Canada's Gun Grab: First Numbers

Canada's federal government has its first hard numbers from the Assault-Style Firearms Compensation Program, and the gap between guns declared and guns actually surrendered is already a story.

Driving the news: The program's first phase for individual owners ran January 19 through March 31. Across all of Canada, 37,000-plus gun owners declared 67,000-plus prohibited firearms to the program. Nova Scotia alone logged 1,702 declarations.

By the numbers:

• Ontario led all provinces: 27,487 declarations
• British Columbia: 15,600 — Alberta: 7,334
• Nova Scotia: 1,702 — New Brunswick: 1,150
• $248.6 million allocated for owner and business compensation
• 2,500+ makes and models were prohibited by Ottawa in 2020

A declaration is not a surrender. The program is voluntary, and declaring a firearm only starts the process — it doesn't mean the gun is gone. Owners who don't participate have until October 30, 2026 to permanently deactivate or dispose of their prohibited firearms. Miss that deadline and you're looking at potential loss of your PAL and criminal liability under federal law.

What they're saying: Opposition to the program is organized and vocal.

"Rather than addressing the root causes of rising crime, the government is diverting taxpayer funds toward confiscating firearms from law-abiding, licensed owners." — Chris Everett, Safari Club International Canada

The Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights and Safari Club International Canada held a Rally Against the Gun Grab in Halifax on the same Friday the provincial numbers dropped, drawing close to 100 people. More rallies are planned nationwide. Everett's group argues the money would be better spent on border security, scanning technology for smuggled firearms, gang enforcement units, and youth diversion programs.

The business phase is already running. Licensed firearms retailers received notice in late April that the second phase of the compensation program opened April 23 and runs through June 4. The first business phase — November 2024 through April 2025 — resulted in destruction of over 12,000 firearms and more than $22 million paid out. Businesses can also permanently deactivate instead of surrendering, at $400 or $700 per firearm depending on category.

Reality check: The 67,000 declaration figure sounds large until you consider Canada has an estimated 13 million legally owned firearms and somewhere north of 2,500 newly prohibited models in circulation. Whether this program captures a meaningful fraction of banned guns — or just the low-hanging fruit from compliant owners — won't be clear until the October 2026 deadline passes.

What to watch: How many of those 67,000 declared firearms are actually collected and destroyed versus deactivated or otherwise disposed of privately. The federal government says collection and compensation run through early fall. That gap between "declared" and "gone" is where the real story lives.