Canada Gazette, Part I, Volume 158, Number 52: Regulations Amending the Firearms Licences Regulations

December 28, 2024

Statutory authority
Firearms Act

Sponsoring department
Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness

REGULATORY IMPACT ANALYSIS STATEMENT

(This statement is not part of the Regulations.)

Issues

The application of the Firearms Act and its regulations relies on understanding a firearm’s classification. Currently, however, there is no obligation for businesses that import or manufacture firearms to share technical specifications with the Canadian Firearms Program (CFP) to conduct a technical assessment, which may inform an opinion of the classification, or to otherwise account for the firearms entering the Canadian market. Therefore, there is a possibility that firearms could be brought to market without being properly assessed, which has consequences for how they are controlled (e.g. licence requirements, storage requirements).

For example, if restricted or prohibited firearms are mistaken as non-restricted upon entering the Canadian market, there are immediate public safety risks. Licensed individuals may not have the appropriate privileges associated with their licence, or have the appropriate transportation authorizations to handle those firearms.

Equally, there are costs associated with finding, recovering and destroying such firearms to government, industry, and individual Canadians who have purchased a restricted or prohibited firearm that has been mistaken as non-restricted.

Background

There are three classifications of firearms in Canada that are set out in subsection 84(1) of the Criminal Code (the Code): non-restricted, restricted, and prohibited. Part III of the Code and its Regulations Prescribing Certain Firearms and Other Weapons, Components and Parts of Weapons, Accessories, Cartridge Magazines, Ammunition and Projectiles as Prohibited or Restricted establish the legal framework governing the classification of firearms in Canada.

The Firearms Act governs the acquisition, storage and transportation of firearms, including requirements specific to each classification. The Firearms Act establishes the offices of Commissioner of Firearms, Registrar of Firearms and Chief Firearms Officers (CFO), each with specific roles and responsibilities. Pursuant to the Firearms Act, the Registrar is responsible for establishing and maintaining the Canadian Firearms Registry and for the day-to-day operation of that registry. All restricted or prohibited firearms in a business’s inventory need to be registered.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) CFP supports the work of the Registrar, the verifiers network, and CFOs, and more generally the administration of the Act and Part III of the Code. The RCMP maintains an administrative database in which the CFP’s technical assessments of firearms are recorded to assist regulators, law enforcement, and industry with the identification of firearms, supporting the appropriate acquisition, storage and transportation of the different classes of firearms.

Firearms entering the retail market do so from two sources — importation and domestic manufacturing. All domestic firearms manufacturers and importers operate under a business licence issued by a Chief Firearms Officer. In addition to complying with the Firearms Act and associated regulations, businesses must operate in accordance with the conditions attached to their licence. Non-compliance with licensing conditions may lead to compliance and enforcement activities, such as the business licence being revoked.

Domestic manufacturers

Domestic manufacturers typically assess the classification of a firearm they are manufacturing via two methods. Businesses, in many cases, are proactive and work with the CFP well in advance of manufacturing to ensure that the firearms they propose to manufacture will receive a technical assessment that will support the business in selling them to the intended end user (e.g. only non-restricted firearms may be used for hunting). A business may alter a firearm’s design to ensure the desired outcome is achieved through this process.

Domestic manufacturers may also rely on the National Verifiers Network, coordinated by the CFP. Verifiers are either independent contractors or in-house employees of firearms firms who are accredited by the CFP to act as verifiers. Verifiers provide opinions and information on firearms, including their classification, to firearms businesses. They are trained and supported by the CFP. The Firearms Registration Certificate Regulations provide that any application for a registration certificate for a restricted or prohibited firearm must be accompanied by evidence that the information submitted about the firearm in support of the application has been confirmed by an approved verifier.

These two methods assist in facilitating technical assessments of firearms before they enter the Canadian market.

Firearms importers

Imports account for the majority of firearms that enter the Canadian market. Firearms are controlled goods under the Export and Import Permits Act (EIPA), which is administered by Global Affairs Canada (GAC). Firearms, with the exception of shotguns, are imported under two different scenarios.

GAC requires an import permit for any firearm, regardless of classification, that is being imported for “working” end use (e.g. police, military, movie-theatrical, or research and development). However, GAC applies a risk-based approach and does not require an import permit for any non-restricted or restricted firearm that is being imported for sporting end uses (i.e. for commercial resale to licensed individuals).

