Gun Buyback Program Falls Short as More Than 67,000 Firearms Are Declared
OTTAWA — More than 67, 000 firearms have been declared under the gun buyback program, a federal tally that landed well below what officials had budgeted for compensation. Public Safety Canada announced the figure on Wednesday, one day after the compensation window closed for owners of prohibited firearms. The update comes as the government moves from declarations to assessing claims and preparing collection efforts later this spring.
Declared guns fall short of federal expectations
Public Safety Canada said the declarations came from nearly 38, 000 different firearms owners. The program covered more than 2, 500 makes and models of firearms that the federal Liberals have prohibited since 2020, and they would now begin assessing each declaration.
The declared total fell short of the 136, 000 weapons department the government had budgeted for compensation. The government said it was still completing declarations for people who had opened a registration account but may have faced technical issues, as well as for military and law enforcement members currently serving outside the country.
The gun buyback program is now moving into the next phase, with actual collection efforts expected to begin later this spring and continue through early fall 2026.
What officials and advocates are saying
Prime Minister Mark Carney said the day before the announcement that there was “obviously a gap” between how many firearms had been declared and the figures the department had cited for compensation planning. His remarks framed the latest numbers as a clear shortfall, even as the process remains open to final completion.
PolySeSouvient, a gun control advocacy group founded by survivors of the 1989 École Polytechnique shooting in Montreal, called the number of declared weapons “disappointing, ” while saying it was “far from catastrophic. ” The group criticized what it described as “pervasive disinformation and daily pleas” from gun lobby groups urging firearms owners not to take part.
Nathalie Provost, secretary of state for nature in Carney’s cabinet and a survivor of the 1989 Montreal shooting, accused firearms lobbyists and Opposition Conservatives of sowing “confusion” among gun owners. She said thousands of other makes and models of guns remain available to use.
Political pressure builds around the program
Many firearms advocacy groups have called on Carney to abandon the program. The policy was promised under former prime minister Justin Trudeau, who first announced in 2020 that his cabinet was banning what the government called “assault-style” firearms, including the AR-15.
Since then, hundreds more makes and models of guns have been prohibited under subsequent announcements by the government and federal law enforcement authorities. The latest figures now put the gun buyback program under renewed scrutiny as officials work through declarations and prepare for collection.
For now, the central question is whether the gun buyback program can close the gap between the number of declared firearms and the higher compensation target set by the federal government, with assessments and collections set to define the next phase.
