r/canadaguns • u/yeezyXgym • Apr 03 '26

Application / Regulation advice Permanent Resident (UK to Canada)

Hi everyone,

My wife and I are planning to apply for our PAL. She’s Canadian and I’m British with a PR status, moved to Canada in October 2024 (expat).

I understand that since I’ve lived in Canada for less than 5 years, I’ll likely need to provide a UK police certificate (ACRO).

A few questions for anyone who’s gone through this as a PR:

Has anyone applied as a PR with less than 5 years residency?

Did RCMP require a recent ACRO or accept older ones (mines dated 2024)?

Anything specific with references/background checks as a newcomer?

Thanks in advance and thanks for the guidance🙌

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u/Halestal Apr 03 '26

Same situation, British PR moved over to Canada. I applied for my PAL within five months of being here and they had no issues. Don’t recall any issues with recent acros so I think you should be fine. It helped to have character references that live in Canada rather than back home. The longer they’ve known you the better in my experience. 

I’ll happily take you shooting if you’re in SW Ontario. 

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u/yeezyXgym Apr 04 '26

Hey, thank you for the offer, I’d definitely be down to go out to the range in the future!

So far I’ve got my best friend of 10 years who went to secondary school with me, and my last employer before I moved to Canada since I knew him since 2022 and keep a good connection with him

Do PM me we can definitely keep in contact💪