The Liberals’ controversial, long-delayed gun grab program is expected to cost taxpayers more than $500 million in the 2025-26 fiscal year. A recent report found the government’s Assault-Style Firearms Compensation Program is widely unpopular with Canadians. The gun grab is entering its fifth year behind schedule — and is over budget and increasingly unpopular. Originally propagated as a public safety measure to remove “assault-style” firearms from circulation, the program has devolved into a multi-million-dollar boondoggle that critics say is achieving next to nothing — except burning taxpayer dollars..Feds admit gun grab unpopular with firearms owners.In May 2020, then-prime minister Justin Trudeau used an order-in-council to ban more than 1,500 models of Canadian firearms, immediately rendering some 150,000 guns illegal for use.The federal government promised a buyback program to compensate owners, originally pegged at $200 million. But the Parliamentary Budget Officer warned early on that Ottawa had severely underestimated the costs. In 2021, the PBO revised the estimate to $756 million. Now, five years on, a fiscal analysis by Calibre Magazine shows the program is expected to cost more than $500 million this year alone..Cost of federal gun grab hits $342.6 million amid data concerns .According to Public Safety Canada’s 2025–26 Main Estimates, the federal government plans to spend $459.8 million on compensation and operations.Additional costs for RCMP logistics, secure transport, IT infrastructure, and program staffing bring the actual number closer to the half-billion-dollar mark. The program has become one of Ottawa’s largest safety expenditures, outpacing even its 2024 border security initiative and recent fentanyl counter-trafficking funding.As of June 2025, only 12,195 firearms have been collected — exclusively from businesses. Private owners, who account for the vast majority of banned guns, are still unable to participate.According to the government’s own website, “the program is not yet available for individuals.”.Carney announces reinvigorated gun grab program he says will 'combat crime, protect communities'.Phase 2 remains unfunded and delayed, and even if it does launch, a report commissioned by the Privy Council Office suggests widespread non-compliance is likely. A federal survey concluded Ottawa is “unlikely to be the most trusted messenger” for lawful gun owners, as the Western Standard earlier reported.The political rationale is also under scrutiny. Gun crime in Canada is increasingly driven by illegal imports, not lawful gun owners. The Toronto Police Service now estimates that 90% of crime guns are smuggled from the US and never belonged to the Canadian legal market. Public Safety Canada has yet to explain how confiscating registered firearms from law-abiding citizens is supposed to reduce gang shootings in Toronto or Winnipeg.
