Quick Answer: The Chief Firearms Officer (CFO) is the administrative authority responsible for managing firearms licences, authorizations, and inspections within a specific province or territory. For any PAL holder in Canada, the CFO is the primary government contact for licences, transfers, address changes, and transport permits.
For the full PAL walkthrough, see our Canada firearms licence guide.
PAL timelines usually stretch when CFSC proof, references, or CFO follow-up are incomplete — not because of the 28-day waiting period alone. Submit a complete application and answer CFO requests promptly.
What the Chief Firearms Officer Does
The CFO position was established under the Firearms Act. Every province and territory has a CFO, though the appointment mechanism differs depending on whether the province manages its own office or defers to the federal government.
Seven provinces have opted to manage their own CFO offices. In opt-in provinces such as Alberta, Ontario, and Quebec, the CFO is a provincial employee accountable to the provincial Minister of Justice or Public Safety, funded through federal contribution agreements. In federally managed jurisdictions like British Columbia and the territories, the CFO is an RCMP officer or civilian member appointed by the federal Minister of Public Safety.
Regardless of how the office is structured, all CFOs must follow the federal Firearms Act and its regulations. At the top of the hierarchy sits the Commissioner of Firearms, a role currently held by the Commissioner of the RCMP.
Licences and Continuous Eligibility Screening
Processing PAL and RPAL applications is the CFO’s most frequent function. That process involves more than a background check at the point of application. The CFO monitors licence holders on an ongoing basis through the Canadian Firearms Information System (CFIS).
If a licence holder is involved in a flagged incident, such as a criminal charge, a domestic disturbance call, or an involuntary hospitalization, the CFO receives a notification and determines whether the person’s continued possession of firearms is in the public interest. The CFO can refuse to issue, refuse to renew, or revoke a licence based on these findings at any point during the licence’s five-year term.
Authorizations Issued by the Chief Firearms Officer
The CFO is the only authority who can issue two key permits:
Authorization to Transport (ATT): Required for moving restricted or prohibited firearms beyond the approved automatic conditions on your RPAL, such as changing your address, visiting a gunsmith, or attending a gun show. See the ATT guide for the full list of situations requiring a manual application.
Authorization to Carry (ATC): A highly restrictive permit for carrying a loaded restricted firearm on your person. The CFO issues ATCs only for armoured car personnel, professional trappers working in remote wilderness areas, and rare protection-of-life situations. The authority to issue protection-of-life ATCs was transferred from provincial CFOs to the federal Commissioner of Firearms on October 1, 2024.
When You Must Contact the Chief Firearms Officer
The Firearms Act creates several situations where contacting the CFO is a legal requirement.
Change of address: Every licence holder must notify the CFO within 30 days of any address change. Report the change through the IWS portal, by phone at 1-800-731-4000, or by mail to the Canadian Firearms Program processing site in Miramichi, New Brunswick. Failing to report can result in licence revocation.
Restricted or prohibited firearm transfers: Every sale or gift of a restricted or prohibited firearm must go through a CFO-approved transfer process. The CFO reviews the buyer’s licence class and confirms the purpose of the acquisition is permitted.
Non-resident declarations: Visitors to Canada who want to bring restricted firearms for hunting or competition must obtain an ATT from the CFO of their province of entry before arriving at the border.
Estate management: When a licensed owner dies, the executor must contact the CFO to confirm how to handle the firearms legally during the settlement period.
How to Reach the Chief Firearms Officer
The national Canadian Firearms Program number is 1-800-731-4000. For callers outside Canada and the United States, the number is 1-506-624-6626. The national contact centre operates Monday to Friday, 9 am to 5 pm local time.
For manual ATT applications or licence appeals, the IWS portal at rcmp.ca is the preferred channel.
To report safety concerns about a licence holder, including concerns about unsafe behaviour or a mental health crisis, call the 1-800 Safety Line, which routes directly to CFO offices across Canada.
Yellow Flag and Red Flag Laws
Bill C-21 gave Chief Firearms Officers new powers to act before harm occurs. Two mechanisms are now in force.
Yellow Flag law (in force March 7, 2025): If a CFO has reasonable grounds to suspect a licence holder is no longer eligible, the CFO can suspend the licence for up to 30 days. During suspension, the person can keep their firearms at home but cannot use, acquire, or import them. If the investigation confirms the concern, the licence is revoked. If not, it is immediately reinstated.
Red Flag law: Any person can apply to a provincial court judge for an emergency weapons prohibition order. If the judge finds the individual poses a danger to themselves or others, all firearms can be seized for up to 30 days. A follow-up hearing can extend the prohibition to five years. The CFO is notified and revokes the licence accordingly.
Mandatory Revocations for Domestic Violence
If a CFO has reasonable grounds to suspect a licence holder has engaged in domestic violence or stalking, the licence must be revoked within 24 hours. Any individual who becomes subject to a protection order, such as a restraining order or peace bond, has their licence automatically revoked by operation of law. The person must deliver their firearms to a peace officer within 24 hours of receiving the revocation notice.
How to Appeal a CFO Decision
If you disagree with a CFO decision, such as a licence refusal or revocation, the Firearms Act provides a right of appeal through a Section 74 reference to a provincial court judge.
- File the reference within 30 days of receiving written notice of the decision.
- The burden of proof is on you to satisfy the judge that the CFO’s decision was not justified.
- Filing the reference puts the decision on automatic hold. You do not need to dispose of your firearms until the judge has ruled.
Businesses and Shooting Ranges
The CFO also oversees the commercial side of the firearms community. Businesses need a firearms business licence from the CFO, with a 55-day service standard for complete applications. Every shooting club and range must be approved by the provincial CFO, who reviews safety measures including backstops and range design.
CFO inspectors can enter business premises during reasonable hours without a warrant to confirm compliance. They review acquisition and disposition records, and the physical inventory must match those records precisely.
For more on what the PAL covers and how to apply, see the Canada firearms licence guide.
The Yellow Flag law (in force March 7, 2025) changed the CFO’s operating model from reactive to anticipatory. Before C-21, the CFO could act primarily after a triggering event — a charge, a conviction, a court order. Now, “reasonable grounds to suspect” is enough to suspend. The standard for reinstatement is demonstrating continued eligibility — not reversing a criminal finding. This is a meaningful shift in how firearms risk management works administratively, and licence holders should understand that suspension no longer requires a formal legal proceeding to initiate.
This is one of the most frequently overlooked obligations for PAL holders. Notifying the CFO of an address change is a legal requirement under the Firearms Act, not an administrative courtesy. A failure to report within 30 days can result in licence revocation independent of any other eligibility concern. Report through the IWS portal, by phone to 1-800-731-4000, or by mail to Miramichi.
The CFO’s office conducts continuous eligibility screening through the Canadian Firearms Information System year-round, not just when a flagged incident occurs. All licence holders are screened against police databases on an ongoing basis. A wellness check that generates a police occurrence report can be sufficient to initiate a CFO licence review — even if no charges are laid and no court order is issued. Licence holders do not receive notification that a routine screen occurred.
Frequently Asked Questions
Processing PAL applications, monitoring eligibility, issuing ATTs and ATCs, and overseeing firearms businesses and ranges.
Call 1-800-731-4000 Monday to Friday, 9 am to 5 pm local time. International callers dial 1-506-624-6626.
Criminal charges, domestic violence, a protection order, or a Yellow Flag investigation that confirms ineligibility.
Yes. File a Section 74 reference with a provincial court within 30 days. Filing automatically stays the revocation pending the judge’s ruling.
