Looking at the RCMP’s 2023 Commissioner of Firearms Report

Each year, the RCMP, which manages the Canadian Firearms Program, is required to produce a Commissioner of Firearms Report for Parliament. In 2024, they released their report for the previous year (PDF – 857 kb).

We took a look at some of the relevant information in the Report, which breaks down some of the statistics on firearms ownership and their various other lines of business.

At the end of 2023, there were over 2.3 million licence holders in Canada, which is nearly 5.9% of the population of Canada. This number continues to trend upwards as more and more Canadians obtain licences. On average, 1 in 17 Canadians is a holder of a valid firearm licence. This includes over 1.5 million non-restricted licence holders and over 752,000 restricted licence holders.

Refusals remain rare, with just 920 applicants refused a licence in 2023, a number that continues to trend downwards over the previous five years.

In addition, nearly 1.3 million restricted and prohibited firearms were within the federal registry (though the statistics do not further break that down into how many of each category).

In 2023, the RCMP also released the new design of firearm licence card. The card is produced by the Canadian Bank Note Company, and contains enhanced security features, including laser personalization, and optical variable foil, along with microprinting.

Unfortunately, the report does not include any statistics on the numbers of Canadians taking firearm safety courses. However, we can presume the number to be quite steady – Ontario alone welcomed over 54,000 new licencees in 2023. Another 3,398 minors obtained their licence privileges in the province. Licences are not always issued in the same year a person takes their CFSC and/or CRFSC courses.

We look forward to reviewing the 2024 report when it becomes available later this year, as the RCMP continues to update the firearms community, and policy makers, with evidence of the safe and effective firearms regulatory framework in Canada.