Firearms Act (S.C. 1995, c. 39)

Marginal note:Superannuation and compensation

81.5 The Commissioner shall be deemed to be a person employed in the Public Service for the purposes of the Public Service Superannuation Act and to be employed in the public service of Canada for the purposes of the Government Employees Compensation Act and any regulations made pursuant to section 9 of the Aeronautics Act.

Canadian Firearms Registration System

Registrar of Firearms

Marginal note:Registrar of Firearms

82 An individual to be known as the Registrar of Firearms shall be appointed or deployed in accordance with the Public Service Employment Act.

Marginal note:Incapacity or vacancy

82.1 In the event of the absence or incapacity of, or vacancy in the position of, the Registrar, the Commissioner may perform the duties and functions and exercise the powers of the Registrar.

Records of the Registrar

Marginal note:Canadian Firearms Registry

• 83 (1) The Registrar shall establish and maintain a registry, to be known as the Canadian Firearms Registry, in which shall be kept a record of

  • (a) every licence, every registration certificate for a prohibited firearm or a restricted firearm and every authorization that is issued or revoked by the Registrar;

  • (b) every application for a licence, a registration certificate for a prohibited firearm or a restricted firearm or an authorization that is refused by the Registrar;

  • (c) every transfer of a firearm of which the Registrar is informed under section 26 or 27;

  • (d) every exportation from or importation into Canada of a firearm of which the Registrar is informed under section 42 or 50;

  • (e) every loss, finding, theft or destruction of a firearm of which the Registrar is informed under section 88; and

  • (f) such other matters as may be prescribed.

• Marginal note:Operation

  (2) The Registrar is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the Canadian Firearms Registry.

Marginal note:Destruction of records

84 The Registrar may destroy records kept in the Canadian Firearms Registry at such times and in such circumstances as may be prescribed.

Marginal note:Other records of Registrar

• 85 (1) The Registrar shall establish and maintain a record of

  • (a) firearms acquired or possessed by the following persons and used by them in the course of their duties or for the purposes of their employment, namely,

    • (i) peace officers,

    • (ii) persons training to become police officers or peace officers under the control and supervision of

      • (A) a police force, or

      • (B) a police academy or similar institution designated by the federal Minister or the lieutenant governor in council of a province,

    • (iii) persons or members of a class of persons employed in the federal public administration or by the government of a province or municipality who are prescribed by the regulations made by the Governor in Council under Part III of the Criminal Code to be public officers, and

    • (iv) chief firearms officers and firearms officers;

  • (b) firearms acquired or possessed by individuals on behalf of, and under the authority of, a police force or a department of the Government of Canada or of a province;

  • (c) every request for a reference number made to the Registrar under section 23 and, if the request is refused, the reasons for refusing the request; and

  • (d) every reference number that is issued by the Registrar under subsection 23(3) and, with respect to each reference number, the day on which it was issued and the licence numbers of the transferor and transferee.

• Marginal note:Reporting of acquisitions and transfers

  (2) A person referred to in paragraph (1)(a) or (b) who acquires or transfers a firearm shall have the Registrar informed of the acquisition or transfer.

• Marginal note:Destruction of records

  (3) The Registrar may destroy any record referred to in subsection (1) at such times and in such circumstances as may be prescribed.

Marginal note:Records to be transferred

86 The records kept in the registry maintained pursuant to section 114 of the former Act that relate to registration certificates shall be transferred to the Registrar.

Records of Chief Firearms Officers

Marginal note:Records of chief firearms officers

• 87 (1) A chief firearms officer shall keep a record of

  • (a) every licence and authorization that is issued or revoked by the chief firearms officer;

  • (b) every application for a licence or authorization that is refused by the chief firearms officer;

  • (c) every prohibition order of which the chief firearms officer is informed under section 89; and

  • (d) such other matters as may be prescribed.

• Marginal note:Destruction of records

  (2) A chief firearms officer may destroy any record referred to in subsection (1) at such times and in such circumstances as may be prescribed.

Marginal note:Reporting of loss, finding, theft and destruction

88 A chief firearms officer to whom the loss, finding, theft or destruction of a prohibited firearm or a restricted firearm is reported shall have the Registrar informed without delay of the loss, finding, theft or destruction.

Disclosure of Information

Marginal note:Authorization to disclose

• 88.1 (1) If the Commissioner, the Registrar or a chief firearms officer has reasonable grounds to suspect that an individual is using or has used a licence to transfer or offer to transfer a firearm for the purpose of committing an offence referred to in subsection 99(1) or 100(1) of the Criminal Code, the Commissioner, the Registrar or the chief firearms officer may disclose, for the purpose of investigating or prosecuting an offence under that subsection, the following information to a law enforcement agency:

  • (a) the individual’s name, date of birth and address;

  • (b) the licence number and province of issuance of the individual’s most recent licence and the dates of issue of the first licence and most recent licence issued to the individual;

  • (c) a list of all restricted and prohibited firearms acquired by the individual and whether they were acquired from a business or an individual;

  • (d) the number, date of issue and expiration date of the registration certificates for all firearms for which the individual was issued a registration certificate and the firearm identification number of those firearms;

  • (e) the serial number, make, model, manufacturer, calibre and barrel length of all firearms for which the individual was issued a registration certificate;

  • (f) whether a firearm for which the individual was issued a registration certificate has been transferred or reported lost or stolen; and

  • (g) any other prescribed information.

• Marginal note:For greater certainty

  (2) For greater certainty, nothing in subsection (1) is intended to derogate from the powers conferred on the Commissioner, the Registrar or a chief firearms officer under this Act or any other Act of Parliament or an Act of a provincial legislature or the common law to disclose information to a law enforcement agency.

