You can look up any animal you desire to own on the Alberta Controlled Animals Document that we will link to below. If an animal is on the list, it means it is “controlled”.
This means you can not have one as a pet. You can either own them with special permissions, like researchers and zoos, or nobody can at all.
You can open or download the PDF file and keep it handy for your reference.
Entire Controlled Animals List
So what about owls? Are they on the controlled list in Alberta?
Is it legal to own an Owl in Alberta?
You can not legally have a pet owl in Alberta. In fact, as a bird of prey, they are restricted across Canada.
Owls are listed on the Alberta Controlled Animals list, created in part by the Fish and Wildlife Policy Division.
More specifically, the document lays out the list of species by description and genus.
All Owls (Family Strigidae) are restricted for ownership in Alberta:
- Barn Owl (Tyto alba)
- Boreal Owl (Aegolius funereus)
- Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia)
- Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus)
- Long-eared Owl (Asio otus)
- Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus)
- Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus)
- Northern Pygmy-Owl (Glaucidium gnoma)
- Northern Saw-whet Owl (Aegolius acadicus)
Not only is it illegal to own a pet Owl anywhere in Canada, it is illegal to buy, sell or trade them as well. Even if it is dead.
Here is a screenshot from the Alberta controlled animals list PDF document.
Can I Own Owl Feathers in Canada?
Since you can’t own an actual Owl in this country, you might be wondering if you can at least have owl feathers to admire or display.
The Canadian Migratory Birds Regulations goes into great detail on what you can and can’t do with migratory bird feathers, and this would include owls.
Review the Canadian Migratory Bird Regulations here.
To sum it up, it is not generally legal to keep migratory bird feathers. There are special licenses and permissions granted for research or nature projects. There are also exceptions for those with Canadian Indigenous status.
In Summary
- You can not legally own, sell or trade owls in Alberta, or anywhere in Canada.
- Owls are on the controlled animals list of Alberta
- You also can not possess owl feathers legally
- There are some exceptions for indigenous status Canadians or special licensing and permissions
