read, so the hamlet sentences reflect the consolidation as archived 8 November 2025 and may be out of date. The Charter Communities Act, the Tlicho Community Government Act, planning rules and local bylaws were not read. Look up the local rules where you live (the ordinances, bylaws or zoning of the body named here), or ask that office, before you get hens.
Do I have to keep my hens indoors for bird flu in the Northwest Territories, Canada?
Housing orders come and go, so we never show one as current. We haven't confirmed an official current-status page for it.

Allowed where you live? Then keep the records.

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