The federal government’s national gun buyback program is facing obstacles in Alberta — namely that the province is refusing to enforce or participate in it.
The feds have banned around 2,500 “assault-style” firearm models since 2020, justifying the move by stating these weapons are intended for warfare rather than hunting or sport.
Participation in the Assault-Style Firearms Compensation Program (ASFCP) is voluntary. Interested gun owners have until March 31 to declare their interest in turning in their outlawed firearms and receiving compensation from the federal government.
But through a legislative motion passed in December, the government of Alberta is pushing back by refusing to participate in the compensation program and prohibiting local law enforcement from taking part in it too.
Canadian gun buyback program faces numerous hurdles
The provincial government confirmed to CBC News that the program will not be enforced in Alberta, joining Saskatchewan in legislating its refusal. The province of Manitoba has also said it won’t be enforcing the program.
While the ASFCP is voluntary, it’s still against the law for Canadians to own those prohibited firearms. Anyone who hasn’t submitted a declaration by the March 31 deadline will not be eligible for federal compensation if they turn in their guns.
The amnesty period for possessing banned guns ends on Oct. 30.
Although Alberta is not enforcing the buyback program, people living in the province can still submit declarations.
Teri Bryant, the province’s chief firearms officer, told CBC News it’s up to the federal government to enforce the ASFCP in Alberta.
“We will have nothing to do with this program. We will not spend any Alberta taxpayer dollars on this program,” she said. “We can’t block the federal government from setting something up, but they have to set it up and be appropriately licensed.”
That means the federal government has to hire seizure agents to collect those firearms, as Alberta law enforcement won’t accept them through the buyback program.
The federal government’s website says appointments for turning in firearms can be scheduled with local police or RCMP — both of which are not an option in Alberta under its anti-ASFCP legislation — or “a mobile collection unit,” depending on the location.
The other option is to have firearms decommission by a licensed gunsmith in Alberta who has been been approved for deactivation by the RCMP and has an Alberta seizure-agent licence.
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People who submit a declaration expressing their interest by March 31 are expected to be paid through the gun buyback program’s pool of funding — $248.6 million, which would pay for around 136,000 outlawed firearms from individuals — within 45 business days of their gun being validated.
That means firearms won’t be surrendered or decommissioned until then.
But submitting a declaration for the program doesn’t necessarily mean gun owners will be compensated, as applications and firearms need to be approved.
A Public Safety Canada spokesperson said in a statement that Albertans “who participated in the declaration would not be able to receive compensation for their prohibited firearms unless these jurisdictions allow them to do so.”
“The Government of Canada encourages the governments of Alberta and Saskatchewan to provide their residents with the option of seeking compensation for their prohibited firearms through the ASFCP,” the spokesperson said.
JR Cox, head of Calgary-based firearms company Sterling Arms International, said dealing with Ottawa for its business gun buyback program — which ran from November 2024 to April 2025 — left a bad taste in his mouth regarding the government’s reliability.
“It took us months and months and months to get our first payment, and they looked at every excuse to not pay us the full amount,” he said.
“Declaration doesn’t mean compensation. What they’re saying is, ‘You’ve got to tell us what you have, but we’re not sure if we’re going to pay you.'”
That business-based program led to the collection and destruction of 12,000 firearms, according to the federal government.
Besides participating in the program, Albertans who want to get rid of their prohibited firearms by turning them in to police can still do so — they just won’t get paid.
The Calgary Police Service said in a statement to CBC News that it won’t be participating in the program, but that gun owners can still surrender their firearms without receiving compensation.
More than 450 guns were voluntarily turned in to the Calgary Police Service last year.
