AFTER THE COURSE

Moving provinces with a PAL: Address rules and what changes

Last reviewed July 15, 2026

Your PAL is a federal licence, valid in every province and territory - moving from Ontario to Alberta (or anywhere else) never means a new licence or repeating the CFSC. What the law does demand is speed on one thing: you must update your address with the Canadian Firearms Program within 30 days of moving. Everything else depends on what you own and where you’re going.

Here’s the checklist, from the easy case (non-restricted, most provinces) to the involved one (restricted firearms, or a move to Quebec).

The universal rule: 30 days for the address

Every licence holder, every move - across town or across the country - reports the new address to the CFP within 30 days. It takes minutes through the RCMP’s online portal or the CFP line (1-800-731-4000), and it’s a legal condition of holding the licence, not paperwork courtesy. Your licence card follows to the new address; so does your renewal notice, which is the practical reason people who skip this step end up with lapsed licences.

Non-restricted firearms: mostly just drive carefully

Rifles and shotguns aren’t federally registered, so an interprovincial move adds nothing federal beyond the address update. On moving day, normal transport rules apply: unloaded, and treated sensibly in the vehicle (out of sight, locked vehicle when unattended). Ammunition moves as ordinary dangerous goods common sense: secured, separate from the firearms.

Two provincial wrinkles:

• Quebec: if you’re moving to Quebec, its provincial long-gun registry (SIAF) applies - you must register non-restricted firearms with the province after arrival. Check current SIAF deadlines when you move.
• Hunting credentials don’t transfer: your PAL is federal, but hunting licences and hunter-education requirements are provincial. Budget for the new province’s process before the season opens.

Restricted firearms: plan before the truck arrives

Restricted firearms are registered to you at a specific address, and they may only be stored at that registered address. A move therefore means, in order:

1. Before moving day, confirm transport authorization for the trip. Moving a restricted firearm to a new residence requires an Authorization to Transport or an equivalent licence condition - and what’s automatic versus what needs a CFO request has changed over the years, so call the CFP and confirm what your licence currently covers.
2. Transport correctly: unloaded, secure locking device, locked opaque container - the full restricted transport standard.
3. After arrival, update the address on both your licence and each registration, and set up compliant storage before the firearms come out of their cases. Interprovincial moves land you under a new provincial CFO, who handles authorizations from here on.

Moving-day practicalities worth stealing

• Do the firearms yourself. Moving companies vary on whether they’ll take firearms at all, and your legal obligations don’t transfer to the movers. A personal vehicle trip under proper transport rules is cleaner.
• Storage gear packs last, unpacks first - the trigger locks and the safe come off the truck before the firearms need a home.
• Photograph serial numbers and keep your inventory list with you, not in the truck. If anything goes missing in transit, you’ll need it for the police and CFP reports - loss and theft are mandatory reports.

Moving somewhere new often means new clubs, new hunting zones, and friends asking how licensing works. The answer starts where yours did: find a CFSC course in the new province - and the address-update habit starts within 30 days.