Next phase of government’s assault-style firearm buyback to begin in Nova Scotia

OTTAWA — The federal government plans to begin a buyback of assault-style firearms from individual owners with a pilot project in Nova Scotia.

The pilot will be open to eligible gun owners in select areas of Cape Breton to ensure it runs smoothly before being launched across the country.

Firearms owners can access a web portal as of Oct. 1 to file a declaration of interest.

Participants may either deactivate their firearm using a licensed gunsmith or return it to police.

“You cannot be serious about being tough on crime if you’re not willing to be tough on guns,” Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree told media Tuesday on Parliament Hill. “This program is part of that solution.”

Since May 2020, Ottawa has outlawed approximately 2,500 types of guns on the basis they belong on the battlefield, not in the hands of hunters or sport shooters.

The government says the buyback program will provide owners fair compensation for their outlawed firearms. It has declared an amnesty period to protect owners of banned guns from criminal liability while they turn in or deactivate their firearms.

Anandasangaree recently said Ottawa has budgeted more than $700 million for the buyback effort.

Firearm rights advocates and the federal Conservatives have described the program as a poor use of taxpayer dollars targeted at law-abiding gun owners.

Chief Robert Walsh of the Cape Breton regional police service said Tuesday the compensation program is a way for gun owners to stay in compliance with the law.

“We see this as giving them an opportunity to surrender what they are no longer allowed to possess,” he told the media conference.

“Ultimately, this is about public safety and security of our communities and putting the protections in place to prevent further victimization and tragedy from gun violence.”

More than 12,000 firearms have been collected from businesses already, with approximately $22 million in compensation paid out during an initial phase of the program.

Gun control group PolySeSouvient says the latest phase of the buyback will be a waste of money unless it includes prohibition of the semi-automatic SKS rifle, which is not among the banned firearms.

The SKS is commonly used in Indigenous communities to hunt for food. It has also been used in police killings and other high-profile shootings. Officials are reviewing the firearm’s classification.

“We understand the concerns over the SKS,” Anandasangaree said. He added that ongoing consultations include Indigenous Peoples for whom “hunting is very much central to their way of life.”

PolySeSouvient, formed in response to the 1989 mass shooting at Montreal’s École Polytechnique, says leaving the SKS in circulation would be “a public safety failure.”

PolySeSouvient wants the government to impose an immediate ban on new sales of the SKS, remove from circulation modern, assault-style versions of the rifle, and implement a voluntary buyback of older models.

Liberal MP Nathalie Provost, who was shot at École Polytechnique 36 years ago, stood alongside Anandasangaree to welcome the buyback announcement Tuesday.

Provost, secretary of state for nature, said she has “great confidence” the government will complete the buyback.

The federal announcement was overshadowed by questions about Anandasangaree’s candid remarks Sunday to a gun owner who secretly recorded their conversation.

On the recording, Anandasangaree plays down any suggestion the man would be taken away in handcuffs for failing to turn in a banned firearm, and suggests local police don’t have the resources for such enforcement.

On Tuesday, Anandasangaree said he has “every confidence” police will be able to do their job.

“Canada is a rule of law country,” he said. “So if it is in the Criminal Code, it is imperative that police of jurisdiction are able to implement that law.”

The federal Conservatives called on Prime Minister Mark Carney to fire Anandasangaree, calling him a hapless minister “pushing a failed gun buyback program.”

Carney told reporters Tuesday that he has confidence in the minister and that he’s “doing important work.”

“He’s got a lot of important work this session of Parliament including legislation on borders and others,” Carney said.

The Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights said the Liberals are wasting “a tremendous amount of money at a time when Canada can least afford it.”

The government of Alberta was also quick to condemn the new pilot. In a media statement, Alberta’s Minister of Justice Mickey Amery and Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Services Mike Ellis called it an attack on “law-abiding firearms owners” that “does not address the spike in illegal gun crime under the federal Liberal government.”

“Simply put, Alberta’s government will not be enforcing this gun grab, and we will make clear to law enforcement that this is not an enforcement priority,” they wrote. “We expect them to focus their time and resources on real provincial policing priorities — like violent criminals, not hunters and sport shooters.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 23, 2025.

Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press