Travelling With Firearms in Canada (2026)
By Travis Bader, founder of Silvercore Outdoors. Personally teaching CFSC and CRFSC since 1994.
Ask almost anyone with a PAL how to transport a rifle to the range and they can recite the requirements. Ask where that same rifle is supposed to spend the night when they check into a hotel two provinces from home, and you tend to get a shrug. The transport question is well travelled. The overnight question, the road trip question, and the moving question are not.
The answer to all three starts from one fact: the storage and transport rules are federal. The Storage, Display, Transportation and Handling of Firearms by Individuals Regulations (SOR/98-209) apply the same in Kamloops as they do in Kingston, and they do not stop applying when you leave your driveway. What changes as you travel is the practical work of complying, not the rules themselves. The regulation text is the legal authority and lives at laws-lois.justice.gc.ca
The short answer
There is no hotel rule, no road trip rule, and no moving rule. There are storage rules that apply wherever the firearm comes to rest, and transport rules that apply whenever it moves, and they travel with you. Bring your own compliant storage, because nothing about a hotel room or a moving truck supplies it for you. And if the firearm is restricted, your Authorization to Transport has to cover the destination before the trip starts, including a new home.
Continue on the Silvercore Path
- → Firearm Storage Laws in Canada
- → Transporting Firearms in Canada
- → How to Get Your PAL in Canada (Complete Guide)
- → Gun Club Membership for an ATT in Canada
- → How to Import and Export Firearms in Canada
Hotel firearm storage in Canada
This is the question that sends people searching, so let's take it head on. The storage regulations that govern how you keep a firearm at home are the same ones that apply when the roof over your head belongs to a hotel. The rules apply to the firearm, not the building. What that means in practice, by class:
- Non-restricted: unloaded, and rendered inoperable with a secure locking device, or the bolt or bolt-carrier removed, or locked inside a container that cannot readily be broken into. Ammunition stays out of ready reach of the firearm unless it is locked in a container of the same standard, together with the firearm or separately.
- Restricted: unloaded, rendered inoperable with a secure locking device, and locked inside a container that cannot readily be broken into. At home the alternative is a purpose-built safe or vault, which you will not have in a hotel, so on the road the locking device plus locked case combination is the standard to meet. Ammunition follows the same locked-container rule.
The practical read: bring your own storage. A cable or trigger lock weighs nothing and handles the non-restricted requirement anywhere. For a restricted firearm, the locked opaque hard case you are already required to transport it in, kept locked in the room with the locking device on the firearm, is how travelling owners meet the standard. Do not count on the hotel room safe. Most are too small, and whether one is present at all is not something to build your compliance around.
One more point for restricted owners: the destination itself has to be authorized. An overnight stop on a trip is a storage and transport question, but the trip only exists lawfully if your ATT or licence conditions cover where you are going. That is covered below.
Leaving firearms in a vehicle overnight
The question underneath the hotel question is usually the truck. People check in, look at the case, and think about leaving everything locked in the vehicle until morning.
The regulations do address the unattended vehicle. A non-restricted firearm goes in a securely locked trunk or similar compartment; if the vehicle has no trunk, the firearm must be out of sight and the vehicle, or the part containing it, locked. A restricted firearm must already be in its locked opaque container, and that container goes in the locked trunk, or out of sight inside the locked vehicle if there is no trunk.
That is the legal floor. My practical view sits above it: a vehicle in a hotel parking lot overnight is one of the higher-risk places you can leave a firearm. Theft from vehicles is common, and a stolen firearm is a serious problem that lands squarely on you. If you can bring the firearm inside and store it compliantly in the room, that beats the truck every time.
Road trips and crossing provincial lines
For a non-restricted rifle or shotgun, crossing from BC into Alberta and on into Saskatchewan triggers no new paperwork. The federal rules ride along. What you owe attention to is the condition of the firearm every time the vehicle is left unattended, and lawful storage at every overnight stop. Provincial hunting regulations layer on top while you are in the field, so check the destination province's rules on transport during hunting season.
