- Location
- Calgary, Alberta
I had my PAL issued in B.C and it took 7 Months from the time it was received to getting it in my hands. I did answer yes on one of the questions, but the wait time can be long regardless. Best of luck to you
Shorten PAL Approval Times
- Thread starter calalta
- Start date
I had my PAL issued in B.C and it took 7 Months from the time it was received to getting it in my hands. I did answer yes on one of the questions, but the wait time can be long regardless. Best of luck to you
They are definitely not processing these in order. I sent my application in and was received several days before a buddy of mine. He has had his physical license IN hand for a week now while mine is still in progress. Did you call the CFO directly?
Yes, the Ontario CFO has held the application for 4 weeks now and they tell me that no ones even been assigned to review it yet. I can't help but feel that they're intentionally delaying it for as long as they can get away with.
You have to call the 1-800-731-4000 line then type in 1-5-2 to skip the menus and get through to an operator. Ask them to check the status of your application and if they say it's with the CFO ask them to transfer you over.
If you call the CFO directly they very rudely cut you off and transfer you to the 1-800 line. If you want to give it a try anyway the information is posted here:
British Columbia
Chief Firearms Officer suite 118 5477 152nd st surrey bc.
Tel: 1-778-571-3400
Fax: (604) 586-2402
New Brunswick
Chief Firearms Officer - Department of Public Safety Law Enforcement Division
P.O. Box 6000
Fredericton, NB E3B 5H1
Tel: (506) 457-7387 Fax: (506) 457-3521
Northwest Territories
Chief Firearms Officer
Suite 720, 10909 Jasper Avenue Edmonton, AB T5J 3L9
Tel: (867) 920-8395
Fax: (780) 495-7970
Nunavut
Chief Firearms Officer Unit 1, 1680 Ellice Avenue Winnipeg, MB R3H 0Z2
Tel: (780) 495-7789
Fax: (204) 984-0670
Prince Edward Island
Department of Community Services and Attorney General P.O. Box 2000
Charlottetown, PEI C1A 7N8
Tel: (902) 368-5536
Fax902) 368-5198
Email: ewgoodwin@gov.pe.ca
Saskatchewan
Chief Firearms Officer
Room 310, 1783 Hamilton Street Regina, SK S4P 2B6
Tel: (306) 780-5912
Fax: (306) 780-7400
Alberta
Chief Firearms Officer
Suite 720, 10909 Jasper Avenue Edmonton, AB T5J 3L9
Tel: (780) 495-7799
Fax: (780) 495-7970
Manitoba
Chief Firearms Officer Unit 1, 1680 Ellice Avenue Winnipeg, MB R3H 0Z2
Tel: (204) 984-0715
Fax: (204) 984-0670
Newfoundland & Labrador
Office of the Chief Firearms Officer Suite E120, Prince Charles Building 120 Torbay Road
St. John’s, NL A1A 2G8
Tel: (709) 772-2876
Fax: (709) 772-3202
Nova Scotia
Chief Firearms Officer - Policing and Victims Services Division
Department of Justice
5151 Terminal Road - 1st Floor
P.O. Box 7
Halifax, NS B3J 2L6
Tel: (902) 424-6689
Fax: (902) 424-4308
Ontario
Chief Firearms Officer
Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services 777 Memorial Avenue
Orillia, ON L3V 7V3
Tel: 705-329-5522
Fax: (705) 329-5623
Quebec
Sûreté du Québec
Service du contrôle des armes à feu 1701, rue Parthenais, bureau 10-07 Montréal (PQ) H2K 3S7
Tel: (514) 598-4584
Télécopieur : (514) 496-4653 http://www.suretequebec.gouv.qc.ca
Yukon
Chief Firearms Officer Suite 400, 10470 152 Street Surrey, BC V3R 0Y3
Tel: (867) 667-5969
Fax: (604) 586-2402
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Newfoundland:
Completed course Aug 12
Mailed in Application Aug 14. (All "No" checked and had a previous Firearms Acquisition License that expired (health reasons but not wanting back into the sport. Lost out on the Browning rebates ended Sept 30 lol).
Received in Miramichi Aug 17.
Called in Aug 28 and told to wait.
Application showed up online Sept 21 (well beyond the mandated 28 day wait period).
