Regulatory Red Tape Reduction: Progress Report
Public Safety Portfolio

September 5, 2025

Table of contents

Context

The Government of Canada is committed to building a stronger economy. While regulations play an important role in protecting the health and safety of Canadians, regulatory burden can have a negative impact on economic growth and development. Regulatory reform will play a key role in unlocking Canada's full potential for economic growth.

On July 9, 2025, the President of the Treasury Board launched a 60-day Red Tape Review to support the many priorities set out in the Prime Minister's mandate letter. Ministers with regulatory oversight were asked to identify active contributions towards regulatory red tape reduction. In response to this request, a review of regulatory stock across the Public Safety Portfolio was launched to identify any processes or rules which were unnecessary, duplicative, overly burdensome or otherwise ineffective to administration and seen as a barrier to investment and growth.

The Public Safety Portfolio has a critical role to keep Canadians and their communities safe through the important work of law enforcement, crime prevention, corrections, national and cyber security and integrity of Canadian borders. The Portfolio is composed of the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness (the Department, PS)Footnote 1; five agencies: the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC), and the Parole Board of Canada (PBC); and three review bodies: the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP (CRCC), the Office of the Correctional Investigator (OCI), and the RCMP External Review Committee (ERC).

The Portfolio works closely with other levels of government, first responders, community groups, the private sector and other nations, on national security, border strategies, countering crime and emergency management issues and other safety and security initiatives.

Executive summary

PS was established in 2003 for the purpose of ensuring coordination across all federal departments and agencies responsible for national security and the safety of Canadians. The Minister of Public Safety has a wide array of statutory duties, functions and responsibilities. Some of the statutes and regulations are administered by PS, while others are administered by its partner agencies. The portfolio strives to enhance service delivery to the public while reducing costs to administration by consistently examining opportunities to modernize, enhance, and streamline programs and procedures.

The majority of regulations administered and enforced by the Minister of Public Safety fall to the CBSA, most of which are made under the authority of the Customs Act and Customs Tariff. The powers, duties and functions under section 7 of the Emergency Management Act are transferred to the Minister of Emergency Management and Community Resilience.

This report identifies accomplishments, actions underway and forward-looking initiatives across the Portfolio, excluding the CBSA, to reduce red tape while maintaining strong public safety outcomes. Given the breath of regulations administered by the CBSA, a stand-alone progress report for the CBSA was developed.

In terms of recent accomplishments, the Portfolio:

Moving forward, the Portfolio will seek further red tape reductions by:

The past, ongoing and future initiatives identified in this progress report will make a meaningful and concrete contribution to the Government's objective of building a stronger economy.

A. Summary of progress achieved

The PS portfolio has examined all regulations to establish whether actions have been taken, or can be undertaken in the future, to reduce red tape (e.g., regulatory text, programs to support administration, compliance and enforcement practices, policies and guidance, and service delivery).

Efforts were not limited to the formal introduction, amendment or repeal of regulations; it also included administration and training in support of regulations. For example, the Canadian Firearms Program (CFP) has updated the Canadian Firearms Safety Course (CFSC) and Canadian Restricted Firearms Safety Course. This included enhancing training for firearms officers, and revising the Range Design and Construction Guidelines. These efforts respond to feedback from firearms instructors and aim to improve compliance with the Firearms Act, particularly in the approval and inspection of shooting ranges and clubs—of which there are over 935 facilities and 760 clubs nationwide. The Chief Firearms Officers play a central role in approving ranges, designating instructors, and issuing licences and authorizations.

These initiatives reflect a commitment to regulatory excellence, stakeholder responsiveness, and the reduction of administrative burdens, with measurable outcomes that support compliance, transparency, public safety and public trust.

In terms of regulatory burden, within the past 12 months, the Public Safety Portfolio has successfully delivered on two initiatives to remove unnecessary regulations and, inefficient, outdated, or duplicative regulations and related practices, namely:

  1. repealing outdated firearms records regulations; and,
  2. clarifying firearms licence suspension notification procedures.

A1. Repealing the Firearms Records Regulations (Classification)

Context

Federally, firearms and related devices are primarily regulated through Part III of the Criminal Code and the Firearms Act and their regulations. The Firearms Records Regulations (Classification) (SOR/2014-198) imposed record-keeping requirements on the Registrar of Firearms related to records of firearms classification "determinations". Given the legal framework, these regulations had no effect on the assessment or classification of firearms in Canada and were not necessary.

