Federal Gun Buyback Program to Be Rolled out Across Canada After Nova Scotia Pilot

Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree says the Liberal government’s gun buyback program will soon be launched across Canada following an initial pilot project in Nova Scotia.

“I will be showing our next steps on the program as we roll out throughout the country. But it is significant to say that we will be rolling the program out across Canada,” Anandasangaree told CBC News on Nov. 23.

The pilot project in Cape Breton was launched on Sept. 23, and aimed to “test program elements” allowing firearms owners to turn in an initial 200 prohibited “assault-style” firearms. Public Safety Canada said participation in the program was voluntary, would test out the collection and destruction process and system for giving compensation payments, and would be conducted in collaboration with the Cape Breton Regional Police. 

The Epoch Times reached out to Public Safety Canada to enquire about the number of firearms returned during the pilot project, but did not hear back before publication time.

The department said on Sept. 23 that following the pilot project, eligible firearms owners will be contacted and given the information needed to take part in the program. They said that while participation in the program is voluntary, those who do not participate will not be eligible for compensation, and will still be required to dispose of their prohibited firearms before the end of the amnesty period.

On Oct. 15, Public Safety Canada announced that the amnesty period for owners of the prohibited “assault-style” firearms had been extended to Oct. 30, 2026, which marked the third time Ottawa has extended it. The Liberal government originally put an amnesty in place in May 2020 and was set to expire on April 30, 2022, but this was extended to Oct. 30, 2023, and later extended once again to October 2025.

The buyback program for firearms businesses opened across Canada in early 2025, which collected more than 12,000 prohibited firearms and gave out $22 million in compensation. While April 30 was the deadline for businesses to submit claims for the firearms that were prohibited back in 2020, Public Safety Canada said in September that the program would reopen for businesses to submit claims for the most recently prohibited firearms “in the coming weeks.”

The ban on “assault-style” firearms was first introduced by former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau following a mass shooting in Nova Scotia in April 2020, which was carried out using illegally obtained weapons. Trudeau later announced the ban on the use, sale, and importation of more than 1,500 makes and models of firearms, and the list of banned firearms was subsequently expanded to more than 2,000 types of firearms.

The Liberal government also brought into force a national freeze on the sale, purchase, or transfer of handguns on Oct. 21, 2022. This freeze was codified through Bill C-21, which received royal assent on Dec. 15, 2023.

The provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan have said they are opposed to Ottawa’s firearms buyback program, while the Ontario Provincial Police has said it will not take part in the enforcement of the program.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has accused the Liberal government of targeting law-abiding gun owners while ignoring illegally smuggled firearms most often used by criminals. The Liberals have said that “assault-style” weapons should not be allowed in Canada, as they are “designed for mass casualties.”

Back in September, the Tories also called for Anandasangaree to be fired as public safety minister after a leaked Sept. 21 audio recording in which he expressed doubt about the buyback program’s effectiveness, questioned whether municipal police forces had the resources to enforce it, and said he would focus on illegal firearms if he were to redo the program. When asked about the recording, Prime Minister Mark Carney said he had “confidence” in Anandasangaree as the public safety minister.

Budget 2025, released on Nov. 4, proposed to “realign” previously announced funding toward the buyback program, for a net fiscal impact of $38.7 million over three years. The budget said the buyback program will be “implemented in the most efficient and cost-effective way possible” with its funding of $742 million.