Reporting of Prohibition Orders

Marginal note:Reporting of prohibition orders

89 Every court, judge or justice that makes, varies or revokes a prohibition order shall have a chief firearms officer informed without delay of the prohibition order or its variation or revocation.

Access to Records

Marginal note:Right of access

90 The Registrar has a right of access to records kept by a chief firearms officer under section 87 and a chief firearms officer has a right of access to records kept by the Registrar under section 83 or 85 and to records kept by other chief firearms officers under section 87.

90.1 [Repealed, 2019, c. 9, s. 11]

Electronic Filing

Marginal note:Electronic filing

• 91 (1) Subject to the regulations, notices and documents that are sent to or issued by the Registrar pursuant to this or any other Act of Parliament may be sent or issued in electronic or other form in any manner specified by the Registrar.

• Marginal note:Time of receipt

  (2) For the purposes of this Act and Part III of the Criminal Code, a notice or document that is sent or issued in accordance with subsection (1) is deemed to have been received at the time and date provided by the regulations.

Marginal note:Records of Registrar

• 92 (1) Records required by section 83 or 85 to be kept by the Registrar may

  • (a) be in bound or loose-leaf form or in photographic film form; or

  • (b) be entered or recorded by any system of mechanical or electronic data processing or by any other information storage device that is capable of reproducing any required information in intelligible written or printed form within a reasonable time.

• Marginal note:Storage of documents or information in electronic or other form

  (2) Subject to the regulations, a document or information received by the Registrar under this Act in electronic or other form may be entered or recorded by any information storage device, including any system of mechanical or electronic data processing, that is capable of reproducing stored documents or information in intelligible written or printed form within a reasonable time.

• Marginal note:Probative value

  (3) Where the Registrar maintains a record of a document otherwise than in written or printed form, an extract from that record that is certified by the Registrar has the same probative value as the document would have had if it had been proved in the ordinary way.

Reports

Marginal note:Report to federal Minister

• 93 (1) The Commissioner shall, no later than May 31 of each year and at any other times that the federal Minister may in writing request, submit to the federal Minister a report, in the form and including the information that the federal Minister may direct, with regard to the administration of this Act.

• Marginal note:Information on disclosures

  (1.1) Each report shall include information relating to the disclosures made under section 88.1 during the period to which the report relates, including the number of disclosures made to a law enforcement agency.

• Marginal note:Report to be laid before Parliament

  (2) The federal Minister shall have each report laid before each House of Parliament on any of the first 15 days on which that House is sitting after the federal Minister receives it.

Marginal note:Information to be submitted to Commissioner

94 A chief firearms officer shall submit to the Commissioner the prescribed information with regard to the administration of this Act at the prescribed time and in the prescribed form for the purpose of enabling the Commissioner to compile the reports referred to in section 93.

General

Agreements with Provinces

Marginal note:Agreements with provinces

95 The federal Minister may, with the approval of the Governor in Council, enter into agreements with the governments of the provinces

• (a) providing for payment of compensation by Canada to the provinces in respect of administrative costs actually incurred by the provinces in relation to processing licences, registration certificates and authorizations and applications for licences, registration certificates and authorizations and the operation of the Canadian Firearms Registration System; and

• (b) notwithstanding subsections 17(1) and (4) of the Financial Administration Act, authorizing the governments of the provinces to withhold those costs, in accordance with the terms and conditions of the agreement, from fees under paragraph 117(p) collected or received by the governments of the provinces.

Other Matters

Marginal note:Other obligations not affected

96 The issuance of a licence, registration certificate or authorization under this Act does not affect the obligation of any person to comply with any other Act of Parliament or any regulation made under an Act of Parliament respecting firearms or other weapons.

Marginal note:Exemptions — Governor in Council

• 97 (1) Subject to subsection (4), the Governor in Council may exempt any class of non-residents from the application of any provision of this Act or the regulations, or from the application of any of sections 91 to 95, 99 to 101, 103 to 107 and 117.03 of the Criminal Code, for any period specified by the Governor in Council.

• Marginal note:Exemptions — federal Minister

  (2) Subject to subsection (4), the federal Minister may exempt any non-resident from the application of any provision of this Act or the regulations, or from the application of any of sections 91 to 95, 99 to 101, 103 to 107 and 117.03 of the Criminal Code, for any period not exceeding one year.

• Marginal note:Exemptions — provincial minister

  (3) Subject to subsection (4), a provincial minister may exempt from the application in that province of any provision of this Act or the regulations or Part III of the Criminal Code, for any period not exceeding one year, the employees, in respect of any thing done by them in the course of or for the purpose of their duties or employment, of any business that holds a licence authorizing the business to acquire prohibited firearms, prohibited weapons, prohibited devices or prohibited ammunition.

• Marginal note:Public safety

  (4) Subsections (1) to (3) do not apply if it is not desirable, in the interests of the safety of any person, that the exemption be granted.

• Marginal note:Conditions

  (5) The authority granting an exemption may attach to it any reasonable condition that the authority considers desirable in the particular circumstances and in the interests of the safety of any person.

Marginal note:Exception — handguns

97.1 Sections 12.2 and 19.1 do not apply in respect of an individual who

• (a) holds an authorization to carry in respect of a handgun; or

• (b) meets the prescribed criteria and annually provides a letter to a chief firearms officer from a provincial or national sport shooting governing body indicating

  • (i) that they are training, competing or coaching in a handgun shooting discipline that is on the programme of the International Olympic Committee or the International Paralympic Committee,

  • (ii) the disciplines in which they train, compete or coach, and

  • (iii) that the handgun in question is necessary for training, competing or coaching in those disciplines.