For sporting end uses (e.g. hunting, sport shooting), an import permit is not required; however, those firearms require an International Importation Certificate in order to have them exported from their source country. These certificates require the importer to provide sufficient details about the firearm, and the end use, for GAC to assess the certificate application. If there are outstanding questions about a firearm’s classification, GAC may request additional information, consult with the CFP and may allow the importation of a sample of firearms for the purpose of technical assessment.

When a shipment of firearms arrives at the border, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) determines if it may enter Canada. This includes determining whether the firearms have been accurately described on the import documentation and whether an import permit is required.

Objective

The goal of this proposed regulatory change is to enhance public safety and improve the integrity of the firearms regime by ensuring that all makes and models of firearms entering the market are known to the Registrar for the purposes of conducting technical assessments. Technical assessments support the administration of the firearms regime (e.g. licensing, authorizations) and aim to enhance public safety by reducing the risk of improper transfers of firearms. For example, a firearm being incorrectly sold to individuals who, despite buying the firearms in good faith, cannot legally possess them (i.e. prohibited firearms being mistaken as non-restricted or restricted).

This proposal does not alter the classification of firearms, as defined in the Criminal Code and its regulations.

Description

The proposed Regulations Amending the Firearms Licences Regulations (the proposed Regulations) would amend the Firearms Licences Regulations to require that manufacturers and importers, prior to importation of a shipment or manufacture of any batch of firearms, share technical information about the shipment or batch of firearms with the Registrar.

For each batch or shipment of firearms, these businesses would be required to provide

The proposed Regulations would also require importers and manufacturers to provide any additional technical information requested about the firearms in that batch or shipment to the Registrar to support the CFP’s technical assessment of the batch or shipment.

In addition, manufacturers and importers would be required to keep records for a period of 20 years demonstrating that they have provided this information to the Registrar.

The proposal would not require the sharing of information that would identify individual firearms with the Registrar. Rather, the proposed Regulations would require manufacturers and importers to share information about the batch being manufactured or shipment of being imported. Additionally, businesses would not be required to wait for a response from the Registrar. This would ensure manufacturing and importation activities continue and supply chains are not interrupted.

Regulatory development

Consultation

Discussion on this issue has been ongoing for many years, including discussion at Parliamentary Committee during the debate of former Bill C-21. More generally, there is an interest amongst firearms control advocacy groups, governments and police to see increased reliability within the firearms regime, and more information about the makes and models that are available on the Canadian market.

At the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security (SECU), in discussions related to the makes and models of firearms entering the Canadian market, Committee members called upon the Government to make regulatory changes to strengthen the role of the CFP and to enhance awareness of the makes and models of firearms entering the Canadian market.

Firearms control advocacy groups have called for the Government to prevent the sale of firearms that do not have a proper classification. PolySeSouvient, in a public letter to the Minister of Public Safety, note that the status quo poses a risk to public safety by potentially allowing firearms designed for military purposes to be available to the public. In a submission to SECU as part of Bill C-21 parliamentary review, they called for regulatory requirements for manufacturers or importers to notify the CFP of new models, including all their specifications, which would allow the authorities an opportunity to conduct a technical assessment prior to these firearms entering the Canadian market. The proposed Regulations would partially address their concerns, but does not address calls for physical inspection of all firearms prior to entry into the Canadian market.

Impacted businesses (e.g. those with an importation or manufacturing endorsement on their firearms business licence) have not been consulted as part of this process to date. They may be aware of the spring 2023 announcement by the Minister of Public Safety of the intention to add regulatory requirements to ensure that all firearms, prior to entering the market, are accounted for. Since the announcement, Public Safety Canada has not received correspondence, petitions, or extensive media coverage indicating disagreement with the announcement. As a result of amendments to the Firearms Licences Regulations in 2022, all firearms businesses are required to keep records for 20 years which describe the firearms in their possession to improve firearms tracing. Given that businesses are already required to keep similar records of the technical specifications of the firearms they have, the industry reaction to this proposal is anticipated to be negative, but also expected to be limited as the proposed Regulations impact only a small fraction of firearms businesses, and require the least amount of information while still accomplishing their important public safety objective.

