Switchblades are illegal in Canada. Section 84 of the Criminal Code classifies them as prohibited weapons, and no licence is available to private citizens to possess, buy, sell, import, or carry one.1Justice Laws Website. Criminal Code – Section 84 Unlike restricted firearms, there is no application, no permit, and no collector’s exemption. Getting caught with one can lead to anything from a summary conviction fine to ten years in federal prison, depending on the charge.
What the Law Actually Prohibits
The Criminal Code defines a prohibited weapon to include any knife with a blade that opens automatically by gravity, centrifugal force, or hand pressure applied to a button, spring, or other device built into or attached to the handle.1Justice Laws Website. Criminal Code – Section 84 One definition, several knives most people think of as separate: push-button switchblades, gravity knives that drop open when held vertically, and butterfly knives (balisongs) whose handles rotate around the blade.
The word doing the work is “automatically.” If the blade deploys without you physically pushing it open, the knife is almost certainly prohibited.
The Wrist-Flick Test
The trickiest part of the definition is centrifugal force. The Canada Border Services Agency treats a knife as prohibited if the blade can be released into the fully open and locked position “with a simple and brisk outwardly flick of the wrist.”2Canada Border Services Agency. Memorandum D19-13-2 – Importing and Exporting Firearms, Weapons and Devices The Canadian International Trade Tribunal has upheld that standard and applied it even to knives that need minimal manipulation of a flipper tab or thumb stud, so long as the wrist flick does most of the work.
This is where owners of otherwise ordinary folding knives get caught. A flipper tab or thumb stud does not make a knife legal. If a border officer or police officer can flick it open with a quick wrist motion, it meets the definition regardless of how it was marketed. The CBSA memorandum notes an exception for thumb studs attached independently to the blade that require direct manual pressure to open.2Canada Border Services Agency. Memorandum D19-13-2 – Importing and Exporting Firearms, Weapons and Devices But if that same knife also happens to open with a wrist flick, it can still be seized. The practical rule: if the blade can be deployed without your fingers directly pushing on it, treat the knife as prohibited.
Charges and Penalties
Canadian law creates a ladder of switchblade-related offences. Which charge the Crown selects determines how serious the exposure is.
Unauthorized Possession
The most common charge is unauthorized possession of a prohibited weapon under Section 91(2). Because no civilian licence exists, anyone caught with a switchblade is by definition unauthorized. It is a hybrid offence: the Crown can proceed by indictment (up to five years) or by summary conviction.3Justice Laws Website. Criminal Code – Section 91 For a first offender with a clean record who was simply carrying the knife, prosecutors often elect summary conviction.
Possession Knowing It Is Unauthorized
If the Crown can prove you knew you were not authorized to have the weapon, the charge escalates to Section 92(2). This is a straight indictable offence with no summary option and a maximum of ten years imprisonment.4Justice Laws Website. Criminal Code – Section 92 Buying a switchblade knowing the law, or obtaining another after one was previously seized, is the kind of fact pattern that pushes the Crown toward Section 92.
Carrying a Concealed Weapon
Carrying any weapon concealed on your person without authorization is a separate offence under Section 90, punishable as a hybrid offence with up to five years on indictment.5Justice Laws Website. Criminal Code – Section 90 It can be laid on top of a possession charge when the switchblade was in a pocket or bag.
Possession for a Dangerous Purpose
Section 88 covers possessing a weapon for a purpose dangerous to the public peace, a hybrid offence carrying up to ten years on indictment.6Justice Laws Website. Criminal Code – Possession Offences The Crown reaches for it when the circumstances suggest the knife was carried with intent to intimidate or harm, not just passively possessed.
Summary Conviction Maximum
When the Crown proceeds summarily on any of the hybrid charges above, the general ceiling is a fine of up to $5,000, imprisonment for up to two years less a day, or both. Even at that level, a weapons conviction produces a criminal record with consequences for employment, professional licensing, and international travel.
What Comes After a Conviction
A conviction does not end at sentencing. Section 109 requires the court to impose a mandatory weapons prohibition order for certain offences, including importing or exporting a prohibited weapon under Section 103.7Justice Laws Website. Criminal Code – Section 109 A first offence brings a prohibition of at least ten years from the date of release. A second offence brings a lifetime ban. During that period, you cannot legally possess any firearm, crossbow, restricted weapon, or prohibited weapon.
Any prohibited weapon in your possession when the order takes effect is forfeited to the Crown and disposed of.8Justice Laws Website. Criminal Code – Forfeiture and Requirement to Surrender The court can also require you to surrender related items within a specified period, and violating the prohibition order is itself a criminal offence.
Bringing a Switchblade Across the Border
Importing a prohibited weapon without authorization is an offence under Section 103, carrying up to ten years on indictment.9Department of Justice Canada. Criminal Code – Section 103 CBSA is explicit that visitors cannot bring prohibited weapons into Canada under any circumstances.10Canada Border Services Agency. Firearms and Weapons – Canadian Border Requirements
At an airport, the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority is required to notify police if a prohibited knife turns up at a checkpoint, which can lead to prosecution.11Canadian Air Transport Security Authority. Prohibited Knives At a land border, the knife is seized and the matter referred to CBSA or police. For foreign nationals, a weapons-related conviction or unresolved charge can result in removal from Canada and a bar on future entry.
The risk extends well beyond obvious switchblades. Many American-market folders with flipper tabs or assisted-opening mechanisms fail the wrist-flick test. If you are crossing with any folding knife, make sure it cannot be flicked open with one hand. When in doubt, leave it at home.
Who Can Legally Have One
Section 117.07 exempts “public officers” who possess prohibited weapons in the course of their duties. The list includes peace officers, members of the Canadian Forces, police trainees supervised by a police academy, members of cadet organizations, operators of military museums, members of visiting foreign forces authorized under the Visiting Forces Act, and certain federal, provincial, or municipal employees specifically designated by regulation.12Justice Laws Website. Criminal Code – Section 117.07
Private security guards, tradespeople, martial arts instructors, and collectors are not on the list. The exemption is tied to official government duties. There is no collector’s exemption, no grandfather clause, and no permit a civilian can apply for.
What to Do If You Already Own One
If you discover a knife in your possession meets the prohibited weapon definition, there is a narrow legal path. Section 91(4) provides that the unauthorized possession offence does not apply to a person who comes into possession of a prohibited weapon “by the operation of law” — inheriting one, for example — and lawfully disposes of it within a reasonable period.3Justice Laws Website. Criminal Code – Section 91
Many police services run weapons amnesty programs that accept prohibited knives with no charges for the person surrendering the item. Call your local police non-emergency line, explain that you want to surrender a prohibited weapon, and follow their instructions. Do not walk into a station with the knife unannounced, and do not call 911. Wait for police to tell you how and where to hand it over.
Acting quickly matters. The longer you knowingly hold onto a prohibited weapon after learning it is illegal, the harder it becomes to argue you lacked the knowledge element that separates a Section 91 charge from the more serious Section 92 charge. If you inherited a collection or bought something online that turned out to be prohibited, contact police sooner rather than later.