Actions

In December 2024, Firearms Records Regulations (Classification) were repealed. The repeal removed the requirements for the Registrar of Firearms regarding the record-keeping of these determinations.

Outcomes

The repeal removed an unnecessary regulation and reduced internal red tape by eliminating duplicative and ineffective record-keeping requirements. In doing so, the repeal streamlined the federal regime by realigning the regulations with the legislative framework governing the classification of firearms in Canada and improving efficiency without affecting public safety. The repeal had no practical impact on firearm owners or external stakeholders.

A2. Notification process for firearms licence suspensions

Context

Chief Firearms Officers are responsible for administering the Firearms Act and related Regulations for firearms licences and authorizations in their jurisdiction. Legislative amendments through An Act to amend certain Acts and to make certain consequential amendments (firearms) (former Bill C-21) require Chief Firearms Officers to temporarily suspend a firearms licence when they suspect the licence holder is no longer eligible.

The previous regulation stipulated how a notice of a decision to refuse or revoke a licence is to be sent and when it is deemed to be received but did not address suspensions. Without regulatory changes to provide clarity, public safety and compliance risks could arise as those individual licence holders could inadvertently engage in prohibited activities.

Actions

Amendments to the Firearms Licences Regulations were made on March 7, 2025, specifying how notices of licence suspension are to be sent and when they are deemed to be received.

Outcomes

This regulatory amendment created clear procedures, standardized across jurisdictions, to notify licence holders of licence suspensions. In so doing, it helps protect license holders against inadvertent non-compliance and supports the consistent implementation of the licence suspension regime by Chief Firearms Officers across Canada. For greater efficiency, the notification procedures replicate longstanding procedures in place for firearms licence refusals and revocations.

B. Ongoing and future initiatives

Ongoing and future initiatives are the product of a comprehensive review of the PS regulatory framework to identify opportunities to modernize, and increase efficiency and effectiveness. The initiatives focus on enhancing service-delivery, compliance and enforcement, reducing regulatory administrative burdens, and increasing public safety. These initiatives include:

B1. Canadian firearms digital services solution (CFDSS)

Context

The CFP is responsible for promoting compliance with and administering the provisions of the Firearms Act and its regulations including, approving/denying licence applications for businesses and individuals; authorizing the carry and/or transport of restricted firearms; approving shooting clubs and ranges; conducting compliance inspections; monitoring eligibility of licensees; and, processing revocations, deactivations, destructions and exports.

It is a challenge to meet the demand of clients and maintain service standards, in part due to an outdated and highly manual system which receives large volumes of incomplete paper-based applications, requiring further case management.

Through an independent review, it was determined that the outdated 27 year-old Canadian Firearms Information System (CFIS) no longer provides the functionality and level of integration required for the evolving firearms program, resulting in a lack of agility to adapt to legislative changes, unnecessary duplication of application functions and data, manual processes, and poor user experience.

With the practical goals of making services accessible, improving user experience, streamlining processes, better equipping staff, and improving program agility, the CFP launched a comprehensive modernization initiative in 2021.

Actions

Since the launch of the CFDSS, Canadians and business owners will be able to access a wide variety of online services related to firearms licences, carrier licences, memberships to shooting ranges and clubs, and registration of instructions to teach the Canadian Firearms Services.

To date, 16 online services have been released to the public through the MyCFP portal including, for example, various application processes, Instructor Services to enable the online entry of reports, firearms licence fee waiver requests, and MyCFP portal messaging to allow secure communication between clients and CFP staff.

The next phase of the project will expand the availability of online services, migrate and modernize legacy portal and case management functionalities, and consolidate program data. The final phase of the project will result in the decommissioning of CFIS and ancillary systems.

Outcomes

The CFDSS aims to deliver a user-friendly online portal and case management system to allow secure and seamless processing of applications and service requests, including 100% of CFP services.

A single portal that is modern, efficient and simple with user experience at the forefront will ensure applications are consistently processed within service standards, program data is more accessible, and decisions are evidence-based, compliance with security, privacy and retention policies is enhanced, and ultimately public safety is improved.

To date, the CFP has seen a significant increase in online applications and a corresponding reduction in manual data capture effort associated with paper applications. In the first six months of 2025, 57% of new Possession and Application Licence (PAL) applications were submitted via the MyCFP portal. Digitization of the validation has improved the accuracy and completeness of application, reducing the need for client follow-up from approximately 30% for paper applications to approximately 5% for online applications. Portal messaging has facilitated the ability of clients to submit application inquiries and of the CFP to quickly and securely obtain additional information from applicants. Clients are provided with timely notifications of application processing statuses. 83% of survey respondents rate the MyCFP portal services as positive or very positive. Online PAL applications are processed approximately 30 days faster than paper PAL applications.

