To be fair, they haven't hidden their intentions; five years ago, the Trudeau government made the plan pretty clear for all to see, passing sweeping bans on "assault-style" weapons still in civilian hands in 2020 (without, it should be added, the consent of the Canadian parliament):

The Order Declaring an Amnesty Period (2020) (the Amnesty Order) accompanies the Regulations to protect individuals, who were in lawful possession of one or more of the newly prohibited firearms or prohibited devices on the day the Regulations came into force, from criminal liability for unlawful possession for the purpose of allowing individuals to come into compliance with the law.

During the amnesty period, the Government intends to implement a buy-back program to compensate affected owners for the value of their firearms after they are delivered to a police officer; however, until a buy-back program is offered, affected owners will not be eligible for compensation. An option to participate in a grandfathering regime would also be made available for affected owners. Further public communications on the buy-back program and the grandfathering regime will follow later.

The amnesty period ended three years ago.  So it's not like it snuck up on Canadians, or the rest of us. 

But with the amnesty period well past, Canada is putting teeth into the policy; the federal government is providing more money to local government to start with the confiscations:

MORE LIBERAL LIES

The Liberals are lying when they say they want to hire more police to stop "Bad Guys."

Reality: They are hiring police to go after "Good Guys." https://t.co/fJ4owbGXmV

— TheGunBlog.ca (@TheGunBlog) May 3, 2025

Like an estimated majority of Australian gun owners after their much-ballyhooed "gun buyback", it appears a very signficant number of Canadian gun owners ignored the new rules.  

As of October 2024, the government has revealed no plans about how it will collect the newly-banned firearms nor has it made any provisions for compensation in any federal budget since the announcement in 2020. Originally, the government enacted a two-year amnesty period to allow compliance with the ban. This amnesty expired in April 2022 and has been twice extended, first to Oct. 30, 2023, then to Oct. 30, 2025.

Clearly, the ban—which the government calls a “buyback”—has been a gong show from the beginning. Since Trudeau’s announcement four years ago, virtually none of the banned firearms have been surrendered. The Ontario government refuses to divert police resources to cooperate with this federal “buyback” scheme. The RCMP’s labour union has said it’s a “misdirected effort when it comes to public safety.” The Canadian Sporting Arms & Ammunition Association, which represents firearms retailers, said it will have “zero involvement” in helping confiscate these firearms. Even Canada Post wants nothing to do with Trudeau’s “buyback” plan. And again, the government has revealed no plan for compensation—fair or otherwise.

Which may be the reasoning behind the smiley face the Carney government is putting on the new funding.

Gunblog.ca is not buying it:

Canada’s Liberal Party-led administration is paying for police to confiscate firearms from government-licensed gun owners, advancing its attacks on honest citizens.

The Liberals are paying for police in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, to help “with the planning, coordination, control, and administration” of the seizures, according to government documents.

Winnipeg will get $2.8 million and Cape Breton will get $103,013 under agreements that started in February and March this year and run until the end of March 2026

If you're a Canadian gun rights activist or gun owner, the beatings will continue until morale improves.  

As Canada is showing us - when liberals condescendingly swear up and down "nobody is coming for your guns, silly civil rights activist"?   It's patronizing. 

And if you're in a jurisdiction where the left has enough power, there's an implied and inescapable "yet" at the end.