These changes also impact a small subset of licensed firearms businesses (only those who are authorized to manufacture and import firearms, which make up less than 10% of all licensed firearms businesses in Canada). Retailers and other firearms business licence holders who do not import or manufacture firearms would not be impacted.

Consultations with Canadians, stakeholders, and businesses will be undertaken as part of the Canada Gazette, Part I process. No consultations have been undertaken with Canadians at large as the proposed Regulations do not impact individuals, individual firearms owners, hunters, sport shooters, or other firearms users.

As required by the Firearms Act, the proposed Regulations will be tabled in both Houses of Parliament for 30 sitting days.

Modern treaty obligations and Indigenous engagement and consultation

The proposed Regulations are not anticipated to have impacts on Indigenous communities or modern treaty obligations given the focus is on the sharing of technical firearms specifications and record-keeping of businesses that import or manufacture firearms.

Instrument choice

Legislative and regulatory options were considered to require the submission of technical information to the Registrar to facilitate technical assessments. It was determined that regulatory changes were the most appropriate means to achieve this objective.

After the review of options, a low-cost option was chosen. The proposal would only impact a small subset of licensed firearms businesses: manufacturers and importers. The proposal would have no impact on most firearms businesses (e.g. retailers, ranges, distributors). Individual firearms licence holders would not be impacted.

The proposal would only target firearms at the point of entry into the market — import or domestic manufacture. This option was chosen to have minimal impact on business operations while maximizing enhancements to public safety.

Many businesses already provide, proactively, technical specifications to the CFP in advance of both manufacturing or importation. For manufacturers, this is an important step before manufacturing to ensure their assessment of the firearm’s classification is well supported. For importers, information may be sent, or a sample firearm may be imported for technical assessment, to ensure that the remaining firearms in a larger shipment can be imported without issue. However, there is a possibility that firearms could be brought to market without having undergone a technical assessment, which has consequences for how they are controlled. By making this step a regulatory requirement for importers and manufacturers, it would enhance the integrity of the firearms regime as the Registrar will be aware of all firearms before they enter the market and would increase the reliability of available information for law enforcement agencies, regulators, and decision makers at all levels of government.

Regulatory analysis

Benefits and costs

Baseline scenario

In the baseline scenario, the current Firearms Licences Regulations will continue to apply. As well, most of the information being collected by businesses to comply with the proposed Regulations are already collected by businesses or government for a variety of purposes.

Many domestic manufacturers regularly ask for assessments by the CFP prior to commencing manufacturing activities, as part of the design phase of a new firearm. This process involves sending and discussing the details of a firearm’s design and receiving feedback on that design. Firearms produced internationally are routinely sought out by CFP staff as part of their regular work to proactively research the global firearms market and the types of firearms being produced.

In the baseline, there is no requirement to provide the information to the registrar or to keep those records.

Regulatory scenario

The proposed Regulations would amend the Firearms Licences Regulations to require that manufacturers and importers, prior to importation of a shipment or manufacture of any batch of firearms, share firearm specifications with the Registrar. They would not be required to provide information about an individual firearm (e.g. the serial number).

For each batch of firearms, these businesses will be required to comply with the following:

  1. Provide information to the Registrar about a batch or shipment of firearms (e.g. manufacturer, make, model, type, action, shot capacity, gauge or calibre, barrel length, overall length, stock type, and if it is capable of accepting a detachable magazine.
  2. Provide follow-up technical information when requested by the Registrar.
  3. Keep records demonstrating they have provided this information to the Registrar. The business must retain these records for a period of 20 years.

This information would be sent to the Registrar prior to import or manufacture. To ensure that supply chains would not be slowed down and that business activities can continue, businesses would not be required to wait for any response.

Costs

Costsfootnote 1 for the proposed Regulations would be carried by the Registrar, in receiving and processing the submission from businesses, and by the businesses themselves in gathering and submitting the required information, providing additional technical information as well as in retaining records for a 20-year period. It is estimated that the total cost would amount to $9,208,644 over a 10-year period.

1. Government costs

The Registrar estimates that two full-time staff members would be required for the receipt of data, at a cost of $100,356 annually per staff member. Other tasks would include the adaptation of existing mechanisms and processes to enable the submission of information, development of a standardized format for businesses to submit the required information to the Registrar and follow-up with businesses for cases where more information related to a submission is required.

