Firearms licence checks and ATT changes

Summary#

This order (SI/2021-35) sets July 7, 2021 as the day certain parts of An Act to amend certain Acts and Regulations in relation to firearms come into force. The changes require stronger lifetime background checks for licence applicants and cut back on automatic permissions to transport restricted or prohibited firearms.

What it does#

• Brings into force section 2 (enhanced background checks). It requires a mandatory lifetime background check by a Chief Firearms Officer (CFO) that looks at an applicant’s full life history and new criteria such as past threats, restraining orders, intimate-partner violence, and digital threats.
• Brings into force subsection 4(3) and sections 6, 8 and 15, which change Authorizations to Transport (ATT) rules:
  • Automatic ATTs are limited to two purposes: moving a newly purchased restricted/prohibited firearm to its storage place, and travel to an approved shooting club or range within the licence holder’s province/territory.
  • For other transport reasons, licence holders must get an ATT from the CFO again.
• Notes about implementation:
  • These changes do not affect non-restricted firearms (about 90% of firearms owned in Canada).
  • The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)’s Canadian Firearms Program (CFP) completed the IT and form updates needed to start these changes.

Who's affected#

• People applying for or renewing firearms licences. In 2020 there were about 400,000 new or renewed licences, and application forms now ask slightly different personal-history questions.
• Current owners of restricted or prohibited firearms. Licence card holders (about 340,000 cards reprinted) who previously had several automatic ATTs may now need individual ATTs for some trips.
• The RCMP and CFOs, who will process more ATT requests and use broader information for eligibility checks.
• Most firearms owners will feel little change. Fewer than 3% of transport trips are expected to newly require an ATT — an estimated 6,000–10,000 extra ATT requests per year nationwide.

Why it matters#

• The background-check changes let officials consider a fuller picture of a person’s past — including non‑conviction police interactions and online threats — which may prevent people with histories of violence from getting licences.
• Limiting automatic ATTs gives law enforcement better oversight of when and why restricted or prohibited firearms are being moved.
• For most licence holders, the extra time to complete an application or request an ATT is small (often under five minutes), and an online ATT option via Individual Web Services (IWS) was planned for spring 2022 to make the process easier.