Do You Need a PAL to Buy Ammo, Magazines or Gun Parts in Canada? (2026)

By Travis Bader, founder of Silvercore Outdoors. Personally teaching CFSC and CRFSC since 1994.

This is one of the most misunderstood changes in Canadian firearms law in years, and I hear the confusion at the counter, in the classroom, and in my inbox. People know something changed. They are just not sure what, when, or which law did it. Most blame the wrong one.

The rule people are asking about does not come from the December 2024 Order in Council that prohibited specific firearm models. It comes from former Bill C-21, which quietly rewrote who is allowed to buy ammunition, cartridge magazines, firearm barrels and handgun slides. Here is exactly what the law says, when each piece took effect, and what it means if you do not yet hold a licence.

The short answer

Yes. In Canada today you need a valid firearms licence, for most adults a Possession and Acquisition Licence, to buy ammunition, to buy or be given a cartridge magazine, and to buy a firearm barrel or a handgun slide. You also need a valid licence to import any of those items into Canada. The magazine rule has applied since December 15, 2023, and the rest took effect September 1, 2024, under former Bill C-21. No licence means none of these items can lawfully be transferred to you.

Continue on the Silvercore Path

• → How to Get Your PAL in Canada (Complete Guide)
• → 324 Firearms Banned in Canada: The Complete List
• → How to Import and Export Firearms in Canada
• → Canadian Firearms Safety Course (CFSC and CRFSC) at Silvercore

What changed, and when

Former Bill C-21 received royal assent on December 15, 2023. On that day, the first piece took effect: a cartridge magazine may only be transferred, meaning bought, sold, or given, to a person who holds a valid firearms licence. If you have bought a magazine at a Canadian retailer since then and been asked for your PAL, that is why.

The second piece took effect on September 1, 2024, when the federal government fixed that date by Order in Council for the remaining licence provisions. From that day, firearm barrels and handgun slides may only be transferred to an individual who holds a valid firearms licence, and a valid licence is required to import barrels, handgun slides, cartridge magazines, and ammunition into Canada. The seller, whether a business or an individual, is responsible for satisfying themselves that the buyer holds a valid licence. There is no requirement for businesses to keep records of these parts transactions or report them to the Canadian Firearms Program.

The government's stated purpose is to make it harder to build untraceable firearms, often called ghost guns, by controlling the two components that turn a manufactured receiver into a working gun. Whatever your view of the policy, the compliance picture is simple: no licence, no purchase, no import.

What counts as a firearm part, and what does not

The Criminal Code definition added by C-21 is narrower than most people assume. A firearm part means a barrel for a firearm and a slide for a handgun, plus any other part that may be prescribed by regulation in the future. As of this writing, no additional parts have been prescribed. That means:

• Covered: firearm barrels and handgun slides. Licence required to buy or import.
• Not covered: stocks, triggers, grips, springs, bolts, optics, and other components. No licence is required to buy these.
• A different category entirely: frames and receivers. These are legally firearms in their own right, not parts, and always required a licence to acquire.

One nuance worth knowing: barrels and slides designed exclusively for firearms that are deemed not to be firearms under the Criminal Code, such as certain airguns, fall outside the definition. If you shoot airsoft or low-velocity pellet guns, the parts rules are not aimed at you.

Ammunition: what was already the law, and what is new

Here is where a lot of the confusion lives. Needing a licence to buy ammunition at a Canadian store is not new. That requirement has been part of the Firearms Act framework for decades, and every retailer in the country has been checking licences at the ammo counter accordingly.

What is new, as of September 1, 2024, is the import side: an individual now needs a valid firearms licence to bring ammunition into Canada, and must produce that licence at the border. The same import rule applies to magazines, barrels, and handgun slides. If part of your routine involved picking up ammunition across the line, that door now runs through your licence.

What about non-residents?

For these rules, a valid firearms licence means a PAL or, for non-residents, a confirmed Non-Resident Firearms Declaration. A visiting hunter who has had their declaration confirmed at the border is not shut out of buying ammunition for the hunt. If you are a non-resident planning a trip that involves firearms, the declaration paperwork is the piece to get right before you travel, and our import and export guide covers the border process in detail.

This is not the same thing as the prohibition orders

People regularly fold all of this into "the 2024 gun ban." They are separate legal instruments doing separate things, and mixing them up leads to bad conclusions in both directions.

