Ottawa’s Gun Buyback Amnesty Period Extended to October 2026

A restricted gun licence holder holds a AR-15 at his home in Langley, B.C., on May 1, 2020. The Canadian Press/Jonathan Hayward

Public Safety Canada has announced that the amnesty period for owners of recently designated prohibited firearms has been extended by another year, to Oct. 30, 2026.

The federal department said on Oct. 15 that licensed owners and businesses who possess prohibited, “assault-style” firearms must dispose of or deactivate them before the amnesty period expires, “or risk criminal liability for the illegal possession of a prohibited firearm.”

The announcement marks the third time the federal government’s amnesty period for “assault-style” firearms has been extended. Ottawa put an amnesty in place in May 2020 and had it set to expire on April 30, 2022, but this was extended to Oct. 30, 2023, and later extended again to October 2025. Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree told reporters on Sept. 23 the amnesty would be extended once more, to October of next year.

The ban was first introduced under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government following a mass shooting in Nova Scotia in April 2020, which was carried out using stolen and smuggled weapons. Trudeau later announced the ban on the use, sale, and importation of more than 1,500 makes and models of firearms. The banned firearms list was subsequently expanded to more than 2,000 types of firearms.

Ottawa also brought into force a national freeze on the sale, purchase, or transfer of handguns on Oct. 21, 2022. This freeze was codified through Bill C-21, which received royal assent on Dec. 15, 2023.

Ottawa has said it will give gun-owners between $150 and $9,945 for each banned firearm they return. While the government initially estimated the buyback program would cost between $400 million and $600 million, internal government documents later estimated it would cost nearly $2 billion, and Anandasangaree recently said $742 million has been allocated for the program.

The first phase of the buyback program ended on April 30, 2025, with more than 12,000 prohibited firearms being collected from businesses and $22 million in compensation being given out.

Some provinces, including Alberta and Saskatchewan, have come out against the firearms buyback program, while some police forces, including the Ontario Provincial Police, have said they won’t take part in its enforcement.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has accused the Liberals of going after law-abiding gun owners while ignoring illegally smuggled firearms. The Liberals have said that “assault-style” weapons should not be on the streets of the country, as they are “designed for mass casualties.”

The Tories also called for Anandasangaree to be fired as public safety minister after a leaked Sept. 21 audio recording where he expressed doubts about the effectiveness of the buyback program and whether municipal police forces would have the resources to enforce it, and said he would focus on illegal firearms if he were to redo the program.

When asked about the recording, Prime Minister Mark Carney said he had “confidence” in Anandasangaree as the public safety minister.