BREAKING: Ottawa extends firearm confiscation amnesty to 2026

Barely a month after rolling out their compensation pilot in Nova Scotia, the Liberals have extended their firearm amnesty for the third time in five years.

Source: Pexels

Barely a month after rolling out their compensation pilot in Nova Scotia, the Liberals have extended their firearm amnesty for the third time in five years.

Public Safety Canada confirmed Wednesday that the federal firearm amnesty has been extended until Oct. 30, 2026. This comes amid speculation that the gun buyback program could be ending altogether.

Tracey Wilson, vice-president of public relations for the Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights, told True North the extension sends a clear message to gun owners from the Liberals: that they should “keep their guns and face no consequences for as long as possible.”

“Perhaps another election will happen in the meantime, and Carney will use the gun grab for election fodder for more gullible voters and loud anti-gun lobbyists,” she said.

As the previous Oct. 30, 2025, deadline approached — a date that would have turned previously legal firearm owners into criminals — the Liberals pushed the date back another year.

“Participating in the program is voluntary, however businesses (except those with required registration certificates and specific privileges on their licence), must dispose of or permanently deactivate their assault-style firearms before the amnesty period expires on October 30, 2026, or risk criminal liability for the illegal possession of a prohibited firearm,” reads the federal government’s website.

Wilson told True North that the amnesty signifies that these legally owned firearms and their owners are not a risk to public safety.

“Guns so dangerous we must keep them for 6 years through multiple amnesty extensions? Carney should save some humiliation and just end this farce today by overturning these bans and focus instead on reducing crime,” she said.

True North exposed Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree for claiming the gun buyback program was always “voluntary,” though the alternative is imprisonment.

Wilson confirmed that the penalty for the illegal possession of a prohibited firearm is up to five years in jail.

“So it’s not a ‘voluntary’ program, or ‘buy back’ as the Liberals and some in the media have happily called it. It is confiscation and seizure, under threat of imprisonment,” she said. “Carney has the gall to call it an ‘opportunity’ for licensed, law-abiding firearms owners to turn in their legally-purchased property?”

X commentator Mario Zelaya claims analysts have shared emails with him suggesting the gun buyback program is “ending soon.”

“I have a feeling that their test pilot completely failed. No one was participating in it, and if they don’t have provincial support to actually seize these firearms from the millions of Canadians, even if it’s in the tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands, it doesn’t matter,” he said. “The government at the federal level needs the help and support of the provincial governments, who don’t want anything to do with this.”

Wilson said she’s heard similar rumblings.

She also shared an article showing that the pilot was in shambles.

Despite the program rolling out in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia police have said they want nothing to do with it.

“The Province of Nova Scotia and its Provincial Police Force are not and will not be participating,” said MLA Tom Taggart in a letter to constituents, clarifying that the program was a deal between Ottawa and Cape Breton Regional Municipality.

Alberta similarly told its police to ignore the confiscation order. The Ontario Provincial Police also said they would not enforce it.

Wilson said to date, only three law enforcement agencies nationwide have agreed to participate. She noted Ontario alone has 44 police forces, meaning “police don’t support this ridiculous gun grab.”

As for Cape Breton, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation has offered free legal support to any firearm owners, reminding them they do not have to hand over any firearms until the amnesty expires, assuming it ever does or if it keeps getting extended and used as election leverage.

Wilson said the gun confiscation scheme has been a failure since its inception in 2020 when the Liberals made thousands of legal firearms prohibited through an Order in Council. Since then, the Liberals have expanded the order to ban over 2,500 firearms, with costs expected to reach nearly $2 billion.

She said the failed ban draws focus and resources from actual crime.

“Anandasangaree hasn’t even fulfilled the promise of 1,000 new CBSA agents to stop the flow of illegal guns, yet continues to target licensed owners,” said Wilson. “The results of 10 years of Liberal public safety policy are in, and it’s been a tragic and bloody failure that has cost Canadian lives. Enough is enough. End the war on fish and game club members and target repeat violent offenders instead.”