Prohibited Weapons

From the Canada Border Services Agency website, the following (none-firearm) weapons are prohibited from being brought into canada.

Prohibited weapons include:

• switchblade knives or other knives that open automatically by gravity or by centrifugal force, or by hand pressure applied to a button, spring, or other device
• some martial arts weapons, such as nunchaku sticks or shuriken ("shooting stars")
• Mace or pepper spray
• blowguns
• hand-held "compact" crossbows
• weapons prohibited by regulations

Here is a list of prohibited weapons from The US department of State "travel into Canada" website.

Other Weapons

Some other types of weapons are also prohibited in Canada. Prohibited weapons include switchblades, butterfly knives and many martial arts weapons. The complete list includes:

1. Knives with retractable or folding blades which, by design or through wear, will open by centrifugal force or gravity, or by a spring or similar device. This has been interpreted by the courts to include a butterfly knives;
2. Nunchaku or similar objects made up of hard, non-flexible sticks linked by a flexible length of chain. This includes objects where the sticks are replaced by, for example, pipes or other rigid pieces, and where the chain is replaced by rope, wire or other flexible material;
3. Shuriken or similar objects which are made of a hard, non-flexible material in an essentially two-dimensional regular geometric form with one or more sharp edges;
4. Manrikigusari or kusari or similar objects which are made up of geometrically-shaped hard weights or hand grips linked by rope, chain, wire or other flexible material;
5. A push dagger, namely a knife where the blade is perpendicular to the handle;
6. Any item under 30 centimeters which looks like another object but which conceals a blade;
7. Spiked wristbands;
8. Blow guns;
9. Manually-triggered telescoping spring-loaded steel whips;
10. Morning stars or similar items consisting of a ball of metal or similar heavy material studded with spikes and connected to a handle by a length of rope, chain, wire or other flexible material;
11. Brass knuckles or similar items.

From the Criminal Code of Canada:

PART 3
PROHIBITED WEAPONS

Former Prohibited Weapons Order, No. 1

1. Any device designed to be used for the purpose of injuring, immobilizing or otherwise incapacitating any person by the discharge therefrom of
(a) tear gas, Mace or other gas, or
(b) any liquid, spray, powder or other substance that is capable of injuring, immobilizing or otherwise incapacitating any person.

Former Prohibited Weapons Order, No. 2

2. Any instrument or device commonly known as "nunchaku", being hard non-flexible sticks, clubs, pipes, or rods linked by a length or lengths of rope, cord, wire or chain, and any similar instrument or device.
3. Any instrument or device commonly known as "shuriken", being a hard non-flexible plate having three or more radiating points with one or more sharp edges in the shape of a polygon, trefoil, cross, star, diamond or other geometrical shape, and any similar instrument or device.
4. Any instrument or device commonly known as "manrikigusari" or "kusari", being hexagonal or other geometrically shaped hard weights or hand grips linked by a length or lengths of rope, cord, wire or chain, and any similar instrument or device.
5. Any finger ring that has one or more blades or sharp objects that are capable of being projected from the surface of the ring.

Former Prohibited Weapons Order, No. 3

6. Any device that is designed to be capable of injuring, immobilizing or incapacitating a person or an animal by discharging an electrical charge produced by means of the amplification or accumulation of the electrical current generated by a battery, where the device is designed or altered so that the electrical charge may be discharged when the device is of a length of less than 480 mm, and any similar device.
7. A crossbow or similar device that
(a) is designed or altered to be aimed and fired by the action of one hand, whether or not it has been redesigned or subsequently altered to be aimed and fired by the action of both hands; or
(b) has a length not exceeding 500 mm.

Former Prohibited Weapons Order, No. 4

8. The device known as the "Constant Companion", being a belt containing a blade capable of being withdrawn from the belt, with the buckle of the belt forming a handle for the blade, and any similar device.
9. Any knife commonly known as a "push-dagger" that is designed in such a fashion that the handle is placed perpendicular to the main cutting edge of the blade and any other similar device other than the aboriginal "ulu" knife.
10. Any device having a length of less than 30 cm and resembling an innocuous object but designed to conceal a knife or blade, including the device commonly known as the "knife-comb", being a comb with the handle of the comb forming a handle for the knife, and any similar device.

Former Prohibited Weapons Order, No. 5

11. The device commonly known as a "Spiked Wristband", being a wristband to which a spike or blade is affixed, and any similar device.

Former Prohibited Weapons Order, No. 6

12. The device commonly known as "Yaqua Blowgun", being a tube or pipe designed for the purpose of shooting arrows or darts by the breath, and any similar device.

Former Prohibited Weapons Order, No. 7

13. The device commonly known as a "Kiyoga Baton" or "Steel Cobra" and any similar device consisting of a manually triggered telescoping spring-loaded steel whip terminated in a heavy calibre striking tip.
14. The device commonly known as a "Morning Star" and any similar device consisting of a ball of metal or other heavy material, studded with spikes and connected to a handle by a length of chain, rope or other flexible material.

Former Prohibited Weapons Order, No. 8

15. The device known as "Brass Knuckles" and any similar device consisting of a band of metal with one or more finger holes designed to fit over the fingers of the hand.

As can be seen from the sources, fixed blade knives of any length are NOT prohibited in Canada.

The CCRA list of banned weapons lists various classes of weapons banned by the Criminal code. The last line states "weapons prohibited by regulations". Since this reference is to the Criminal Code, if a weapon is NOT listed as banned in the criminal code, it CANNOT be banned by the CCRA. Furthermore, if an item is not defined as a weapon by design in the Criminal Code, it CANNOT be arbitrarily defined as a weapon by design by the CCRA.

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