Order Declaring an Amnesty Period (2025): SOR/2025-87

Canada Gazette, Part II, Volume 159, Number 7

Registration
SOR/2025-87 March 7, 2025

CRIMINAL CODE

P.C. 2025-323 March 7, 2025

Her Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Justice, makes the annexed Order Declaring an Amnesty Period (2025) under subsection 117.14(1)^{footnote a} of the Criminal Code ^{footnote b}.

Order Declaring an Amnesty Period (2025)

Definition of specified firearm

1 In this Order, specified firearm means a prohibited firearm referred to in any of items 201 to 240 of Part 1 of the schedule to the Regulations Prescribing Certain Firearms and Other Weapons, Components and Parts of Weapons, Accessories, Cartridge Magazines, Ammunition and Projectiles as Prohibited or Restricted.

Amnesty

2 (1) The amnesty period set out in subsection (3) is declared under section 117.14 of the Criminal Code for

• (a) a person who
  • (i) on the day on which this Order comes into force, owns or possesses a specified firearm and holds a licence that was issued under the Firearms Act,
  • (ii) at any time during the amnesty period, is in possession of the specified firearm,
  • (iii) during the amnesty period, continues to hold the licence while in possession of the specified firearm, and
  • (iv) if the specified firearm was, on the day before the day on which this Order comes into force, a restricted firearm,
    • (A) held on that day a registration certificate for the specified firearm that was issued under the Firearms Act, or
    • (B) is issued, on or after the day on which this Order comes into force, a registration certificate for the specified firearm that they would have been eligible to hold under section 13 of the Firearms Act had the firearm remained a restricted firearm;
• (b) a person who
  • (i) on the day on which this Order comes into force, holds a licence that was issued under the Firearms Act,
  • (ii) on or before the day on which this Order comes into force, entered into an agreement for the transfer, as defined in section 21 of the Firearms Act, to them of a specified firearm that was, immediately before the day on which this Order comes into force, a restricted firearm,
  • (iii) on or after the day on which this Order comes into force, is issued a registration certificate for the specified firearm that they would have been eligible to hold under section 13 of the Firearms Act had the firearm remained a restricted firearm,
  • (iv) at any time during the amnesty period, is in possession of the specified firearm, and
  • (v) during the amnesty period, continues to hold the licence while in possession of the specified firearm;
• (c) a person who
  • (i) at any time during the amnesty period, is in possession of a specified firearm for the sole purpose of storing it on behalf of an owner who is a person referred to in paragraph (a) or (b), if storage by them is a condition of that owner’s licence, and
  • (ii) holds a licence that was issued under the Firearms Act that would have permitted them to possess the specified firearm according to its classification on the day before the day on which this Order comes into force;
• (d) a person who
  • (i) at any time during the amnesty period, is, for the sole purpose of carrying out a repair or adjustment referred to in subparagraph (2)(c)(i), in temporary possession of a specified firearm referred to in that subparagraph that is owned by a person referred to in paragraph (a), and
  • (ii) holds a licence that was issued under the Firearms Act that would have permitted them to possess the specified firearm according to its classification on the day before the day on which this Order comes into force;
• (e) a person who
  • (i) at any time during the amnesty period, is in possession of a specified firearm for the sole purpose of destroying it, and
  • (ii) has entered into an agreement with the Government of Canada to destroy specified firearms or is acting in the course of their duties, including as an employee or an agent or mandatary, on behalf of a person who has entered into such an agreement;
• (f) a person who
  • (i) at any time during the amnesty period, is in possession of a specified firearm for the sole purpose of delivering it to a person referred to in paragraph (e) to be destroyed, and
  • (ii) is
    • (A) an organization, within the meaning of paragraph (a) of the definition organization in section 2 of the Criminal Code, that is authorized under an Act of Parliament to transport firearms, or
    • (B) an employee, a contractor or an agent or mandatary of such an organization — or a subcontractor engaged by such a contractor — if they are acting in the course of their duties or under a contract; and
• (g) a person who
  • (i) at any time during the amnesty period, is in possession of a specified firearm owned by a person referred to in paragraph (a) or (b) for the sole purpose of deactivating it so that it is no longer a firearm, and
  • (ii) is a business, as defined in subsection 2(1) of the Firearms Act, that holds a licence issued under that Act authorizing it to possess prohibited firearms for the purpose of deactivating them or is an employee of such a business.

