Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Canada PAL renewal times.

I called the CFC to follow up on my online application of 18-06-2023. It was approved 08-12-2023.

I had checked online a few times always the “received initial review completed if more details needed you will be contacted” notation.

It’s ridiculous that it takes 5 months and 20 days to process a renewal.

Our wonderful .gov at work.

GRF;
Good morning my friend, I hope that you and your wonderful family are well this still, warm for the season but cloudy day - well that's the weather report here.

We had a thread on that very subject on a mainly BC hunting and shooting forum I'm on and honestly the responses are all over the map.

Had family get an RPAL in under a month this spring or early summer and had people who waited almost a year and were wondering if they'd be able to go hunting this season because theirs had run out.

If I'm not wrong, one fellow ended up going to his MP or a PC MP to get some help, which he got because "suddenly" they figured out what the hold up was and his RPAL just magically appeared.

The same thing is happening with Canada Revenue now too with everyone working from home. I could tell you stories that'd curl my hair GRF and since you've met me and know there isn't any to curl other than under my nose and chin....

Both at work for my good wife and personally Canada Revenue has been an absolute nightmare to get any answers from - any....

It would appear to this casual observer that one of the many vicious casualties of PM Socks' lockdown was that in allowing the Swivel Servants to "work from home", a precedent was set and it wasn't a good one.

I'd love to be proven wrong about this too by the way, most folks cannot begin to fathom how badly I'd love to be wrong, but once more since you've met me and we chat from time to time, I do believe in this instance you know.

Anyways as far as remedies, it's perhaps not a bad plan to at least notify your Provincial Firearms Officer about it if your expiry is drawing near. We hear that Alberta CPFO actually can answer the phone, so that's a plus.

Good luck with this and all the best to you all this Christmas Season.

Dwayne

Mine took all of 2 weeks from when I made application. GD

greydog;
Good morning, but just barely I see, regardless I hope you're all getting a bit of a reprieve over to the east and you're all well.

We're having an Okanagan winter like we used to have and personally I'm enjoying working in the yard with a light hoodie on and not having to plow snow every other day.

It's wild how your response is so different from others to me. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to it either that I can see as some of the speedier returns were RPALs and some of the snail's pace ones were just a PAL.

We used to expect the RPAL to take a wee bit longer or at least that was our family's experience with them vs. talking to folks who didn't do RPALs.

All the best to you and your family this Christmas Season sir.

Dwayne

Mine expired, they wanted a copy of my original test. I don't have because I sent it to them, how do you think I got the first, and renewed PAL?

The background check is done in a minimum of two places. The local criminal records check is done where you live. A national check is also done. The officer who performs the local background checks does this as a secondary duty. That is, only one or two officers conduct the checks at your local detachment when they can get around to it.

If your name is flagged, it must be investigated further. This can happen for a number of reasons. Something as simple as someone with the same name. As well, if your name is found entered in an investigation, or if someone has reported you. This last thing happens more than you would think. Divorces and separations can cause hiccups. If the flag comes from another jurisdiction, it can take time to be processed.

If you have moved within the past five years, an inquiry has to go to where you were prior to relocation.

These things will slow the process. Despite having computers, information is not shared with other agencies unless requested.

I have a clean record, in fact, I have never been convicted of anything more than a speeding ticket.

The last time I renewed my PAL, it took 7 months, most likely because I forgot to renew it, and it expired. Never again with the forgetting to renew it before it expires!

Definitely a PITA!

PS: Should have added, Don't Forget To Check Your Card, unless you are bored and feel like jumping through HOOPS lol. Only Discovered it when I went to buy ammo, very ANNOYING!

Mine expires on my birthday.

Luckily Dwayne my interactions with CRA are few and far between. Despite the fact we are paying far more for CRA the quality of service diminishes

I just had this discussion at my local gunstore, word is anywhere from 1 week to 1 year, for no apparent reason.
I renewed mine just over a year ago and it took 1 month, and I do have a record.

