The Shooting Academy Listowel offers training with the Canadian Firearms Safety Course (CFSC) for both Non-restricted and Restricted firearms. We run these courses regularly, with our own certified instructors in our FSESO-approved classroom. If you want to get into the shooting sports, this is where you start.
We get a lot of questions about what is involved with these courses, and about the terms we frequently use, so here’s a bit of a Q&A to help you out.
Q: What is the CFSC?
A: The Canadian Firearms Safety Course is the standard for essential firearms training Canada-wide. In order to apply for a firearms license, the applicant is a required to take the course and pass written and practical exams with a minimum score of 80% in both. It is no longer possible to challenge the exam - potential licensees are required to take the course before taking the exams.
We hold our courses on weekends. The non-restricted PAL course is two days, 8am - 5pm both days. Testing is on the second day, and students may finish earlier or later in the day depending on a number of factors.
The restricted RPAL course that we run is the full 6-hour upgrade course, and may only be booked for students who have previously completed the non-restricted course. RPAL courses are on Saturdays, and run from 8am until around 6pm. Testing takes place in the afternoon and may run longer or shorter than planned, depending on a number of factors.
Q: What is the PAL (Possession and Acquisition License, Non-restricted) and RPAL (Possession and Acquisition License, Restricted)
These are the licenses required to own firearms in Canada. You must take the CFSC in order to be able to apply for the license. You need the non-restricted PAL for long guns (rifles and shotguns) and the restricted RPAL for handguns and other short firearms.
Q: How Do I Sign Up for a CFSC?
A: Check our calendar for available course dates. Call during staffed hours, or contact us via phone, Facebook or Messenger to check availability and to book your spot.
We also need every student to fill out and sign our attendance agreement form:
Each class is limited to ten students, as per FSESO guidelines. Once we book all ten spots, that class is full. Because of our limited class size, we will only book a spot for students who sign the attendance agreement and pay the full course fee up-front.
Q: How Much Does It Cost?
A: The fee is $190 plus HST, per person, per course. We require students to pay this course fee in full up-front to reserve a spot. Course fees are not refundable.
Q: Do you do both PAL and RPAL courses together in one weekend?
A: No, we do not. We run PAL and RPAL courses separately.
Q: What materials do I need to take the course?
A: You will need to bring a pen and paper, and get a copy of the CFSC course material. You can buy the book from the range, or you can download a copy to your tablet or laptop from this link:
The course manual covers both Non-restricted and Restricted course material, and the same book is used in both courses.
Q: What is your cancellation policy?
A: Course fees are not refundable. It is your responsibility to ensure that you are able to attend the course you booked. If you cancel your scheduled course for any reason, you forfeit your course fee. You may rebook at a later date, but it will require the course fee for that new date to be paid in full and another signed Attendance Agreement form.
If we need to reschedule a course date due to some unforeseen circumstance (government-enforced shutdowns, etc.), we will set a makeup date for the postponed course and offer affected students their choice of that new date, or any other date that has spots available.
Q: Is this the course for hunting?
A: No. We no longer offer the Ontario Hunter’s Education course. That course can be found online at HunterCourse.com/canada/ontario
Q: What are the CFP, CFO, and FSESO?
The Canadian Firearms Program, a branch of the RCMP, is the regulatory body responsible for overseeing all licensing and registration for firearms. This is the top level of firearms regulation in Canada, and they are goverened by the Firearms Act of 1995 and Part III of the Canadian Criminal Code. They have their main offices in Ottawa and Miramichi. The CFP issues firearms licenses.
The Chief Firearms Officer is a provincial office in charge of overseeing Provincial regulations. Each province or territory appoints their own CFO, and each province has slightly different regulations for things like Authorizations to Transport and regulations for shooting ranges. The CFO approves license applications for the CFP. The Ontario CFO is headquartered in Orillia.
The Firearms Safety Education Service of Ontario is the governing body that regulates firearms training courses in Ontario. Our training courses must meet strict guidelines set by FSESO, and our in-house instructors must be trained, approved and routinely audited by this service in order to teach these courses.
Q: What is the FAC and POL?
These are deprecated licenses which are no longer valid or available. The Firearms Acquisition Certificate (FAC) was replaced in 1995 by the PAL/RPAL, and the Possession Only License (POL) was discontinued in 2015, and POL holders were upgraded to the PAL. If you had one of these licenses in the past and want to continue to legally own firearms, you need to apply for a PAL or RPAL, and you may need to take the CFSC in order to apply for that new license. Please call the CFO to determine your course of action.
Q: What other courses do you offer?
A: We run CSSA club-level PPC courses about once per year, and we have designed some beginner handgun marksmanship courses that we run when we have enough customers asking for them. Please email or call for more information.