The required IT infrastructure for this work already exists within the RCMP network, and the processing will largely be done manually for the first few years. There are opportunities for automating this work in the future, but those potential costs are not accounted for in the implementation of the proposed Regulations.

The total cost for the government is estimated at $1,409,717.

2. Business costs

Business costs fall into three categories: costs related to the gathering and submitting of information for each firearm batch or shipment and costs related to the record-keeping requirements.

2a. Gathering and submitting information

Businesses would be required to gather up to 13 pieces of information per make and model of firearm. Up to 10 of these pieces of information are already held by the business as part of its existing data retention requirements.

Public Safety reviewed several types of firearms and estimated that the time required to gather the three pieces of data not currently recorded and fill out a form with these 13 pieces of information would be five minutes per form. It would likely decrease each subsequent time the form for the same make and model is completed as the data points do not change. However, for cost-benefit estimates it is estimated that five minutes is required each time the form is completed, at a salary of $28.67 per hour.footnote 2

It is also assumed that, for most firearms, the form would be filled out four times per year, representing quarterly shipments of each type of firearm into Canada for each importer. The cost for filling out the required information and sending for each shipment or batch of make and model of firearm would be $8.73, annually.

Firearms being produced in Canada, or imported, are assumed to be moving in batches or shipments of five firearms. While this number is likely a significant underestimate, given that production batches may be in the hundreds or thousands, and shipments may be in the dozens or hundreds, this low estimate represents an understanding that some firearms are imported as single firearms, and is an attempt to capture the costs for those small shipments or batches. Therefore, it is estimated that 120 000 submissions (representing a make/model being shipped, or batch produced by a manufacturer) would be provided annually to the Registrar.

The total costs on businesses of collecting the data and sharing it with the Registrar, over 10 years, would be $7,515,383 million.

2b. Record-keeping

Business data storage costs are estimated at $0.04/gigabyte/year/business. There are 103 businesses licensed for non-restricted firearms manufacture in Canada and 453 businesses licensed for non-restricted firearms importation. It is assumed that each business will use no more than 10 gigabytes in storage. While there are smaller numbers of businesses licensed for restricted and prohibited manufacture and import, the assumption was made that most of those businesses have privileges to deal in non-restricted firearms. In estimating the record-keeping costs, it is assumed that every business with a licence conducts manufacturing or importation each year.

The total costs on businesses of keeping records are $1,717 over 10 years.

2c. Providing any additional technical information that the Registrar may require from importers and manufacturers about the firearms in a batch or shipment

The frequency with which the additional information may be requested is not known. In estimating the burden imposed by this requirement, it will be assumed that there is a 10% chance that each batch or shipment will be subject to an additional request for information and that it takes 1.5 times longer than the original requirements to respond to the Registrar.

The total costs on businesses of providing additional information are $281,827 over 10 years.

Benefits

The proposed regulatory change would achieve public safety benefits by enhancing the integrity of the administration of firearms regime.

All firearms, when entering the Canadian market, will have information submitted to facilitate a technical assessment. This will facilitate firearms controls in accordance with the firearms regime. This includes the licence that firearms owners carry, the storage requirements for those firearms (both in homes and at businesses), and being able to properly follow other limitations.

Overall, the proposed Regulation will ensure that Canadians have increased confidence, when purchasing a firearm, that they possess the correct licence and the overall risk of firearms being transferred to individuals who do not have the appropriate licence to possess and use them is lowered.

Without the proper information, there are risks that firearms will enter the market and sold improperly to Canadians, or used improperly in, for example, hunting activities for which those firearms are not allowed.

Increasing the sharing and keeping of this information improves the reliability of information available for police, border personnel, regulators, and decision makers at all levels of government. It would likewise benefit other firearms businesses (e.g. retailers, ranges, distributors) and individual firearms licence holders in the same manner. In addition, data gathered, would provide a better understanding of manufacturing and importation trends in Canada, for example, the frequency at which certain firearms enter the market.

Small business lens

Analysis using the small business lens concluded that the proposed regulation would impact small businesses. Of the 556 estimated businesses that would be impacted by the regulatory amendment, it is estimated that 545 would meet the definition of “small business” set out in the Policy on Limiting Regulatory Burden on Business.