Honestly, I don't know what Canada's gun laws really are, where they begin and end, seems a massive gray area, for example..I have a friend who shot out a couple tires on a car, cops showed up the next morning, took buddies shotgun and ammo.
Then within a year got it all back and was issued his FAC, which is what it was at the time, Judge said he wasn't allowed to do that, I was there.

Then another good friend was involved in a violent encounter, spent 6 months in the joint, they took all his guns, he got them back. A short time later was issued his PAL and restricted, he owns a number of handguns and now prohibited AR's.

Having abit of trouble understanding how a Kodiak AR style rifle is cool and a AR isn't, they are basically the same thing.

I think the worst thing for firearms owners is to have an ex who holds a grudge, and a cell phone.

673;
Good morning my friend, I hope it's still warm up there as it is here and you're all well.

While I'm waiting for it to get a tad lighter out to start the yard work on the schedule, I'll throw out a story for the edification of our gentle readers which illustrates why none of us here can really know what Canada's gun laws are.

This goes back at least 15 years as some of the participants in the discussion have now passed on. As well please note I wasn't there, but was told about the incident by a passenger in the pickup.

Two fellows were gassing up their pickup in a larger center in the Cariboo, on their way north on a fall hunting trip.

An RCMP constable spotted firearms in the truck and despite the fact that one of the chaps was right there, decided she would attempt to charge them with unsafe storage.

The fellow who was there - so legally in control of said firearms - also happened to be a PAL/RPAL instructor - so he knew the law, attempted to articulate the law to the officer, but got nowhere.

She proceeded to lay the charge, they followed her to the RCMP detachment and all went in front of the officer in charge, likely a Sargent due to the size of the detachment, but that detail is a guess.

Initially the officer in charge took the side of the RCMP constable, but as I recall eventually the two hunters pointed out chapter and verse of the law in the act, whereupon they were free to go.

As an aside, that's why I've printed out the storage regs section and carry them in the pickup glove box. That was one recommendation that the NFA - was a member of them then and now am CCFR - had afterwards.

Anyways, the incident was discussed with a couple friends of mine, one who was management at Canada Customs and the other the Sargent of the local RCMP detachment.

The Sargent said more or less that in the same situation he would have supported his officer as well, despite the fact that she was clearly wrong.

Our friend from Canada Customs was less than charitable in his response to that, more or less saying if they weren't going to enforce the law as written they should find another line of work!

When discussing this incident with other friends who are LEO down in Vancouver, they said that they believed many or even most of their coworkers would have a stroke if they happened to be down at the 711 or Timmy's in Oliver or even Penticton an hour before daylight on any given day during hunting season.

Combine a LEO who doesn't know the law, isn't familiar with firearms or hunting and stir in a Crown Prosecutor who is of a similar bent and presto, we're in court despite the fact we've complied to the letter of the law.

Lastly and I know I've said this a few times, but when the feds rolled out the whole PAL program, I took the PAL instructor course from a PAL Master Instructor along with a bunch of other locals, including an RCMP officer who was sent by the RCMP since they didn't have the ability to train in house and back then the officers were required to have a PAL.

The RCMP constable was the least qualified to be there in terms of firearms knowledge, by a long, long ways. That wasn't just my opinion either as the Master Instructor and I chatted about that years later at the gun show.

All the best to you all this Christmas Season.

Dwayne

That is a good tip on printing the safe storage regs and having them with you as the Mounties dont know what the laws actually are, they know less than me lol.

Good reminder indeed. I need to print a recent copy as the one I have in the truck is from the era of that particular incident.

Ref renewal times: I sent my renewal in the 2nd of Aug this year as I had heard the horror stories of up to a year wait. Being as I do some gun writing on the side, I could only imagine being in the middle of a project, reviewing a shotgun for example, only to have my RPAL expire while in possession of a review piece. Can't work with it, can't legally return it to the supplier etc. Not wanting to find out the hard way, my renewal went in about 9 months early. Imagine my surprise when I receive the brownish envelope from the RCMP before the end of Aug. Wondering what I forgot to send in, I opened it up find my renewed RPAL! The fee hadn't even shown up on my CC statement yet. I should have bought a lottery ticket that day!

