Shorten PAL Approval Times

Just checked my status online.
And to my surprise
" Your application has been processed and your licence has been issued. If you have not received your licence within 2 weeks please contact the Canadian Firearms Program Toll Free number. (1-800 731-4000)"

This took 84 days from when my application was received. I am in Alberta with a clean record, I did not check of any of the boxes on my application.
 
Well, if you think the wait was bad, any 1-3 day wait on mail order items now will feel 3x longer than the wait you just went through.

Happy shooting.
 
Great thread this is.

Here is my timeline.

I applied for both PAL and RPAL. I am in BC.

03/17 - Day 0
- Application received in Miramichi. I sent via Canada Post and had tracking number for this.

04/06 - Day 20
- Nothing showed online until this day when they finally charged my credit card.
After this I could see online that my application was in progress.

04/14 - Day 28
- No change in online status. Decided to wait till at least day 45 before calling.

05/04 - Day 48
- Called in and was told my application was done except they still had to get around to
calling one of my references. They said they have a backlog of people to call but
if I wanted, I could have my reference call them. They gave me my case number for this.
- Reference called in for interview with case number at 1:30 PM
- Checked online status at 5:00 PM ...
"Your application has been processed and your licence has been issued.
If you have not received your licence within 2 weeks please contact the
Canadian Firearms Program Toll Free number. (1-800 731-4000)"

So not bad I guess. Maybe could have been a bit quicker if I would have called for case number and
had my reference call in sooner. 48 days total. 28 days from when they actually started on my application.
 
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UPDATE:
February 6th – PAL Course.
March 9th – PAL Course Results Received.
March 10th – Application for PAL sent to Mirimichi.
March 14th – Application received in Mirimichi.
April 1st – Status updated online and credit card charged.
April 4th – Confirmed with RCMP rep that I had forgotten to put my name on the back of my photo; they had mailed out the papers to me April 1st.
April 7th – Received papers from RCMP to print my name on my photo and send back. Sent back (regular mail) to RCMP this day as well.
April 21st - Online status updated to: "Your application has completed initial processing. It is now in progress. Please check the status again at a later date."
April 25th - Called to see if I should have one of my references call in. Attendant said that my application was at the point where they would call one of my references but if I wanted to speed up the process I could have one call in. Got off the phone call with the RCMP rep, texted my reference to see if they were busy and if they could call in. They called in. They let me know they had completed their call. I checked status online about 30 minutes later and status was changed to: "Your application has been processed and your licence has been issued. If you have not received your licence within 2 weeks please contact the Canadian Firearms Program Toll Free number. (1-800 731-4000)".
May 2nd - Received PAL in mail.

I'm overall pleased considering the additional time taken because of some missing information.
 
Sly02 said:
Great thread this is.

Here is my timeline.

I applied for both PAL and RPAL. I am in BC.

That's bad advice. Often they will post your missing information or need something on the website If your not checking then you end of waiting for them to send a letter and sometimes by then they may already dismiss your file

03/17 - Day 0
- Application received in Miramichi. I sent via Canada Post and had tracking number for this.

04/06 - Day 20
- Nothing showed online until this day when they finally charged my credit card.
After this I could see online that my application was in progress.

04/14 - Day 28
- No change in online status. Decided to wait till at least day 45 before calling.

05/04 - Day 48
- Called in and was told my application was done except they still had to get around to
calling one of my references. They said they have a backlog of people to call but
if I wanted, I could have my reference call them. They gave me my case number for this.
- Reference called in for interview with case number at 1:30 PM
- Checked online status at 5:00 PM ...
"Your application has been processed and your licence has been issued.
If you have not received your licence within 2 weeks please contact the
Canadian Firearms Program Toll Free number. (1-800 731-4000)"

So not bad I guess. Maybe could have been a bit quicker if I would have called for case number and
had my reference call in sooner. 48 days total. 28 days from when they actually started on my application.

If you are paying by credit card, you don't need to bother checking your status online until you see the
charge hit your card.
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That's bad advice. Often they will post your missing information or need something on the website If your not checking then you end of waiting for them to send a letter and sometimes by then they may already dismiss your file
 
Xevious22 said:
That's bad advice. Often they will post your missing information or need something on the website If your not checking then you end of waiting for them to send a letter and sometimes by then they may already dismiss your file
Click to expand...

Edited to remove wrong info ....
 
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ik0n said:
UPDATE:
February 6th – PAL Course.
March 9th – PAL Course Results Received.
March 10th – Application for PAL sent to Mirimichi.
March 14th – Application received in Mirimichi.
April 1st – Status updated online and credit card charged.
April 4th – Confirmed with RCMP rep that I had forgotten to put my name on the back of my photo; they had mailed out the papers to me April 1st.
April 7th – Received papers from RCMP to print my name on my photo and send back. Sent back (regular mail) to RCMP this day as well.
April 21st - Online status updated to: "Your application has completed initial processing. It is now in progress. Please check the status again at a later date."
April 25th - Called to see if I should have one of my references call in. Attendant said that my application was at the point where they would call one of my references but if I wanted to speed up the process I could have one call in. Got off the phone call with the RCMP rep, texted my reference to see if they were busy and if they could call in. They called in. They let me know they had completed their call. I checked status online about 30 minutes later and status was changed to: "Your application has been processed and your licence has been issued. If you have not received your licence within 2 weeks please contact the Canadian Firearms Program Toll Free number. (1-800 731-4000)".
May 2nd - Received PAL in mail.

I'm overall pleased considering the additional time taken because of some missing information.
Click to expand...

Just curious why it took over a month to get your course results. I left my course with results and paperwork in hand. Is that an Ontario thing?
 
