Ottawa’s gun grab program is under renewed fire after a federal pilot project in Cape Breton netted just 25 firearms, far short of government targets, prompting critics to call the entire scheme a costly failure.The Canadian Taxpayers Federation says the six-week pilot project, launched in September 2025, demonstrates what law enforcement and policy experts have warned for years: confiscating firearms from licensed owners will not make communities safer. The federal government provided at least $149,760 to the Cape Breton Regional Municipality to carry out the project, with an initial goal of collecting 200 firearms.Instead, authorities seized barely one-eighth of that number — 25.“Ottawa’s pilot project cost a lot of money, but only picked up a fraction of the guns projected,” said Gage Haubrich, the CTF’s Prairie director. “Law enforcement experts told the government the gun confiscation won’t work and now the failed pilot project has proven the point.”Police leaders and unions have repeatedly argued the program diverts resources away from tackling real crime. Clayton Campbell, president of the Toronto Police Association, has said the federal gun grab will have “essentially zero impact” on violent crime in major cities. The union representing RCMP members has likewise warned the program pulls personnel, funding, and attention away from combating the growing threat of illegal firearms..Despite those concerns, the federal government continues to move forward with the broader gun ban and confiscation agenda. Budget 2025 states Ottawa has committed $742 million to carry out the program, though critics say the true cost remains unclear. In 2019, the Liberal government estimated the price at $200 million. The Parliamentary Budget Officer later projected costs could reach $756 million just to compensate gun owners, while other analysts have pegged the final bill at roughly $6 billion.Skeptics point to Ottawa’s track record on gun control spending. The now-defunct long-gun registry was initially sold to taxpayers as a $2 million program, but ultimately cost more than $2 billion before being scrapped.“The results of this pilot project show exactly why police officers, academics, licenced gun owners and everyday taxpayers knew that the gun ban was going to be a failure from the start,” Haubrich said. “The federal government needs to own up to its failure, listen to the experts and direct resources to stop illegal gun smuggling instead of confiscating guns from licensed gun owners.”
