Canada's Firearms Buyback Program, Explained

We get asked about the firearms buyback most weeks at Silvercore. People want a straight answer: what it is, whether their firearm is affected, which deadlines are real, and what happens if they do nothing. The program has been announced, delayed, and changed enough times over six years that the confusion is fair. Here is the plain version, current as of August 2026, with links to the official government pages so you can check every detail yourself.

What the buyback actually is

The federal program is the Assault-Style Firearms Compensation Program (ASFCP), run by Public Safety Canada. It exists to compensate owners and businesses for firearms prohibited by the Order in Council that came into force on May 1, 2020 (SOR/2020-96), and by the additions made since.

Taking part is voluntary. Complying with the prohibition is not. That distinction is the whole thing, so it is worth stating plainly: you are not required to sell your firearm to the government, but you are required to stop possessing it as a working firearm by the time the amnesty ends.

What is on the banned list

Since May 2020 the government has prohibited more than 2,500 makes, models, and variants. The original 2020 list covered roughly 1,500 and has grown through later additions: 324 models on December 5, 2024, and another 179 on March 7, 2025. We maintain a complete ban list guide and a detailed breakdown of the December 2024 list if you want to work through them. Government figures put the number of non-restricted makes and models still available for hunting and sport at around 19,000.

The only list that matters for compensation is the official one. Public Safety Canada publishes a list of firearms for individuals, with guidance on lower and upper receivers. Check your exact make and model against that list. If your firearm is not on it, do not declare it and do not turn anything in. Under the program's own terms, items turned in that are not on the list will not be returned. They will be destroyed without compensation.

If you want the background on how firearm classes work in the first place, our guide to non-restricted vs restricted firearms in Canada covers how each class is defined and what it means for your licence.

Where the program is at right now

The program opened to individual owners in January 2026. The declaration period for individuals closed on March 31, 2026, and no new declarations are being accepted. By the close of that window, more than 67,000 firearms had been declared by individuals, well short of the roughly 136,000 the government had budgeted for.

The program is now in its collection and payment stage. Declarations submitted before the deadline are under review, and owners whose declarations are selected are being notified through the program's web portal and issued a funding agreement to sign. Collection appointments and compensation are underway across the country and are expected to continue through early fall 2026. In regions where local police are not taking part, the government has said the RCMP will run mobile collection units. Public Safety Canada has stated that everyone who declared firearms under the program will receive compensation once their firearms are validated.

The business side has run in two phases. The first collected roughly 12,000 firearms between November 2024 and April 2025, with compensation paid. The second phase for businesses closed on June 4, 2026, with more than 61,900 firearms claimed. Across individuals and businesses, the government reports more than 142,000 firearms declared, collected, or destroyed under the program to date.

How compensation works

Compensation amounts are set by Public Safety Canada, by make and model, on published compensation lists available on the program website and portal. For individuals, the program is the only route to being paid for a prohibited firearm. Because the individual declaration period closed on March 31, 2026, owners who did not declare in that window can no longer register for compensation. They are still subject to the law and to the amnesty rules below.

There is also a deactivation option. Instead of turning a firearm in for destruction, an owner who declared can have it permanently deactivated by a licensed business authorized to perform deactivations, and the program reimburses a flat rate: $400 per firearm, or $700 for firearms with greater than 10,000 joules of muzzle energy or a bore of 20 mm or more. Reasonable shipping costs to send a firearm for deactivation or destruction are reimbursed with proof, provided the carrier is at arm's length from the owner.

Payment is tied to actually surrendering or deactivating the firearm and having it validated, not to the declaration on its own.

What the funding agreement actually says

We have reviewed the program's standard funding agreement as issued to individual owners in 2026, and a few of its terms deserve plain-language attention before you sign one, because they are not how most people imagine a buyback working.

First, it is legally not a purchase. The agreement states that payment is made in recognition of your contribution to public safety, not for the acquisition of your property, and that you retain ownership of your firearms until the moment they are destroyed. The government acts as custodian in between. No transfer of ownership occurs under the agreement.

