Registration Certificates and the Firearms Act

FOR DISTRIBUTION TO ALL PROSECUTORS DEALING WITH PART III OF THE CRIMINAL CODE AND/OR THE FIREARMS ACT

Special Bulletin for Prosecutors No. 26

Snapshot

• Different documents are considered to be valid registration certificates under the Firearms Act.
• Peace officers can query CFRO to validate any presented document.
• If peace officers cannot access CFRO, they can contact the Canadian Firearms Registry.
• The registration number on the certificate links the firearm to a particular owner.

In Special Bulletin for Prosecutors No. 10, "Document Recognition and the Firearms Act", we advised you of the types of documents issued under the Firearms Act that may be encountered while performing your duties. One of these documents is a registration certificate.

While a firearms licence or Firearms Acquisition Certificate (FAC) is the key document with regards to individuals and firearms businesses, a registration certificate is the key document with regards to firearms. A registration certificate is evidence that a particular firearm has been registered, and contains information on the firearm. The registration number on the certificate links the firearm to a particular owner.

Peace officers may verify the validity of a registration certificate and obtain additional firearm information, as well as information on the owner of a firearm, by querying the Canadian Firearms Registry On-Line (CFRO), which is available to those with access to CPIC/CRPQ. If peace officers cannot access CFRO, they should contact the Canadian Firearms Registry (CFR) for registration and firearms information. For information on CFRO query criteria and results, please refer to Special Bulletins for Prosecutors Nos. 15 to 17.

Registration certificates issued under the former legislation ("green slips")

Under the former legislation, individuals had to register their restricted and prohibited firearms. This information was entered into the Restricted Weapons Registration System (RWRS), which may be queried through CFRO or the CFR. When a firearm was registered, the individual was issued a registration certificate. These certificates were commonly known as "green slips".

Green slips are valid until the end of 2002. Individuals have until that time to re-register their firearms under the Firearms Act.

Plastic registration certificates issued under the Firearms Act

Initially, individuals who registered or re-registered firearms under the requirements of the Firearms Act were issued plastic cards. The first of these registration certificates contained firearm information, issuing authority ("Registrar"), and the certificate number, as well as the firearms licence or FAC number of the individual. Later versions of these certificates do not contain the firearms licence or FAC number. As stated above, to obtain information on the owner of the firearm, peace officers can query the registration certificate number on CFRO, or they can contact the CFR.

The plastic registration certificates remain valid until they are either revoked or expire (i.e.: deceased owner, owner no longer has the firearm).

Paper registration certificates issued under the Firearms Act

The Canada Firearms Centre (CFC) has replaced the plastic certificate with paper registration certificates. As with the other types of registration certificates, the paper versions set out information on the particular firearm and include a certificate number. While the early versions of these paper certificates did not include the Canada wordmark, this feature is included on the newer versions of the paper certificates. Also included on the newer versions is the issuing authority ("Registrar").

The paper certificates remain valid until they are either revoked or expire. As discussed above, peace officers can use the certificate number to query CFRO and verify the authenticity of the document, or they can contact the CFR.

Lamination, photocopies, and scanning

Individuals may also choose to laminate or otherwise plasticize a paper certificate to increase durability.

Some individuals are also carrying photocopies of their registration certificates as opposed to the original ones issued to them. In addition, new technology, such as scanning of images instead of photocopying, allows individuals to reduce the size of their paper certificates and also include multiple certificates on one page. The information on any photocopy or scanned copy must be legible to the naked eye.

To verify the validity of any certificate presented, peace officers should query the certificate number on CFRO or contact the CFR. For purposes of evidence, peace officers may legitimately demand to see the original certificate as issued by the Registrar.

Business inventories

Under the Firearms Act, firearms businesses must register the firearms in their inventory. However, instead of issuing registration certificates for each firearm, businesses are provided with a listing of the firearms in their inventory along with the associated certificate numbers.

Conditions

As discussed in Special Bulletin for Prosecutors No. 24, "Conditions Attached to Documents Issued under the Firearms Act", certain conditions are attached to registration certificates. For details, please refer to Special Bulletin No. 24.