441-02258 (Justice)

Canadians deserve to be safe in their communities. That’s why the Government of Canada is taking action on gun violence with a comprehensive plan that gets firearms off our streets and puts more resources into our neighborhoods, while respecting hunters and law-abiding gun owners.

A central part of this work is addressing the assault-style firearms that have been used in the worst tragedies in our country’s history. This is why the Government introduced Bill C-21, which represents the most significant changes to gun control legislation in more than 40 years. The objective and spirit of Bill C-21, which received Royal Assent on December 15, 2023 is to enhance public safety through targeted firearms control. The new law includes a new forward-looking technical definition of a prohibited firearm that contains the characteristics of an assault-style firearm.

Firearms that match the characteristics and requirements of this new technical definition will be prohibited. That is, a firearm that is not a handgun and that fires centre-fire ammunition in a semi-automatic manner, was originally designed with a detachable magazine with a capacity of six cartridges or more, and that is designed and manufactured on or after the day the definition comes into force. As this new definition is forward looking, it applies to firearms that are designed and manufactured on or after December 15, 2023. This ensures that new firearms that exceed safe civilian use are not introduced into our communities. This definition does not apply to firearms that were on the market prior the passage of C-21. No firearms legally owned by Canadians today will be affected.

To stop the growth of handgun ownership, which grew from 500,000 in 2010 to more than 1 million in 2020, Bill C-21 codified the handgun freeze in statute. While current handgun owners can continue to use their handguns, Bill C-21 prevents most individuals from transferring or acquiring new handguns, with narrow exemptions, including for sport shooting. Individuals who are training, competing or coaching in a handgun discipline on the programme of the Olympic or Paralympic Committees and who are recognized as such by the national or provincial-territorial sport shooting governing body can continue to acquire or import handguns. Public Safety Canada will conduct consultations regarding the process for these athletes to acquire handguns for their sport and to support the development of regulations related to this exemption.

No single program or initiative can tackle the challenge of gun violence alone. Bill C-21 is part of the Government of Canada’s comprehensive strategy to address gun violence and strengthen gun control in Canada. This includes legislative measures in the Bill to combat firearms trafficking and smuggling such as the higher maximum penalties from 10 to 14 years, the most severe penalties short of a life sentence.

The Government has also invested over $1.3 billion since 2016 to address gun and gang violence. This includes over $312 million over five years, starting in 2021-22, to support efforts by Public Safety, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) to identify smuggled firearms at the border and through firearms tracing. Among other things, this funding will increase firearms tracing capacity and provide additional resources to target firearms smuggling and trafficking by equipping the RCMP and the CBSA with the necessary tools and resources, such as x-ray machines and parcel scanners, to prevent illegal firearms from entering Canada. Further, $125 million is being provided to law enforcement agencies to increase capacity in priority areas, ensure front line officers have access to an integrated suite of resources to support firearms investigations, as well as to help prevent illegal firearms from coming into the country.