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Owners covered by the Firearms Registration Act

The Firearms Registration Act (FRA) requires some owners to apply for registration of their non-restricted firearms.  

Owners who are required to register their firearms

The following owners are required to apply for registration of their firearms:  

  • All owners of non-restricted firearms in Québec. Commonly referred to as "long guns," non-restricted firearms are generally weapons used for hunting, such as rifles or shotguns. They represent approximately 95% of the firearms in Québec. 
  • All firearms businesses within the meaning of the Firearms Registration Act (FRA), i.e. any person, company or other group of persons that engages, in Québec, in the manufacturing, assembling, purchasing, selling, renting, displaying, repairing, restoring, maintaining, altering, storing, pawnbroking, or consigning of firearms. 
  • Any business that does not deal in firearms but possesses one or more non-restricted firearms for business purposes. The FRA includes specific obligations for firearms businesses. 

Owners who are not required to register their firearms

The following organisations are not required to register their weapons with the Québec Firearms Registration Service (SIAF):  

  • police forces 
  • federal, provincial, or municipal government departments or bodies 
  • police academies 
  • other public agencies that employ or have under their authority public agents 

Weapon owners from these organisations are covered by the Public Agents Firearms Regulations and are exempted from the application of the FRA. 

Firearms exempted under the Firearms Registration Act

The following firearms are exempted under the Firearms Registration Act (FRA) and need not be registered with the Québec Firearms Registration Service (SIAF): 

  • non-restricted firearms that are present in Québec for a period of 45 days or less. 
  • non-restricted firearms that are taken to a business for repair, restoration, maintenance, or alteration, if the owner of the firearm does not have a residence or place of business in Québec. 
  • antique firearms, that is, firearms manufactured before 1898 that were not designed or re-designed to discharge rim-fire or centre-fire ammunition, or any firearm designated as such by federal regulation. 
  • agency firearms, i.e. those in the possession of a public service agency and made available by the agency to its public officials. 
  • protected firearms, which are those in the possession of a public service agency and are not agency firearms. 
  • any device designed exclusively for signalling, for notifying of distress, for firing blank cartridges or firing stud cartridges, explosive-driven rivets or other industrial projectiles and intended by its owner to be used solely for these purposes. 
  • any shooting device designed exclusively for slaughtering  domestic animals, tranquilizing animals, or discharging projectiles with lines attached to them. 
  • any other barrelled weapon, where it is proved that the weapon is not designed or adapted to discharge a shot, bullet or other projectile at a muzzle velocity exceeding 152.4 m per second or at a muzzle energy exceeding 5.7 Joules. 
  • the other classes of weapons, i.e. prohibited and restricted firearms. 


However, some firearms excluded from the application of the Firearms Registration Act (FRA), such as prohibited and restricted firearms, must be registered with the Canadian Firearms Program (CFP) This hyperlink will open in a new window..  

Last update: May 1, 2023

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