CALGARY — The Liberal government announced the launch of its national gun grab program for individuals in Montreal on Saturday.Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree shared details of the countrywide program’s start at a briefing alongside Québec Public Security Minister Ian Lafrenière, police representatives, and Liberal MP and Secretary of State for Nature Nathalie Provost, a survivor of the 1989 École Polytechnique massacre.Provost said the program reflects the wishes of what she described as a “silent majority” of Canadians who want prohibited firearms removed from circulation.“There are too many dangerous firearms in Canada that are owned by several people, and the majority of Canadians want these firearms to disappear,” Provost said.“They want to live securely in their streets, and it is this silent majority that we are listening to today by launching the formal compensation program.”So far, Ottawa has banned approximately 2,500 “assault-style” firearms through three prohibitions since May 2020.Anandasangaree has said the compensation program is voluntary and is intended to encourage compliance with the ban before the amnesty expires on Oct. 30, 2026.“Critics have complained that buying back assault-style firearms will do nothing to reduce crime, we disagree,” he said.“The work of protecting our citizens never stops.”Under the program, individual firearm owners must choose one of four options before the deadline: participate in the federal compensation program; surrender the firearm to police without compensation; permanently deactivate it; or export it if they hold a valid export permit.Senior government officials have said participation in a national declaration period — from January 19 to March 31, 2026 — is required in order for gun owners to receive compensation..Cape Breton police spend more than $23,000 preparing for peaceful gun-grab protest .Owners who do not declare during that time period will remain legally obligated to comply with the prohibition but will no longer be eligible for payment. Following the declaration phase, the government will begin collecting firearms and issuing compensation payments, a process it says will be completed before the amnesty expires.Compensation payments will be issued within 45 business days after a firearm is validated through the program and will be issued on a first-come, first-served basis and are subject to available funding. The federal government has allocated $248.6 million specifically for compensation to individual owners.Officials estimate this amount will cover approximately 136,000 firearms.Québec will be the first province to begin the individual compensation phase of the program.Lafrenière said the province agreed to participate only after negotiating key conditions with Ottawa, adding that the Sûreté du Québec will supervise the program within the province and that all collected firearms will be destroyed there as well.Lafrenière framed the initiative as part of a broader strategy to combat organized crime, noting that some firearms now prohibited were legally purchased before federal laws changed.“People bought firearms that they believed were allowed,” he said.“What happened is that the laws changed.”He said requiring owners to declare those firearms in order to receive compensation is intended to prevent them from being diverted into criminal use.“Some of these firearms are stolen, and we know they are used in ways that are potentially dangerous,”Lafrenière said, adding that further announcements related to organized crime and sentencing are expected.Applications for compensation will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis and are subject to available funding..CTF says failed pilot shows gun grab program should be scrapped .Owners who choose to deactivate their firearms may receive compensation of either $400 or $700, depending on the firearm type, provided they submit proof from a certified gunsmith.Once the amnesty expires, non-compliant owners could face criminal charges and licensing consequences.Collection methods will vary by region and include police stations, RCMP detachments, and mobile collection units.Participants will be notified of their assigned collection site and appointment after submitting their application, and will receive kits for safe transport and packaging of firearms.Notification letters outlining the declaration process will be sent to all Possession and Acquisition Licence holders starting on Monday.An online portal, dedicated website, call centre, and paper-based application options will become available beginning January 19, with program materials to be offered in seven different languages.The national rollout builds on a previous program focused on businesses that ran from fall 2024 to April 2025.During that phase, more than 12,000 prohibited firearms were collected and over $22 million in compensation was paid to participating businesses.Ottawa recently conducted a pilot program for individuals in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, which officials said led to technical improvements and a longer declaration window for individuals.The next phase of the business program is expected to reopen later this winter, with affected businesses to be notified directly.The total funding envelope for the federal gun grab program since its launch in 2020 now stands at $742.5 million.The government said it will provide periodic public updates on program uptake and compensation payments, though specific dates have not yet been set..The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is calling on the federal government to scrap its gun confiscation program.“The failed Cape Breton pilot project should have proven to Ottawa it’s time scrap this program,” said Gage Haubrich, CTF Prairie Director. “Ottawa needs to listen to the law enforcement experts who are calling for support to stop illegal guns rather than confiscating guns from licensed gun owners.”The government aimed to confiscate 200 firearms during the Cape Breton pilot project. It only collected 25. The federal government agreed to give at least $149,760 to the Cape Breton Regional Municipality to carry out the confiscation.Polling conducted by Leger shows that 55% of Canadians think that stopping illegal gun smuggling, not a gun confiscation scheme, is the most effective way to reduce gun crime.Police associations have also publicly stated this scheme won’t make Canadians safer.“We know that the gun buyback program is going to have, essentially, zero impact on the crime in Toronto,” said Clayton Campbell, the president of the Toronto Police Association.The union representing RCMP members says Ottawa’s program “diverts extremely important personnel, resources, and funding away from addressing the more immediate and growing threat of criminal use of illegal firearms.”The government has committed $742 million to carry out its gun ban and confiscation scheme, according to Budget 2025. But the government has not been transparent on these costs to taxpayers.The Liberal Party initially said the confiscation would cost $200 million in 2019. The Parliamentary Budget Officer said it will cost up to $756 million to compensate owners for their firearms. Other independent experts put the final price tag at about $6 billion.The governments of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, the Yukon and Manitoba have all called for Ottawa to scrap the program or have said they will not be participating in it.“The government needs to focus on the real problem of criminals and illegal guns not going after licensed firearm owners,” said Haubrich. “The federal government needs scrap this program because every dollar wasted on the confiscation is a dollar that can’t be used to stop the real problem of illegal gun smuggling.”