My son also had a fast turn around on his renewal of a regular PAL this fall. He is separated from his longtime lady friend but they do get along so no issues. She is also a PAL holder and needs his sig to renew. Kicker on his though, he was within 3 weeks of expiry when he sent it in. He waited so as to change his address at the same time as he just bought a house. I was going to hold his guns till his PAL came through: took 5 weeks to arrive at his new address. We are both located in Alberta but I don't know if that makes much difference really.
Jeff

Good evening, Jeff. Your post is an excellent example of what to believe or not to believe when reading the Internet. Young or old, go to any hunting site and you will read endless complaints about the police, the federal government, processing times and other related topics. All of it needs to be taken with a grain of salt.

For example, should a grumpy old guy start a thread and complain about how badly he was treated by the RCMP or how poorly designed the process was, you may only be getting part of the story. People do not like to admit that they screwed up. Your statement is key.

"...my renewal went in about 9 months early."

Give the Mounties the time they need.

The flip side may be, did the individual send it in on time? Did he completely fill out the form? Was it legible? Were his answers truthful? Did he provide a proper picture? Was payment included? Sometimes we don't get the whole story. People love to complain about governments and bureaucracies.

There aren't any stats published of which I'm aware, but I suspect most initial applications and renewals are processed efficiently. It's just not fun to say everything went smoothly.

My daughters took around 4 months. It was a new minor application. She’s has it for 7/8 months now.

The Mounties have never been a model example of efficiency and are not being held accountable by anyone. One only has look at how it treats its own employees and how after decades of abuse and endless calls for organizational change, nothing has happened.

On my initial PAL application, called an FAC at the time, one question asked where I was born. I wrote in the appropriate box, the city, Province and Country, Canada, where I was born. The following question asked if I was not born in Canada what country was I born in, in that box I wrote “not applicable”. My application was rejected and returned to be corrected in a set amount of days. The problem- I had to write in the second box that I was born in Canada. I kid you not. Talk about bureaucratic inefficiency. Don’t tell me about the RCMP doing a great job supporting legal gun owners.

Nick

If someone is overly sensitive and hurt easily stop reading now.

My friend, a young man of 19 at the time was out shooting coyotes with another young man of the same age.
At the end of the day on the way home they went through a road check, the Mountie saw their rifles and they were scary black, dressed in camo, he jumped back and yelled "they have guns" shtf, they made the 2 young men get out, the one Mountie threw my friends rifle onto the hood of the truck, scratching badly a brand new expensive scope he had just received for Christmas.

I have dropped, dragged, fell on, slid down the slope my rifle and not damaged the way this scope was marred.

They said coyotes weren't open to shoot (they were) they said unsafe storage, they needed trigger locks (they dont) finally they called the Conservation officer and he said they were perfectly legal.
I have had similar incidents twice lol.

My young friend shortly after this incident went to the RCMP depot and is now a Mountie lol, I did his referral, and a good Mountie he is, I knew he would be, he knows the law. Many/most Mounties simply are not aware of firearms laws.

Bad story with a great ending 673, you must be proud of your friend. Did he sue for damages on his scope? I would have.

I had two RCMP officers pull their guns on me when I was parked on the side of the road one night. I was not scared until I saw that the officer pointing his handgun at me was shaking uncontrollably, not fun and a real WTF BUDDY moment!

There are good cops and bad cops, I'll bet your friend is an excellent officer.

Yes Killerbee, my friend is an exellent Officer and I have known him since he was 4 years old, very proud of him.

On the scope.........he did file a complaint, when they followed up a short time later the Officer said that "scopes are tough" and used to that kind of abuse, which they are. He received no Apology.

No one is accountable, and I feel more secure with a group of HA, than I do a group of Mounties, and my Dad was involved in law enforcement. I have great respect for the RCMP, just don't get on the wrong side.