Canada · firearms licensing

PAL vs POL: What the Difference Means

By Hunters Guide. Checked against RCMP Canadian Firearms Program and Justice Laws sources on September 18, 2026.

The PAL is the only firearms licence Canada issues to new adult applicants. The POL was its older counterpart, a possession-only licence that closed to new applicants and then, in 2015, gained acquisition powers by act of Parliament.

If you are applying today the practical answer is short: you are getting a PAL. The longer answer is still worth knowing, because most of what gets repeated about the POL stopped being true a decade ago.

What was a Possession Only Licence?

A Possession Only Licence was a firearms licence for people who already owned firearms when Canada brought in its modern licensing regime, and it authorized them to keep what they had. It was a grandfathering instrument. It existed so that established owners were not forced through an acquisition-grade application for guns that were already in their cabinets.

The name did the explaining. Possession only. No acquisition. A POL holder could keep and use their firearms but could not walk into a shop and buy another one, which is the distinction almost everyone still repeats when the acronym comes up.

What changed for POL holders in 2015?

A transitional provision in the Common Sense Firearms Licensing Act gave POL holders acquisition powers, which removed the one thing that made a POL different from a PAL. The provision, headed Conversion of possession only licence, states that such a licence"authorizes the holder to acquire any firearms that they are authorized to possess under the licence". It came into force on September 2, 2015.

So the common description of a POL is now out of date. From that day, a POL in someone's wallet carried acquisition privileges for the classes of firearm it already covered. The card said one thing and the statute said another, and the statute won.

Can anyone still get a POL today?

New applicants cannot obtain a POL, and the RCMP says so without qualification. Its licensing guidance states that"The Possession and Acquisition Licence is the only licence currently available to new applicants."

The residents page puts the same point in terms of age. The RCMP states that"The Possession and Acquisition Licence (PAL) is the only licence available to new applicants aged 18 or older." Under 18 there is a minor's licence, which is a different document again and not a POL.

The POL is not the only closed route into firearms ownership. The RCMP notes that Firearms Acquisition Certificates issued under the former law counted as licences, that they are expired, and that a PAL is now required instead. Canada has been consolidating licence types for decades, and the POL was one more step in that.

What should a POL holder do now?

A POL holder does what every other licence holder does, which is renew on time. Every Canadian firearms licence runs five years, and a renewal issues the licence type that currently exists. That is how the POL emptied out: not by a recall, but by each one reaching its expiry and coming back as a PAL.

Renewing is also lighter than applying fresh. The RCMP confirms that"When renewing a Possession and Acquisition Licence with the same privileges, you do not need to resend your training information." Ask for privileges you did not hold before and you have to prove the training for them, which is where the CFSC re-enters the picture and where our guide on how to get a PAL in Canadacovers the paperwork.

One thing we will not guess at. The RCMP does not publish a count of POLs still in force, and its 2025 Commissioner of Firearms Report breaks individual licences into two categories only, Possession and Acquisition Licences and minor's licences. Read that as the POL no longer being a category the program tracks separately, rather than as a published statement that not one remains.

Why does the POL still come up in used firearm sales?

The POL keeps surfacing in private sales because the acronym outlived the restriction it described, and sellers remember the restriction. Anyone who learned the rules before 2015 may believe a POL holder cannot legally buy from them, and will say so with confidence.

What actually governs a private transfer is whether the buyer holds a valid licence with the privileges for that class of firearm, confirmed through the RCMP licence verification process. The name printed on the card is not the test. If you are selling and you are unsure, verify the licence rather than adjudicating the acronym.

Frequently asked questions

Can you still apply for a POL?

No. The RCMP states that the Possession and Acquisition Licence is the only licence currently available to new applicants. Anyone applying today, at any age above 18, gets a PAL. The POL is closed as an application route and has been for years.

Could a POL holder buy a firearm?

Not originally, and then yes. A Possession Only Licence authorized possession of firearms the holder already had. A transitional provision of the Common Sense Firearms Licensing Act changed that in 2015 by giving those holders the power to acquire the firearms they were already authorized to possess.

What happens when a POL comes up for renewal?

It is renewed as a PAL. Canadian firearms licences run five years and renewal issues the licence type that exists now, so the POL naturally drained out of the system as each one reached its expiry date.

Does a seller need to check whether a buyer holds a PAL or a POL?

What a seller needs is a valid licence with the right privileges for that firearm, not a particular licence name. The RCMP licence verification process is what confirms it. A seller can always decline a sale, but the name printed on the card is not the legal test.