RE: Canadian Customs...
 

You are welcome and I hope you enjoy your hunts in Canada. And your assessment of our inefficient gun registry is on the right track. I was sent 3 registration certificates for a firearm I no longer owned and the registration center was averaging 130% error rate for a while! Yes that means that every certificate and almost 1/3 again got issued incorrectly on the second try!

RE: Canadian Customs...
 

Not sure, I understand your problem, I have brought rifles in to Canada before the $50 dollar fee and every year sense they started this money grabbing fee. It's a simple process. You stop on the US customs side declare your firearms ( this is so you can bring them back in) all you need is serial number, make and model, written on a paper, They can ask to see the guns, but, most of the time they don't. They hand you a slip (don't loose it). Then when you get to the Canadian Customs, you declare, you have firearms, they hand you a yellow slip most of the time and ask you to come in. They do a back ground check, you fill out the gun Reg paper work, they log the guns in and away you
go. The 50 dollar fee is good for up to 3 guns and good for one year from the date you pay the fee. I keep a folder with every years paper work, makes filling out the new form faster and I reg the same guns year after year. They relax a little more when I say it's the same guns I have brought up the last 7 years.

RE: Canadian Customs...
 

I think the difference between your situation and mine is that you are bringing firearm(s) into Canada during or right around hunting season. I have also done that many times without problems. You might check it out a bit, as the laws have changed this year (can't remember the implications).

I was trying to bring my firearms in outside of hunting season. I just joined a gun club here in Quebec and wanted to go target shooting. After reviewing the Canadian Firearms Centre website and speaking to customs, it was clear to me this was fine. However, when I got to customs, they told me a completely different story.

The goal of my questioning was to determine the best method that I could deploy not to experience this again. Whether it's from my misreading of the laws (which I don't think it was since I confirmed my interpretation with two different people in two different departments of the Canadian gov't); or inconsistency of interpretation of the laws across departments and even individuals within that department; it doesn't really matter to me. I just wanted to know the easiest and most efficient manner of bringing firearms over the border without it causing issues for either me or the customs agent. I believe the PAL is the right way to go for me.

I might even argue that in your situation the PAL would make sense as well. The process, although lengthy (still is not complete for me yet) removes the need to do your paperwork and pay your fees every year. Your call though.

Cheers