Called in Oct 02, beyond 45 day target. Was told busy time of year; Application is in order and they were waiting to hear back from the province. I didn't need to take any further action or have references call in.
I assume the story you get is about the same for anybody who call in. It's rather generic really and I assume just varies based on who answers the phone and their mood at the time
Still waiting and application shows online as in process still as of Oct 05.
I don't understand how it takes in excess of 20+ business days to enter an application. If the place it that busy then they need more people on staff around busy times such as leading into the fall.
If they the CFO or RCMP for each province has to review it's really shameful to have an application entered into the system already beyond the mandated 28 day waiting period.
With today's technology this should be streamlined and automated. You pass your course you receive a unique number (UN) that allows you to enter your first time PAL application online. Each UN would be on the paper copy you fill out to do the course. The same paper copy your marks are entered on. The UN from that gets entered by the instructor into "they system" as verification/validation of passing/failing. Applications are instantly online, Miramichi can verify data or whatever they do now. However at the same time CFO/RCMP can do their end. So in my case the 20+ days to just get in the system gets eliminated.
To do a course early August and not have a PAL come hunting season is so disappointing. No rhyme nor reason and only commonality I see is "intentionally delay" of some sort
Completed course Aug 12
Mailed in Application Aug 14. (All "No" checked and had a previous Firearms Acquisition License that expired (health reasons but not wanting back into the sport. Lost out on the Browning rebates ended Sept 30 lol).
Received in Miramichi Aug 17.
Called in Aug 28 and told to wait.
Application showed up online Sept 21 (well beyond the mandated 28 day wait period).
Called in Oct 02, beyond 45 day target. Was told busy time of year; Application is in order and they were waiting to hear back from the province. I didn't need to take any further action or have references call in.
I assume the story you get is about the same for anybody who call in. It's rather generic really and I assume just varies based on who answers the phone and their mood at the time
Still waiting and application shows online as in process still as of Oct 05.
I don't understand how it takes in excess of 20+ business days to enter an application. If the place it that busy then they need more people on staff around busy times such as leading into the fall.
If they the CFO or RCMP for each province has to review it's really shameful to have an application entered into the system already beyond the mandated 28 day waiting period.
With today's technology this should be streamlined and automated. You pass your course you receive a unique number (UN) that allows you to enter your first time PAL application online. Each UN would be on the paper copy you fill out to do the course. The same paper copy your marks are entered on. The UN from that gets entered by the instructor into "they system" as verification/validation of passing/failing. Applications are instantly online, Miramichi can verify data or whatever they do now. However at the same time CFO/RCMP can do their end. So in my case the 20+ days to just get in the system gets eliminated.
To do a course early August and not have a PAL come hunting season is so disappointing. No rhyme nor reason and only commonality I see is "intentionally delay" of some sort
Paranoia is always the best course of action for prospective gun owners to take.
Imagine paying someone $80 up front to wash your windows then several months later they still haven't decided which squeegee to use and offer no status update or ETA. Seems pretty absurd doesn't it?
I wouldn't particularly call that paranoia, it's more like reasonable speculation. It shouldn't take several months just to assign an application to a reviewer, to do so is literally 30 seconds of work. The fact that it has would indicate either intent or obscenely gross incompetence. I'm just giving them the benefit of the doubt and assuming it's intentional.
I cant believe some Canadians wait close to a year and others get theirs in around 3 months.
I've yet to see the car wash that requires background checks.
I'm sticking with paranoia.
So you do not even possess a PAL, went through your adult life until just recently without one yet you now declare you understand the process of approving licenses and how much time it should take.
The RCMP (including the Opt-In provinces) processed 406592 licenses last year between renewals and new licenses. That's an increase over the previous year when they issued 399086 licenses. So you can clearly see that they are slowing down issuing licenses by... issuing more of them. Be hopeful they give you the benefit of the doubt and issue you a license despite your delusions of grandeur.
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Same here. Did my RPAL course in June 12th... Sent in my application June 17th. First updated on the website September 2nd (Said it was received on August 8th. But this was only after I was told to send in another copy, so another trip to costco for another pal photo.) Granted I forgot to sign the back of my photo, so its been at the "final stage" now for about 3 weeks. No references have been called, I have been trying to find a number that works for them as the one for NL just clicks off, and the fax number is not going through. I call once a week now and they keep saying the same thing, so not much more that I feel I can do.
