The Canadian government has announced that it is kicking off its federal gun grab program with a pilot initiative for individuals in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia beginning Tuesday. The program is part of a broader effort that began in May 2020 and continued with firearm prohibitions in December 2024 and March 2025.Approximately 2,500 assault-style firearms — defined as semi-automatic weapons capable of sustained rapid fire — were prohibited under these measures.Senior government officials said Tuesday that gun owners have several options: surrender firearms to police with compensation, deactivate them at their own expense through a licensed gunsmith, export them, or, in the case of businesses, return them to manufacturers.Businesses previously participated in the program from Fall 2024 to April 30, 2025, resulting in the collection and destruction of over 12,000 firearms and $22.4 million in compensation.“This program is really a way to help lawful gun owners stay in compliance with the law,” Cape Breton Chief of Police Robert J. Walsh said at a press conference on Tuesday.“We see this as giving them an opportunity to surrender what they are no longer allowed to possess, to prevent criminal liability, and to demonstrate that this can be an effective process for removing dangerous firearms from our community without having to use extra police resources to go and seize them.”The Cape Breton pilot is now inviting approximately 3,500 licensed individuals to participate in the program. Eligible participants can file a declaration of interest through a dedicated web portal.Officials said the pilot aims to collect roughly 200 firearms, testing all steps of the program, including the web portal, collection, destruction process, and compensation.Individuals are encouraged to file as early as possible, and payments will be processed once the firearms are validated through the program..Carney says gun grab program is 'voluntary,' not a 'confiscation'.The government estimates that the national program will involve approximately 152,000 firearms, with total funding of $248.6 million allocated for compensation.Of this, $22.4 million has already been paid to businesses. Individuals are expected to receive $215.1 million in compensation.The overall federal allocation since 2020 is $742 million, covering all measures related to the prohibitions.“During the election campaign, we committed to moving ahead with implementing an efficient gun buyback program for assault-style weapons such as the AR-15,” Minister of Public Safety Gary Anandasangaree said on Tuesday.“Nobody is having their weapon confiscated. People who use rifles to hunt can still hunt. If you want to purchase a hunting rifle, there are 19,000 legal options available in the Canadian market; an AR-15 is not one of those options, nor should it be one of those options.”Anandasangaree also reiterated that participation in the program is voluntary.Compliance with the law, including the surrender or deactivation of prohibited firearms, will be mandatory once the amnesty period ends.The amnesty period extends to Oct. 2026 and Mar. 2026, depending on specific provisions.Non-compliance after this period may result in criminal charges under the Criminal Code of Canada, with maximum penalties of up to 10 years in prison.Government officials said Tuesday that they were continuing negotiations with police forces across Canada, with some forces, such as the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), saying it will not directly participate in the program.The RCMP and other participating police services are set to provide security, validation, and coordination, while contracted third parties will handle collection and destruction of surrendered firearms during the program.Officials stated that the program’s goal is compliance, not punishment, and noted that lawful firearm owners frequently return unwanted firearms outside of the program.The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is calling on the federal government to scrap the gun grab.“Law enforcement experts have stated the gun ban and confiscation won’t make Canadians safer,” said Gage Haubrich, CTF Prairie Director. “Confiscating guns from licenced gun owners won’t keep illegal guns out of the hands of criminals.“Taxpayers can’t afford to spend another dollar on what is amounting to be an absurdly expensive piece of government performance art.”Other experts have publicly stated this scheme won’t make Canadians safer.“It won’t impact crime rates,” said Doug King, a professor of justice studies at Mount Royal University.The National Police Federation, the union representing the RCMP, 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.”“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.
