r/canadaguns • u/bpond7 • Apr 22 '26
Application / Regulation advice Lost PAL replacement
Lost my PAL (well, I lost my wallet with my PAL in it). Reported it to local RCMP detachment and spoke to Alberta CFO about replacing. Sending RCMP Form 5515 to Miramichi, does anyone have any insight into turnaround times? I would assume it falls into a different lineup than applications and should be replaced fairly quickly?
Here’s hoping, it’s gopher season….
6
u/HappyCan7250 Apr 22 '26
I guess you're technically not allowed to go out shooting while your card is missing. Seems kinda silly but I believe according to our laws, you wouldn't even be allowed to use your firearms until you have your card back. Seems kind of ridiculous but I wouldn't exactly want to test it
5
u/bpond7 Apr 22 '26
Very silly, but it is what it is. Luckily, all of my friends have their PAL’s and we hunt together, so I just won’t be doing any solo hunting til my card comes. They can possess my guns for me while we are out lol
5
u/WENCHSLAUGHTER Apr 22 '26
Depends
My brother, grandpa & I took the course at the same time - sent the documents at the same time
Brother and I received ours within 3 weeks, grandpa took 3 months lol.
Never know with the government.
2
u/bpond7 Apr 22 '26
Applications and renewals I know are a very broad range of possibilities haha, but this is just replacing a card that was issued only last year so I’m hoping its alot quicker
3
u/WENCHSLAUGHTER Apr 22 '26
They also sent me a new non-restricted when I did my restricted.
Took a week to get the proper card after that.
Never know who's on the other end... Making mistakes. Lol
2
u/5SheetsToTheWind Apr 22 '26
Just renewed mine online and it arrived in the mail in less than three weeks
1
1
u/Condition_Wise Apr 29 '26
Theres a gopher season?
1
u/bpond7 Apr 29 '26
I mean it’s not an officially legislated/timed “season”. But in Alberta you can hunt gophers without a licence as long as you have the landowners permission (a lot of folks do it to help out their rancher friends etc to try and control the population). As it warms up, they start to come out from their winter hibernation. So the “season” window varies by year depending on the weather. But once they come out, they’re only usually out for about 3 months, maybe 4, before they start prepping for winter again. So that 3 month window is busy. They start coming out, reproduce (30 day gestation) and then the babies come out when they get old enough. Blast as many as you can in 3 months and hope it makes a small dent for next year (each colony can have over a million gophers) they totally destroy crops and pose a danger to livestock
1
u/Cock_ball_dickin May 04 '26
I’m in exactly the same situation. I’ve been waiting for two weeks
2
u/bpond7 May 04 '26
I sent the form via expresspost, they received it in Miramichi on Monday and charged my credit card Friday, so hopefully that means the card has been issued and is in the mail!
1
u/Cock_ball_dickin May 04 '26
Let’s hope! Man I can’t wait to get mine back, I literally have been saving and planning on buying 4 guns soon 😭😭
17
u/FastRunning200 Apr 22 '26
The pile for pal replacements is a lot smaller than the pile for new applications. I’d expect a month tops for you new card to come