No additional flexibility is being provided to small businesses to comply with the new requirements, as they are essential to the integrity of the firearm regime; furthermore, the burden associated with the required to complete, submit, and retain forms does not impose a significant burden on impacted businesses, including those that are “small businesses.”

One-for-one rule

The one-for-one rule applies since the amendments would result in an incremental increase in administrative burden on business, and the proposal is considered burden in under the rule. The increase in administrative burden stems from the requirement for businesses to submit technical information to the Registrar of Firearms for every batch of firearms manufactured or shipment imported. Businesses will be required to keep records of the information shared with the Registrar for a period of 20 years.

Using the assumptions in sections 2a, 2b and 2c above, it is estimated that the total annualized incremental increase in administrative burden imposed on firearms businesses licensed to manufacture or import firearms would be $346,609.43 with $333,976.16 of this related to the completion and submission of forms, $12,524.11 related to providing additional technical information on request, and the remaining $109.17 arising from the record-keeping requirement (estimates are in 2012 dollars, discounted to 2012 at a rate of 7% as set out in the Red Tape Reduction Regulations).

Regulatory cooperation and alignment

This proposal is specific to firearms entering the Canadian market in efforts to enhance the integrity of the domestic firearms regime and to enhance public safety. For this reason, there are no regulatory cooperation opportunities.

Effects on the environment

In accordance with the Cabinet Directive on Strategic Environmental and Economic Assessment (SEEA Directive), a preliminary scan concluded that a SEEA is not required.

Gender-based analysis plus

No impacts based on gender and other identity factors have been identified for this proposal.

Implementation, compliance and enforcement, and service standards

Implementation

The proposed Regulations would come into force 30 days after the Regulation has been registered. The Registrar of Firearms, supported by the CFP would be responsible for managing the new requirement and the flow of information submitted from manufacturers and importers. The proposed Regulations would be implemented with existing resources.

Prior to the coming-into-force date, the CFP would notify affected businesses and update its web pages to ensure that affected parties are aware of the regulatory change and requirements. The implementation of this initiative would involve the adaptation of existing mechanisms and processes to enable the submission of information, including technical firearms specifications, by businesses. Businesses would submit the required information in a standardized format to the Registrar of Firearms accessible through the existing Business Web Services portal, or similar solution to ensure that CFP is receiving information from business clients only. In the instance where follow-up information is required related to a submission, the Registrar would correspond with the business to ensure the regulatory requirement is met. In addition to the proposed regulatory amendment, options to replace manual steps with a solution that offers automation and increased online functionality to enable processing and ensure ongoing sustainability and compliance are being explored.

Compliance and enforcement

Compliance monitoring and enforcement will be conducted via the existing procedures used by CFOs to confirm compliance by licensed businesses with other regulatory obligations, in particular the business record-keeping obligations that were brought into force in May of 2022 following former Bill C-71. CFOs have authority to inspect business records and may do so to confirm that a business that manufactured or imported firearms has retained records of submitting the necessary technical information package for each batch or shipment to the Registrar. CFOs have discretion to deal with non-compliance, including licence revocation if necessary.

Contact

Firearms Policy Directorate
Public Safety Canada
Email: ps.firearms-armesafeu.sp@ps-sp.gc.ca

PROPOSED REGULATORY TEXT

Notice is given that the Governor in Council proposes to make the annexed Regulations Amending the Firearms Licences Regulations under paragraphs 117(a.01)footnote a, (k)footnote b, (k.1)footnote c and (m)footnote d of the Firearms Act footnote e.

Interested persons may make representations concerning the proposed Regulations within 45 days after the date of publication of this notice. They are strongly encouraged to use the online commenting feature that is available on the Canada Gazette website but if they use email, mail or any other means, the representations should cite the Canada Gazette, Part I, and the date of publication of this notice, and be sent to the Firearms Policy Division, Public Safety Canada (email: ps.firearms-armesafeu.sp@ps-sp.gc.ca).

Ottawa, December 13, 2024

Wendy Nixon
Assistant Clerk of the Privy Council

Regulations Amending the Firearms Licences Regulations

Amendment

1 The Firearms Licences Regulations footnote 3 are amended by adding the following after section 24.1:

24.2 A chief firearms officer who issues a licence to a business authorizing the business to manufacture or import firearms must attach the following conditions to the licence:

Coming into Force

2 These Regulations come into force on the 30th day after the day on which they are registered.

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