Licence Application Guide
Updated: October 2025
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Here are a few helpful tips to help you through filling it out your Canadian Firearms Program (CFP) / RCMP licence application.
We recommend getting started completing your PAL (Possession and Acquisition Licence) application Once submitted, receiving your application can take several months up to the better part of a year, depending on your situation, and you’re most likely to follow through and complete it if you start chipping away at the work as soon as possible! Let’s get started!
1) Wait for your Course Completion Confirmation to arrive by e-mail from Canadian Firearms Program (CFP) / RCMP.
Please note: as of October 15, 2025 we have been given access to the new digital system. If you did NOT receive a carbon copy of your course report at your course you are part of the legacy system (all courses prior to October 15) and your course reports will arrive to you by mail within 8 weeks following your course. We know, it's no fun to wait, but if it’s any consolation, you are in the company of tens (probably hundreds) of thousands of people before you had to wait 8 weeks!
The new digital system: within 10 business days following successfully completing your Canadian Firearms Safety Course you will receive confirmation of your results by e-mail. You will receive an e-mail for each course completed. If you completed 2 day-long courses with us you will be receiving 2 emails. If they does not arrive after 10 business days following your course please check your junk mail and then contact us.
2) While you wait, collect information you need for your application. Start it online (preferred) or download the mail-in application (if required) and take a look at what is needed, pieces of photo ID, references, among other information. You can complete most steps of an application while you wait.
3) Licence Information and Personal Information Section
You’ll be used to these types of questions on other bureaucratic paperwork. Read and answer carefully throughout.
4) Personal History, Conjugal Status Section
These sections get a little personal. They asks you if you have ever committed a criminal offence, have anyone in your household who is prohibited from being around firearms, about your mental health, and if you’ve experienced the breakdown of any important relationships.
Some of these questions might seem daunting… we regularly receive questions from clients debating how to answer some of them. Our suggestion is always the same: answer honestly. The RCMP will find out anyway. If you’d like to explain the circumstances surrounding one of your answers you can add a written explanation.
If you feel you need to, you can also call the RCMP Firearms Program to ask questions about this section at 1-800-731-4000.
5) Safety Training Certification Section
If you have completed the Canadian Firearms Safety Course with Range Arts then check “Yes” for each course you completed.
The training you have received via Range Arts is not the same as receiving certification directly from the Chief Firearms Officer or completing a course in Quebec prior to 1995. If you received certification directly from the CFO or in Quebec prior to 1995 you will know exactly what that means.
6) References Section
You need 2 references for your application. Your references can be anyone over the age of 18 that you’ve known for at least 3 years. Sometimes we get asked if that can be your mom. Yes, moms qualify!
We tend to recommend you pick someone with a professional demeanour, with a voicemail message which identifies them clearly. The RCMP might also send your reference a letter with a code inside and a phone number to call. Choose someone who is willing to check their mail and is likely to answer their phone. Absentee references can slow down your application. Remember, your references matter and can impact the results of your application.
7) Photo
The online application guides you through the steps of taking and uploading a digital photo of yourself.
For the mail application:
The photo guarantor: On information sheet 4 at the top of your application there is a whole section on how to take your photo. We find it’s easiest is to get a passport photo taken at your drugstore or corner store, but if you’re tech savvy and have a decent printer take a selfie and set the margins to 45mm by 57mm.
For your photo guarantor’s signature: Print your name and your guarantor's name on the label found on page 4 of the application’s info sheet, under “Label Instructions”. Have your guarantor sign it and complete the Photo Guarantor section of your application. Then cut and affix the label to the back of your photograph, and enclose the signed photograph with your application. We recommend taping it or using a paperclip. Don’t do anything that permanently damages the photo itself. We don’t know how the RCMP handles these photos on their end, so best to keep things easy for them.
8) Payment
The online application makes this a breeze, but if you’re mailing do not forget to complete the payment information section. Credit card is usually easiest.
9) Don’t forget to Sign
For the mail in application, don’t forget to sign… they’ll send it back to you if you forget. Double and triple check your signature lines are all signed.
10) Reminder to Enclose your FSESO Certificates
Courses prior to October 15, 2025: you’ll receive 2 carbon copies of the Course Report for each course you completed. For Online: take a clear digital photo of the course report and upload it. As this system becomes digitizes you will be given digital copies of your course reports.
For mail applications: You can send one carbon copy to the RCMP and keep one for yourself for your records. We recommend sending them the one that is most legible. Sometimes the information doesn’t transfer well through the carbon copies but don’t worry because the RCMP has processed all the information and it’s “in the system”. It’s very unlikely they’ll send your application back because they have trouble reading a certificate.
11) If applying by mail…
Mail your completed application form and all attachments to:
We recommend to get a tracking number so your application is guaranteed to arrive. You don’t want to have to do this all over again!
12) Congratulations on making your application! Please try to resist calling the RCMP to follow up unless you sincerely believe there is a problem! Calls can slow down processing.
Vintage European style deer head framed illustration from The Queen's Jubilee and Toronto "Called Back" from 1887 to 1847. This Revised Edition Contains the Progress of the City from 1886 to 1887, Etc by Conyngham Crawford Taylor (1887).