B2. Automate intake of court/protection orders

Context

Under Canada's firearms licensing regime, individuals must apply for a licence. All applicants are screened to ensure there are no reasons why, in the interest of the safety of that individual or any other person, they should not possess a firearm, a crossbow, a prohibited weapon, a restricted weapon, a prohibited device, ammunition, prohibited ammunition or a cartridge magazine. When exercising their legislated decision-making authorities (under sections 5, 6 and 7 of the Firearms Act), Chief Firearms Officers consider an individual's personal and criminal histories as well as the existence of current and past court/prohibition orders.

Court/prohibition orders currently captured in the Canadian Firearms Information System (CFIS) Court Matters Repository are retained until 12 months after the CFP receives notification of the death of the individual. The process for data capturing court/prohibition orders in CFIS requires significant manual intervention including triage, client match and data entry. It places an administrative burden on both court and CFP staff.

In 2024, the CFP expanded the scope of court and prohibition orders recorded in CFIS to approximately 77,000, going beyond those matched solely to existing firearms licence holders. This enhancement was implemented to support more comprehensive eligibility checks for new firearms licence applicants.

With the introduction of new legislative requirements related to protection orders, CFOs will have additional information to consider when assessing the eligibility of an individual to possess a firearms licence. Former Bill C-21 (which received Royal Assent in December 2023) introduced changes to the Firearms Act which require a licence to be refused or revoked if the applicant or licence holder is subject to a protection order and courts and other competent authorities issuing "protection orders" to notify the appropriate CFO within 24 hours.

To meet legislative timeframes, reduce burdensome manual processes, and support timely decision-making, the existing antiquated court order intake and data capture process must be substantially modernized.

While secure interfaces between court record management systems (RMS) and the Canada Firearms Digital Services Solution (CFDSS) are the desired future state solution to allow for real-time intake of court/protection orders, it is recognized that a more immediate solution is needed in response to the new legislative requirements and public safety goals.

Actions

In the absence of secure system-to-system interfaces, the most promising option identified to date would be to leverage artificial intelligence to extract relevant data elements from court/protection orders into a structured format to enable automatic intake of critical data into CFIS to support timely Chief Firearms Officer decision-making.

The RCMP is currently engaged in a discovery and design exercise including documenting process flows and business requirements:

Outcomes

The development and implementation of a secure interface will ensure that the requirements of An Act to amend certain Acts and to make certain consequential amendments (firearms) are met without posing additional regulatory red tape burden on provincial/territorial court and Chief Firearms Officer staff.

These efforts will meet the intent of provisions within the Act to ensure firearms licences are revoked accordingly as provided by court/prohibition orders, eliminating data entry backlogs and increasing the number of court orders recorded in CFP systems to support eligibility decision, ultimately increasing public safety.

B3. Reviewing the firearms classification regime to identify possible reforms

Context

Over time, with successive legislative and regulatory change, firearms regulations, including the classification regime, have become complex and the potential for duplication, streamlining increases.

Supported by calls for reform from experts and stakeholders, the Mass Casualty Commission has recommended that the classification system be reformed with an emphasis on simplicity and consistency.

Actions

PS is working to launch a review of the classification regime with an expected duration of one year. Public Safety officials have reconvened an Expert Advisory Panel to provide advice on parameters for the review and are developing options for broader engagement, including with Indigenous peoples.

As a first step, PS will assess the potential use of digital tools, including artificial intelligence to identify areas that may be complex, inconsistent, duplicative or difficult to interpret. This approach will help inform future efforts to enhance the regulatory framework.

Outcomes

These initiatives are expected to result in options to reform the firearms classification regime and to enhance effectiveness of firearms regulations, the aim being to protect public safety, facilitate compliance and support effective administration by simplifying regulatory language and eliminating unnecessary or duplicative requirements.

B4. Enabling digital and biometric identity verification for air travel

Context

The Secure Air Travel Regulations (SATR) complement the authority of the Secure Air Travel Act (SATA), both of which fall under the responsibility of the Minister of Public Safety. Taken together, SATA and SATR provide the legal framework for the Passenger Protect Program (PPP), Public Safety Canada's aviation security program designed to prevent individuals who may pose a threat to an airline or who may seek to travel by air to commit a terrorist offence from boarding an aircraft. Sections 3 and 4 of the SATR require air carriers to verify the identity of passengers aged 18 and older prior to boarding an aircraft using specific forms of physical ID issued by a government authority.

