Case information

Administrative law — Judicial review — Subordinate legislation — Firearms — Vires — Governor in Council (GIC) making regulations prohibiting firearms which had previously been legal for licensed ownership and use — Applicants challenging regulations as ultra vires the GIC and infringing rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms — Whether Governor in Council’s authority to make regulations under Criminal Code, s. 117.15, sufficiently broad to address the Code’s general public protection purpose in an overriding manner without considering the express restriction on the scope of its law-making authority regarding firearms with reasonable utility for hunting and sport shooting — In contemplating potential criminal proceedings and for purposes of determining unconstitutional vagueness, what are the hallmarks or factors of an intelligible standard delineating a clear zone of risk for interpreting undefined terms in legislation, when those terms have such broad ordinary meanings that they require additional references for context? — Criminal Code, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-46, s. 117.15 — Regulations Amending the Regulations Prescribing Certain Firearms and Other Weapons, Components and Parts of Weapons, Accessories, Cartridge Magazines, Ammunition and Projectiles as Prohibited, Restricted or Non-Restricted, SOR/2020-96 — Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, s. 7.

Case summaries are prepared by the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada (Law Branch). Please note that summaries are not provided to the Judges of the Court. They are placed on the Court file and website for information purposes only.

On May 1, 2020, the Regulations Amending the Regulations Prescribing Certain Firearms and Other Weapons, Components and Parts of Weapons, Accessories, Cartridge Magazines, Ammunition and Projectiles as Prohibited, Restricted or Non-Restricted, SOR/2020-96, came into force. The new Regulations effectively prohibited over 1,500 firearms previously legal for licensed ownership and use.

The Regulations were challenged by licensed firearm owners, hunters, sport shooters, shooting clubs, business owners, and the Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights. Their applications for judicial review were heard together. The Federal Court dismissed the applications. Four appeals from the Federal Court judgment were consolidated and heard together. The Federal Court of Appeal dismissed the appeals.