LAWS AND SAFE HANDLING

Firearm classes in Canada: Non-restricted vs restricted

Last reviewed July 15, 2026

Canadian law sorts every firearm into one of three classes - non-restricted, restricted, or prohibited - and the class decides everything: which licence you need, how you store it, how you move it, and whether you can own it at all. A basic PAL covers non-restricted; an RPAL adds restricted; prohibited firearms are off the table for essentially all new owners.

The class definitions come from the Criminal Code and its regulations; the summaries below follow the RCMP student handbook. Because individual models get reclassified by regulation, treat this as the map, and the RCMP’s Canadian Firearms Program (1-800-731-4000) as the authority on any specific firearm.

Non-restricted: most rifles and shotguns

The default class for ordinary hunting and sporting long guns - bolt-action and lever rifles, pump and break shotguns, most semi-automatic rimfire rifles. It’s what a standard PAL, earned through the CFSC, lets you possess and acquire.

Practical notes:

• No federal registration (Quebec’s provincial registry excepted).
• The lightest storage and transport rules of the three classes.
• “Long gun” doesn’t automatically mean non-restricted - the handbook itself warns that some rifles and shotguns are restricted or prohibited by their specs or by name. Check before you buy.

Restricted: handguns and specific rifle configurations

Restricted firearms may be owned with restricted privileges (the RPAL) for approved purposes - target shooting, collecting, certain occupations. The class includes:

• handguns that aren’t prohibited;
• centre-fire semi-automatic rifles and shotguns with barrels shorter than 470 mm;
• firearms that fire when folded or telescoped below 660 mm overall;
• anything designated restricted by regulation.

Ownership brings registration, stricter storage (locking device plus locked container, or a safe), and authorization-controlled transport. The CRFSC is the course for this tier. Note the practical overlay: the handgun freeze in force since October 2022 blocks most individual handgun purchases even with an RPAL - the restricted class today is mainly about non-handgun restricted firearms and existing owners.

Prohibited: not available to new owners

Prohibited firearms generally cannot be acquired by individuals (limited grandfathering and certain occupational exceptions exist). The class includes:

• handguns with barrels 105 mm or shorter, and handguns in .25 or .32 calibre (competition exemptions exist);
• sawed-off rifles and shotguns - under 660 mm overall, or with barrels under 457 mm;
• automatic firearms, including converted ones;
• anything designated prohibited by regulation - which is the big one in practice: the May 2020 Order in Council moved roughly 1,500 named models and variants, including the AR-15 platform, into this class.

Alongside prohibited firearms sit prohibited devices and ammunition: silencers/suppressors, over-capacity magazines (with a rimfire exception), and tracer ammunition, among others.

Why classifications move - and what that means for you

Class boundaries are set by criteria and by naming, and governments have used the naming power repeatedly (2020 most dramatically). Three habits protect you:

1. Verify the exact model with the CFP before buying - especially anything used, anything “tactical-styled,” and anything imported. The Firearms Reference Table, not the seller, decides.
2. Recheck after major announcements if you own borderline configurations - reclassifications have come with amnesty periods and compliance deadlines.
3. When a firearm changes class, your obligations change with it - storage, transport, and whether you may possess it at all.

For a first firearm, the takeaway is comfortable: the PAL path plus the non-restricted class covers nearly everything a new hunter or target shooter wants. The class system, storage tiers, and the reasons behind them are all core course-exam material - find a CFSC course near you and learn them where you can ask about the model you have in mind.