Firearm Makers and Importers Must Report Specs

Summary#

The government published a proposal called the Regulations Amending the Firearms Licences Regulations that would require businesses that make or import firearms to share technical specs with the Registrar so the Canadian Firearms Program (CFP) can do technical assessments. It is a proposal (Part I) published December 28, 2024 and interested parties have 45 days to comment.

What it does#

• Requires manufacturers and importers to send technical information to the Registrar before they manufacture a batch or import a shipment.
• The information must cover up to 13 data points for each make/model or group in the batch, including:
  • manufacturer, make and model, type, action, shot capacity, gauge or calibre, barrel length, overall length, stock type, and whether it can accept a detachable magazine;
  • a detailed description of where manufacturer/make/model/gauge/calibre and serial-number markings appear on the firearm;
  • for some semi‑automatic centre‑fire long guns originally designed with detachable magazines of six rounds or more, evidence of the date of design or manufacture (the rule mentions December 15, 2023 as the cut‑off date).
• Businesses must provide any extra technical information the Registrar asks for about a batch or shipment.
• Businesses must keep records showing they provided the information for 20 years.
• The rules do not require sharing serial numbers or identifying individual firearms.
• Businesses would not have to wait for a response from the Registrar before proceeding with manufacture or import, so supply chains should not be held up.
• The proposal would come into force 30 days after the regulation is registered (if the proposal becomes final).

Additional analytically stated cost estimates in the proposal:

• Total estimated cost over 10 years: $9,208,644.
• Estimated government cost over 10 years: $1,409,717.
• Estimated business costs for gathering/submitting information over 10 years: $7,515,383.
• Estimated business cost for additional information requests over 10 years: $281,827.
• Estimated record-keeping cost over 10 years: $1,717.
• Estimated annualized administrative burden: $346,609.43.

Who's affected#

• Licensed businesses that manufacture or import firearms (those holding an importation or manufacturing endorsement on their business licence) are the main group affected. The proposal says this is a small subset of licence holders — under 10% of all licensed firearms businesses.
• The government estimates about 556 businesses would be affected, and about 545 of them would be small businesses under the government’s small‑business definition.
• Retailers, shooting ranges, most distributors, and individual firearms licence holders are not expected to be affected.
• The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the Registrar (with support from the CFP) would be the government bodies receiving and using the information.
• The proposal says it is not expected to have impacts on Indigenous communities or modern treaty obligations.

Why it matters#

• The change aims to make it easier for regulators and police to know what makes and models are entering the Canadian market. That helps ensure firearms get the correct legal classification (non‑restricted, restricted, or prohibited) before they reach buyers.
• In practice, that could lower the chance that someone buys a firearm that turns out to be restricted or prohibited, and reduce the time and cost of finding and removing mis‑classified firearms from circulation.
• The measure does not change how firearms are classified under the Criminal Code. It only changes reporting and record‑keeping by manufacturers and importers.
• The government estimates the rule would add modest administrative costs for affected businesses and for the Registrar, but says many businesses already collect most of the required information.