Global Arms Trade

Canada was one of dozens of states which voted in favour of the treaty, but then did not take any steps to make that commitment real.

However, in its current form, the legislation introduced to Parliament in April 2017 to ready Canada for accession will not meet critical obligations of the Agreement. The proposed amendments fails to apply the deal to the majority of Canada’s arms exports. Read Bill C-47 and Canadian Accession to the Arms Trade Treaty: Civil Society Concerns and Recommendations to learn more.

Once a champion of arms control, the Canadian government stayed in the background throughout the treaty negotiation process and remains non-committal about signing the ATT. Among the excuses given is a need to consult Canadians to ensure that implementation of the treaty does not interfere with lawful, domestic gun ownership – an issue which they know full well to be outside the bounds of the ATT, which focuses on international trade. Canada also contended that current export controls are already strong enough.