Currently, air carriers must seek exemptions from the Minister of Public Safety to test new identity verification technologies, which has created administrative burdens and limits the incentives for Canada's air industry to invest over the longer term in these areas. Amending SATR to include digital identity verification would reduce red tape and speed up passenger processing times at airports, both of which support the Government of Canada's Air Right Touch Initiative to modernize air travel into the future.

Actions

The drafting of regulatory amendments for sections 3(1), 4.1(1), 4.1(1)(a) and (b) to include biometric-based digital solutions as acceptable forms of identity verification prior to boarding a flight, while avoiding prescribing specific technologies, allowing for flexibility as biometrics evolve, is expected to be completed by the end of 2025.

Outcomes

The proposed amendments will provide greater regulatory clarity to air carriers in the short term, while demonstrating the Government of Canada's commitment to supporting innovation in the air industry.

Over time, these changes are expected to encourage more carriers to adopt digital identity verification solutions, reducing the need for ministerial exemption orders and offering increased flexibility—subject to consultations with the Government of Canada and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.

In the long term, this will help reduce red tape, enhance aviation security, and improve the overall passenger experience. Benefits include faster, smoother boarding processes, reduced reliance on manual identity checks prone to human error and bias, and improved fairness at the boarding gate. Key performance indicators may include the number of carriers using digital identity verification, fewer exemption requests, and shorter boarding times, ultimately enhancing the travel experience for Canadians choosing to go paperless.

B5. Preclearance in Canada regulations

Context

The regulations made under the Preclearance Act, 2016 support the implementation of the Canada–United States Agreement on Land, Rail, Marine, and Air Transport Preclearance, which came into force in 2019. More specifically, regulatory rules complement those in the Preclearance Act, 2016, and together they give the legal effect needed for Canada to meet its treaty obligations, which specify the terms by which border officers from one country conduct customs, immigration, and agricultural inspections in the other country before travellers or their accompanying goods cross the border.

The Preclearance in Canada Regulations (SOR/2019-183) serve to clarify statutory provisions related to: authorized entry of individuals to preclearance areas; facility responsibilities and security obligations; seizure and detention of goods by preclearance officers and their transfer to relevant Canadian authorities; as well as traveller obligations that the Preclearance Act, 2016 prescribes to be set out in regulation.

Prior to 2019, four separate regulations supported the preclearance program and so the updated Preclearance in Canada Regulations were adopted, representing a significant instance of regulatory consolidation and streamlining. Subsequently, following calls for adjustments by the Standing Joint Committee for the Scrutiny of Regulations, minor amendments were made to these regulations in 2024 to bring further clarity to the transfer of detained or seized goods to Canadian authorities.

Actions

A statutorily required independent review of the Act and regulations will examine the administration and operation of preclearance legislation in 2025–26.

As part of the review, the views of stakeholders, to whom preclearance regulations apply, will be collected and shared with Government and will potentially offer key insights towards reducing regulatory burdens and improving efficiencies. It is expected that the review's final report may also provide explicit recommendations towards these goals. Separate from the independent review, the Department will propose amendments to the Preclearance in Canada Regulations. The proposed regulatory changes will operate alongside existing transportation security regulations and, in the spirit of the red tape reduction exercise, they are being developed with an eye to eliminating duplication between the two regimes to the greatest extent possible and to leverage existing processes to improve efficiencies.

Outcomes

These amendments will enhance border security and integrity at transportation facilities that host preclearance, and will also facilitate the expansion of preclearance operations to new airports, marine terminals, rail stations, and land ports of entry in Canada.

Conclusion

The initiatives outlined in this report demonstrate meaningful progress toward reducing regulatory red tape across the Public Safety Portfolio. From repealing outdated firearms regulations to modernizing digital service delivery and enhancing efficiency and modernizing regulations in aviation security, these actions reflect a commitment to smarter, more responsive governance, and a dedicated commitment to public safety.

By focusing on outcomes, stakeholder engagement, and operational efficiency, the Portfolio is building a more agile regulatory environment that supports public safety while minimizing unnecessary burdens. Continued collaboration across jurisdictions, investment in digital modernization, and inclusive policy development will be key to sustaining momentum and delivering long-term benefits for Canadians, businesses, and communities.

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