Currently there is a sale on a firearm that I wish to purchase and has been on for quite a while and I can only feel that with the Tragedy that happened in Las Vegas that supply and demand will cause the prices to shoot up as it has in the past (or so I have read...). I dont really care if it takes my first purchase a month to get to me, I just want to make sure that I can save the $150 before the sale ends.
First Rant over.... I feel your pain!
I actually did my course back in 2010, submitted my application but never got around to calling the RCMP back for an interview because life got really busy.
I reapplied recently and it went quite quickly.
Alberta
21 Aug 17 - mailed
29 Aug 17 - received
11 Oct 17 - issued, in the mail
This was for PAL/RPAL and it doesn't appear any my references have been called.
I reapplied recently and it went quite quickly.
Alberta
21 Aug 17 - mailed
29 Aug 17 - received
11 Oct 17 - issued, in the mail
This was for PAL/RPAL and it doesn't appear any my references have been called.
As I see it there are 3 main components which: data entry, background checks, reference checks. Anything else would seem to be an unnecessary bureaucratic time waster.
For the data entry portion nearly anyone of reasonable competency could type up that form in under 15 minutes. Now if you consider that I've gone in and had background checks run for my career which took a whopping 5 minutes on the computer to spit out a result then it *should* take them 5-10 minutes. Also, given that I've undergone what are likely more scrutinous background checks for my security clearance this should be a no-brainer. Perhaps they're still chaining old AOL CDs and don't have the bandwidth? Finally, for the reference checks that's two 10 minute phone calls for a total of 20 minutes. That still leaves you with 15 minutes for a coffee break to finish an application in under an hour. As for assigning the application to a reviewer that's a simple Assigned to: -> X on the computer (yes, I have experience with issue tracking systems too).
More than anything though is the disparity between applicants. Someone may have to wait 8 months to have their application reviewed while another who submitted well after will have theirs approved before the waiting period is over. I'd expect applications to be processed in the order they were received and given identical treatment.
If this was a free government service then I could see the delays being reasonable but that's not the case. Given that this is a money up font kind of deal they're not going to get more lenience than any other business would.
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@tdesign709 We've probably both looked at the same sales online haha 
Don't buy my gun there was only 2 in stock lol
It's now Oct 20 and I've called in again. Told it's with the province but not with them long enough to be concerned... like it's been 65 days and nothing to be concerned yet your own target date is 45 days. Honestly the lady own the phone almost sound annoyed that I was calling to check in. Hunting season has started and I was hoping to get in with some buddies for a few bunnies. When I done my course there was only about a dozen people in it. There aren't that many training locations throughout NL. How may applications can there be. Giving majority of population on NE Avalon area and there's 2 locations that teach the course (and not always weekly) I'd hazard a guess at, including other areas of NL maybe 100-200 per month that are doing the PAL course. If you approve 10 a day that a month's worth of work for the provincial CFO. I don't think they keep themselves overly busy approving applications though.
Don't buy my gun there was only 2 in stock lolIt's now Oct 20 and I've called in again. Told it's with the province but not with them long enough to be concerned... like it's been 65 days and nothing to be concerned yet your own target date is 45 days. Honestly the lady own the phone almost sound annoyed that I was calling to check in. Hunting season has started and I was hoping to get in with some buddies for a few bunnies. When I done my course there was only about a dozen people in it. There aren't that many training locations throughout NL. How may applications can there be. Giving majority of population on NE Avalon area and there's 2 locations that teach the course (and not always weekly) I'd hazard a guess at, including other areas of NL maybe 100-200 per month that are doing the PAL course. If you approve 10 a day that a month's worth of work for the provincial CFO. I don't think they keep themselves overly busy approving applications though.
Ontario
Mailed July 5th
Received July 12th
Received call to verify date entered Canada.
Called RCMP August 14th
Posted as "in process" August 16th
Called RCMP twice in September and was told application looks good, but they have high volume of applications.
Posted as "in the mail" Oct 20th (might have been 18th or 19th)
Over 90 days.
Mailed July 5th
Received July 12th
Received call to verify date entered Canada.
Called RCMP August 14th
Posted as "in process" August 16th
Called RCMP twice in September and was told application looks good, but they have high volume of applications.
Posted as "in the mail" Oct 20th (might have been 18th or 19th)
Over 90 days.