Second, nothing comes back. Once a firearm is turned in, it will not be returned, even if it was turned in erroneously. If you hand over a firearm that turns out not to be on the eligible list, it is destroyed and no payment is issued for it. This is why checking your exact make and model against the official list before your appointment matters as much as it does.

Third, the process is appointment-driven. Turning firearms in requires prior approval from the program and a scheduled appointment, and the agreement allows the government to deny payment if an appointment is not booked within the deadline the program communicates to you. If you have declared and been selected, do not sit on the portal notification.

Fourth, payment carries conditions. The agreement makes any payment subject to annual parliamentary appropriation, and false or misleading statements can result in amounts being clawed back as a debt owed to the Crown, with interest. You will also be asked for proof of a valid licence, banking details for direct deposit, and, for deactivations, the completed deactivation paperwork by the program's deadline.

None of this is a reason to panic, and none of it is hidden. It is all in the agreement text. But read yours before you accept it, and understand that from the moment your firearms leave your hands, the process only runs one direction.

The amnesty no longer has a fixed date

For most of this year, the amnesty deadline was October 30, 2026. That changed on June 9, 2026, when the federal government extended the Amnesty Orders for the 2020, 2024, and 2025 prohibitions. The amnesty now expires 90 days after the Supreme Court of Canada renders its decision on the challenge to the 2020 prohibition, with the change published in the Canada Gazette on June 17, 2026 (SOR/2026-114). A decision is expected next year. We covered the change in detail when it happened.

The amnesty is what protects licensed owners of these firearms from criminal liability while the program runs. The extension does not reverse the prohibition, reclassify any firearm, or reopen the declaration window. It moves the compliance deadline so that it tracks the court, rather than landing before the court has spoken. Before the amnesty ends, an owner of a prohibited firearm still has to resolve it: turn it in through the program if they declared in time, have it permanently deactivated to the regulatory standard, or otherwise lawfully dispose of it. Permanent deactivation means meeting the standard in the regulations, not taking a firearm apart or locking it away.

The court challenge, in brief

The 2020 prohibition has been challenged in court the whole way along. The Federal Court dismissed the challenge in 2023. The Federal Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal in April 2025. On March 19, 2026, the Supreme Court of Canada granted leave and agreed to take up four appeals together. The core legal question is whether the government had the authority to prohibit these firearms by Order in Council rather than through Parliament.

With the amnesty now tied to the ruling, the case matters twice over: it will decide the prohibition's fate, and its timing sets the compliance clock. We will update this page when a hearing date or decision lands.

If you are in Saskatchewan or Alberta

Some provinces have taken their own positions on the program, including directing their police not to take part. Public Safety Canada specifically advises owners in Saskatchewan and Alberta to check with their provincial government about any additional rules that affect how they participate. If you are in one of those provinces, confirm the provincial situation before you do anything.

What to do now

1. Check your exact make and model against the official individual list. Do not rely on any summary, including this one, for that step.
2. If you declared before March 31, 2026, watch the program portal. Selected declarations are notified there, and the funding agreement and appointment deadlines run through it. Missing the appointment window can cost you the payment.
3. Read your funding agreement before accepting it, particularly the terms on ownership, non-return, and deadlines described above.
4. If you did not declare, the compensation window is closed, but the compliance obligation is not. Plan for deactivation or lawful disposal before the amnesty ends, and remember that the end date now depends on the Supreme Court's timing.

Official pages

• Program overview (canada.ca)
• List of firearms for individuals (canada.ca)
• Next steps for individuals (canada.ca)
• June 9, 2026 news release: amnesty extension (canada.ca)
• Supreme Court of Canada case file 41859

This is a moving file. The dates above are current as of August 31, 2026. Check the official pages for the latest before you act on anything. Sources include the program's standard funding agreement for individuals (2026), Public Safety Canada's program pages and June 9, 2026 news release, and Canada Gazette SOR/2026-114.

Travis Bader, Silvercore Outdoors