X-Treme said:
Just curious why it took over a month to get your course results. I left my course with results and paperwork in hand. Is that an Ontario thing?
Click to expand...

Yes. In Ontario your instructor sends your results off to the CFO. The CFO reviews and stamps them, then mails them back to you, you send them along to the RCMP with your application. It's a round about way of doing things.
 
Update (Ontario):
03/30: Express posted PAL and RPAL application to Miramichi, NB
03/31: Received and signed for in Miramichi, NB
04/15: Still not searchable online, phoned RCMP, was told it could take between 4-5 weeks for anything to appear online.
04/18: Became searchable online, card charged. I called and asked if I had missed anything, was told no and that a reference could call in. Reference called in and was interviewed.
04/25: Called in requesting an update, women on the phone said from what she could tell my license would be issued on April 27th at the end of the mandatory 28 day waiting period.
04/27: Checked online status at 7PM, no change. Planned too call in on the following day.
04/28: Checking online around 5AM, status had changed to license issued overnight (obviously automated). Called in at 9AM and was given my PAL number and expiry. Joined a range and put a Glock 17 on hold pending receipt of my license.
05/05: License arrived today in the mail (Ontario).

Totals:
28 days from date of receipt to issued
7 days from issued to license in hand
 
Sly02 said:
Which part was bad advice? The only advice I gave was about nothing is happening until your credit card is charged. Maybe it was confusing. Let me try again....

Nothing shows up on the website until they start processing your application. If they haven't charged your card, they haven't started processing your application.

I was checking the website quite a bit after they received my application in Mirimachi and it is a pain. Go here, go there to log in with gckey, go back, fill in data, ... and nothing, application doesn't exist.

After they told me that the card is charged as soon as they start working on it, I just checked my credit card website. Once I saw the charge hit my card, then I started checking the RCMP site. So right, definitely check often once your application actually shows up on the site. Before that, it is a waste of time.

Other than that, the only thing I have to offer is my timeline.
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Again that's bad advice. If there is information missing they won't charge your card but will leave a message on the site to call for clarification. If uour not checking you wait until you get a letter in the mail and sometimes that wait in the mail can be long enough for them to actually send back your application. I would say after twenty days check daily. After 28 start calling
 
Xevious22 said:
Again that's bad advice. If there is information missing they won't charge your card but will leave a message on the site to call for clarification. If uour not checking you wait until you get a letter in the mail and sometimes that wait in the mail can be long enough for them to actually send back your application. I would say after twenty days check daily. After 28 start calling
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Oh, ok. I got you now. I'm going to remove that part from my post. Thanks.
 
Xevious22 said:
That's bad advice. Often they will post your missing information or need something on the website If your not checking then you end of waiting for them to send a letter and sometimes by then they may already dismiss your file
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Actually, his advice was spot on. They process payment when entering your information into the system. It's the first step. You pay whether you get approved or not. There won't be anything to check online until they process your payment.
 
TorontoSniper said:
Actually, his advice was spot on. They process payment when entering your information into the system. It's the first step. You pay whether you get approved or not. There won't be anything to check online until they process your payment.
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Ok so your credit card is declined or they can't read it and instead of checking like you should you just wait for the letter which by the time it gets to you your deadline has expired and the null your application. Everybody can do what they want but it pays to be diligent, sitting back and just assuming everything is ok will make the wait longer in some cases.
 
Prvntr said:
My timeline for R/PAL live in Los Angeles but have property in Ontario (Canadian citizen)
3/21 Took courses in AZ from a Snowbird who teaches in AB
3/31 application received in by RCMP
4/18 billed CC
4/19 appeared online
4/23 called and asked if they needed references to call
4/27 reference called in (5 minute call)

That's it as of now, thought I might have it issued today ��
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5/6 license issued. There was a small issue with the Ontario CFO about the training being done in AZ by an AB instructor, Doubled checked he was RCMP approved as well they called The LA county Sheriff to verify my letter of good conduct.

The best part is they are letting me get registration certificates for all the "Restriced" firearms I own here in the States!
 
Sent in application via registered mail April 1.
In process April 4.
Approved May 6th.
No references called.
Hmmm. Don't mean to complain. That fast normally?
 
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gurpgork said:
Sent in application via registered mail April 1.
In process April 4.
Approved May 6th.
No references called.
Hmmm. Don't mean to complain. That fast normally?
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Regular PAL yes restricted they must call one refrence minimum. When they did mine (applied for both) they didn't call a refrence and only sent me my regular Pal took an extra 3 weeks after I called to find out what is going on it was their screw up.
 
Thought I'd share my timeline for a PAL to RPAL Upgrade, NWT (Alberta CFO)

3/28: Application sent to Miramichi via Xpresspost.
3/31: Application received in Miramichi.
4/19: Appeared online, CC charged.
4/28: Called in; everything in order. Was provided my file number and was asked to have one reference call in. 3 hours later, status changed to, "Your application has been processed and your licence has been issued."
5/09: RPAL in hand.
 
Foxer2373 said:
Regular PAL yes restricted they must call one refrence minimum. When they did mine (applied for both) they didn't call a refrence and only sent me my regular Pal took an extra 3 weeks after I called to find out what is going on it was their screw up.
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COMPLETELY false. I JUST got my RPAL (41 years old and have never shot a firearm other than a range 1 or 2 times), and neither reference OR myself called. Approved and mailed in 28 days.
 
X-Treme said:
COMPLETELY false. I JUST got my RPAL (41 years old and have never shot a firearm other than a range 1 or 2 times), and neither reference OR myself called. Approved and mailed in 28 days.
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You are definitely the exception to the rule. But yes there is no rule that says they must call for references. Sometimes they do sometimes they don't
 
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