The licensing rules above come from former Bill C-21, an amendment to the Criminal Code and Firearms Act. They apply to everyone, for ordinary items like ammunition and magazines, and they are permanent law.

The prohibition orders are Orders in Council that reclassified specific firearm models as prohibited: 324 makes and models on December 5, 2024, and another 179 on March 7, 2025, on top of the roughly 1,500 models prohibited in May 2020. Owners of those firearms are protected by an amnesty order while the compensation program runs. That amnesty was harmonized to October 30, 2026, and then, on June 9, 2026, extended again to expire 90 days after the Supreme Court of Canada rules on the appeal challenging the 2020 prohibition, with a decision expected next year. The full list and the current state of the amnesty and compensation program are covered in our guide to the 324 banned firearms.

The practical distinction: the prohibition orders affect you only if you own one of the listed firearms. The licensing rules affect every single person who wants to buy a box of ammunition, a spare magazine, or a replacement barrel in this country.

Frequently asked questions

Do you need a PAL to buy ammunition in Canada?

Yes. A valid firearms licence has long been required to buy ammunition in Canada, and since September 1, 2024 a licence is also required to import ammunition into the country.

Can I buy a magazine without a licence?

No. Since December 15, 2023, a cartridge magazine may only be transferred to a person who holds a valid firearms licence. That covers sales and gifts, from businesses and from individuals.

Can I buy a barrel or a handgun slide without a PAL?

No. Since September 1, 2024, firearm barrels and handgun slides may only be transferred to an individual who holds a valid firearms licence, and a licence is required to import them.

Do I need a PAL to buy a stock, trigger, scope, or other parts?

No. The firearm part definition covers barrels and handgun slides only. Other components and accessories are not captured, though a frame or receiver is legally a firearm itself and has always required a licence.

Can I bring ammunition back from the United States without a licence?

No. Since September 1, 2024, an individual importing ammunition, magazines, barrels, or handgun slides must hold a valid firearms licence and produce it at the border. Non-residents can meet this with a confirmed Non-Resident Firearms Declaration.

No licence? Here is where it starts

Every one of these rules resolves the same way: the licence is the key, and the path to the licence runs through the Canadian Firearms Safety Course. We have been teaching it since 1994, and you can take the CFSC and CRFSC in a single weekend at our locations across BC. Once you are licensed and buying gear, the Silvercore Club keeps you sharp and has your back, with $5 million in liability coverage for your lawful firearms activities, free online courses, partner discounts, and a team you can actually phone when a rule change like this one leaves you unsure where you stand. Membership is $59 a year at silvercore.ca/club.

Where to take your CFSC or CRFSC with Silvercore

Silvercore teaches across British Columbia from a permanent classroom in Delta and at established venues on Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland.

Lower Mainland

• Delta: Silvercore Training Facility, #115 - 7198 Vantage Way. Our permanent classroom and the home base for most of our weekend courses.
• Langley: The Range Langley, 9938 201 Street #2.
• New Westminster: Douglas College, 700 Royal Avenue.

Vancouver Island

• Nanaimo: Vancouver Island University, 900 Fifth Street.
• Parksville: Shelly Hall, 186 Shelly Road.
• Comox: Comox Valley Sports Centre, 3001 Vanier Drive, Courtenay.
• Victoria: Quality Inn Downtown, 850 Blanshard Street.

To book your CFSC, CRFSC, or both in a single weekend, see the Canadian Firearms Safety Course (Non-Restricted and Restricted) at Silvercore.

About the author

Travis Bader is the founder of Silvercore Outdoors, Canada's largest firearms safety training company. He has personally taught the Canadian Firearms Safety Course and Canadian Restricted Firearms Safety Course since 1994, and through Silvercore has trained and certified most of the firearms instructors currently teaching in British Columbia. Travis has been qualified as an expert witness in firearms matters at the Federal Court of Canada and the Provincial Court of British Columbia. He hosts the Silvercore Podcast, where he explores firearms, hunting, and the outdoors with leaders from across the industry.

Sources: RCMP Canadian Firearms Program guidance on transfers of firearm barrels and handgun slides; Public Safety Canada, Former Bill C-21; Canada Gazette, Part II, Order fixing September 1, 2024 as the coming-into-force day; Public Safety Canada news releases of August 29, 2024 and June 9, 2026. Verified July 26, 2026.

Travis Bader

Silvercore Outdoors