Purpose

(2) The purpose of the amnesty period is to

• (a) permit a person referred to in paragraph (1)(a) or (b) to
  • (i) deactivate the specified firearm so that it is no longer a firearm,
  • (ii) deliver the specified firearm to a police officer for destruction or other disposal,
  • (iii) if the person is not the owner of the specified firearm, deliver it to its owner,
  • (iv) export the specified firearm in accordance with all applicable legal requirements, including the legal requirements of the country to which it is exported,
  • (v) if the person is a business as defined in subsection 2(1) of the Firearms Act,
    • (A) return the specified firearm to the manufacturer,
    • (B) deliver the specified firearm to a person referred to in paragraph (1)(f) for the purpose of shipping the specified firearm to be destroyed, and
    • (C) deliver the specified firearm to a carrier, as defined in subsection 2(1) of that Act, for the purpose of shipping the specified firearm to be destroyed or deactivated,
  • (vi) transport the specified firearm by vehicle, for the purpose of doing any of the things described in subparagraphs (i) to (v), by a route that, in all the circumstances, is reasonably direct, as long as, during transportation,
    • (A) the firearm is unloaded and no ammunition is present in the vehicle,
    • (B) the firearm is in the trunk of the vehicle or, if there is no trunk, the firearm is not visible from outside the vehicle, and
    • (C) the vehicle is not left unattended,
  • (vii) transport the specified firearm by vehicle, in the manner referred to in subparagraph (vi), for the purpose of
    • (A) storing it in accordance with subparagraph (x), or
    • (B) having it stored by or, following storage, retrieving it from a person referred to in paragraph (1)(c), if the owner first notifies the chief firearms officer for the province in which they reside of the transport,
  • (viii) in the case of a person referred to in paragraph (1)(a), if the specified firearm was, on the day before the day on which this Order comes into force, a non-restricted firearm, use it to hunt in the exercise of a right recognized and affirmed by section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982 or to sustain the person or their family, until they are able to obtain another firearm for that use,
  • (ix) in the case of a person referred to in paragraph (1)(a), transport the specified firearm whose use is permitted under subparagraph (viii) in accordance with section 10 of the Storage, Display, Transportation and Handling of Firearms by Individuals Regulations for the purpose of doing the thing described in that subparagraph or giving temporary possession of the firearm to a person referred to in paragraph (1)(d), and
  • (x) possess the specified firearm before doing any of the things described in subparagraphs (i) to (ix), as long as it is stored in accordance with
    • (A) section 5 or 6 of the Storage, Display, Transportation and Handling of Firearms by Individuals Regulations, according to the classification of the firearm on the day before the day on which this Order comes into force, if the person is an individual, or
    • (B) section 5 of the Storage, Display and Transportation of Firearms and Other Weapons by Businesses Regulations, if the person is a business as defined in subsection 2(1) of the Firearms Act;
• (b) permit a person referred to in paragraph (1)(c) to do the things described in subparagraphs (a)(iii) and (x);
• (c) permit a person referred to in paragraph (1)(d) to
  • (i) carry out repairs or adjustments, as necessary for safety reasons, of the specified firearm whose use is permitted under subparagraph (a)(viii), and
  • (ii) do the things described in subparagraphs (a)(iii) and (x);
• (d) permit a person referred to in paragraph (1)(e) to
  • (i) transport the specified firearm for the purpose of destroying it, and
  • (ii) possess the specified firearm before transporting it under subparagraph (i) or destroying it, as long as it is stored in accordance with section 6 of the Storage, Display and Transportation of Firearms and Other Weapons by Businesses Regulations;
• (e) permit a person referred to in paragraph (1)(f) to
  • (i) deliver the specified firearm to a person referred to in paragraph (1)(e) for the purpose of destroying it,
  • (ii) transport the specified firearm for the purpose of delivering it in accordance with subparagraph (i), and
  • (iii) possess the specified firearm before doing any of the things described in subparagraph (i) or (ii); and
• (f) permit a business referred to in paragraph (1)(g) to possess the specified firearm before deactivating it, as long as it is stored in accordance with section 6 of the Storage, Display and Transportation of Firearms and Other Weapons by Businesses Regulations.

Amnesty period

(3) The amnesty period begins on the day on which this Order comes into force and ends on March 1, 2026.

Coming into force

3 This Order comes into force on the day on which it is made.

N.B. The Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement for this Order appears following SOR/2025-86, Regulations Amending the Regulations Prescribing Certain Firearms and Other Weapons, Components and Parts of Weapons, Accessories, Cartridge Magazines, Ammunition and Projectiles as Prohibited or Restricted.