Restricted firearms are the different animal. Since July 7, 2021, the authorization built into your licence conditions covers exactly two situations: transport to and from an approved shooting club or range within your province of residence, and transport to its place of storage after purchase. A trip to a range in another province, a competition out of town, a gunsmith, or any other destination requires a specific ATT from the Chief Firearms Officer before you go. Apply through Individual Web Services, by mail on form RCMP 5490, or by phone to the Canadian Firearms Program at 1-800-731-4000, and read the conditions on the authorization you receive, because those conditions, not folklore about direct routes, are what govern your trip.
Taking firearms across the border, in either direction, is a separate body of law with paperwork on both sides, and I am not going to hand-wave it into two sentences. Before you point the truck at a crossing, read our full guide on importing and exporting firearms in Canada
Moving house with firearms
Moving is the scenario people forget to plan for, and it is one of the more common ways a careful owner drifts out of compliance. Three pieces to get right:
First, the transport leg. A move is transport while the firearms are on the road and storage the moment they come to rest. Moving boxes are not an exception. A rifle in the back of a moving truck must meet the same standard as a rifle anywhere else: unloaded, and secured to the unattended vehicle rules at every stop.
Second, your licence. Reporting a change of name or address to a Chief Firearms Officer within 30 days is a condition of every individual licence under the Firearms Licences Regulations. Do it through Individual Web Services or the CFP at 1-800-731-4000, and do it as part of the move rather than something you remember in month three.
Third, restricted firearms. Moving a restricted or prohibited firearm to a new address is not covered by your licence conditions. It needs a specific ATT from the CFO before the firearm travels. This is stated plainly in RCMP Canadian Firearms Program guidance, and it is the step people miss. Sort the ATT out as part of the moving plan, not on moving day.
One point from years of dealing with edge cases: a restricted firearm does not necessarily have to live at your residence. I have seen firearms lawfully stored at a business with the appropriate licence, and there are owners without a conventional fixed address, people in remote country, people whose mailing address is a post office box. The system accommodates more circumstances than people assume. If your living situation does not fit the tidy default, put the question to your CFO rather than assuming you are stuck.
Frequently asked questions
Can I store my firearm in a hotel room?
Yes. The federal storage rules apply in the room exactly as they do at home: unloaded, secured to the standard for its class, ammunition handled to the locked-container rule. Bring your own locks and cases, because the room will not supply them.
Can I leave my firearm in the car at a hotel?
The unattended vehicle rules allow it if the requirements are met: locked trunk, or out of sight in a locked vehicle, with a restricted firearm additionally in its locked opaque container. Legal is not the same as wise. A parking lot overnight is a theft risk you do not have to take if the firearm can come inside.
Do I need an ATT to stay overnight somewhere with my restricted firearm?
You need authorization that covers the trip you are on. Licence conditions cover range trips within your province of residence and the trip home from a purchase. Anything else, including travel to another province or to a new residence, needs a specific ATT before you go, and the conditions written on that authorization govern the stops along the way.
Do the storage rules change from province to province?
No. Storage and transport requirements under SOR/98-209 are federal and identical across Canada. What varies provincially is the administration of ATTs by each Chief Firearms Officer and the hunting regulations that apply in the field.
What do I do with my firearms licence when I move?
Report the address change to a Chief Firearms Officer within 30 days. It is a condition of your licence. Restricted or prohibited firearms additionally need an ATT to travel to the new address.
Can I stop for gas, food, or a night's sleep mid-trip with a restricted firearm?
The rules are the transport rules you already follow: for a restricted firearm, the licence conditions govern the authorized trip and the unattended vehicle requirements apply the moment you walk away from the vehicle. On a multi-day trip the same logic holds at every stop. The full breakdown is in our guide to transporting firearms in Canada
Sharp on the road, covered when it counts
For restricted firearm owners, travel runs through the ATT, and under current CFP policy the ATT runs through club membership. The Silvercore Club is an RCMP Canadian Firearms Program approved club that meets the policy requirements for ATT and RPAL issuance, with in-person and virtual events across Canada, $5 million in liability coverage for your lawful firearms activities, and a team you can actually phone before a trip when you are not sure how a rule applies to your situation. It keeps you sharp and has your back on the road. 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 hosts the Silvercore Podcast, where he explores firearms, hunting, and the outdoors with leaders from across the industry.
Travis Bader
Silvercore Outdoors
