PAL and RPAL Test: How to Prepare for Both Exams

Many people book the PAL and RPAL test together: the Canadian Firearms Safety Course (CFSC) and the Canadian Restricted Firearms Safety Course (CRFSC) on back-to-back days, with four tests at the end. That is a lot to hold in your head at once, but the two exams overlap heavily. If you prepare for them as one body of knowledge with a restricted layer on top, it is far more manageable than studying for two separate exams.

This post covers what the two tests share, what the restricted course adds, the rules candidates mix up between the two, and a 10-day plan. If you haven't decided whether you need restricted privileges at all, read PAL vs RPAL first.

Canada Licence Prep is an independent study aid. We are not affiliated with the RCMP, any Chief Firearms Officer or any course provider. Facts were checked against RCMP pages and federal law in October 2026.

What you'll sit on a combined course

On a combined course you take four separate tests, and each is marked on its own:

Test	What it covers	Pass mark (delivery agents)
CFSC written	Non-restricted firearms: safety, actions, ammunition, handling, storage, transport, law	80%
CFSC practical	Handling long guns with dummy ammunition: actions, loading, unloading, PROVE, carries	80%
CRFSC written	Restricted firearms: classes, handguns, registration, ATT, restricted storage and transport	80%
CRFSC practical	Handling revolvers and semi-automatic pistols with dummy ammunition	80%

The 80% figures are stated by provincial delivery agents. The RCMP's safety courses page lists the topics but doesn't print the pass mark or the number of questions, so ask your instructor how many questions their papers use. Our mocks use 50 questions in 60 minutes, with 40 correct to pass, for each written test.

Passing one test doesn't depend on passing the others. You could pass the CFSC and fail the CRFSC written, in which case you could still apply for a non-restricted PAL and retest the restricted course later. Retest rules are set provincially, and a common rule is one retest.

Who can take the combined course

You must be 18 or older to take the CRFSC. The CFSC is open from age 12. For a licence with restricted privileges you need to pass both, as section 7 of the Firearms Act sets out.

What it costs

Course fees are set by instructors and provincial agents, not the RCMP. As one example, Ontario's FSESO listed the CFSC at $210, the CRFSC at $170 and the two together at $380 in 2026. Ontario's CRFSC runs at least 6 hours on its own, or 4 hours when taken straight after the CFSC, which is one reason the combined route is shorter. Our PAL course guide compares costs by province.

The licence fee is separate. Until 30 March 2027, the RCMP service fees page lists $70.38 for a non-restricted licence and $93.84 if you also passed the CRFSC (as of October 2026).

What the two exams share

Most of the CRFSC is the CFSC again, applied to handguns and restricted long guns. Our mock blueprints show how much overlaps: the RPAL mock uses all ten CFSC topics and adds one more, restricted firearms.

Shared ground you only need to learn once:

• ACTS and PROVE, and the Vital Four safety rules
• Ammunition: parts of a cartridge, calibre and gauge, misfires and hangfires
• Safe handling: muzzle control, passing a firearm open and unloaded, range rules
• Legal basics: licences, the 5-year licence term, the 28-day minimum wait for first-time applicants, reporting an address change within 30 days
• Social responsibility: alcohol and drugs, the safety of others, ethics

If you are solid on these before the course, the restricted day becomes a set of additions, not a new subject.

What the CRFSC adds

The new material falls into four groups:

1. Classes. Which handguns are restricted, which are prohibited (barrel 105 mm or less, or .25 or .32 calibre), and the 470 mm and 660 mm rules for long guns.
2. Registration and transfers. Every restricted firearm needs a registration certificate. A Chief Firearms Officer approves each transfer. A restricted firearm lives at your recorded home or another place a CFO authorizes.
3. The Authorization to Transport (ATT). When an ATT is needed, what a renewed RPAL covers automatically, and which documents to carry.
4. Handguns. Revolver and pistol parts, single and double action, safeties, the unloading order, and grip and stance.

Since 21 October 2022, individuals generally cannot acquire handguns by transfer in Canada. The course still teaches handgun rules because existing owners, some exceptions and other restricted firearms are covered, and because the test still asks about them. Our RPAL practice test page lists the restricted facts to know cold.

The rules people mix up between PAL and RPAL

This is the real danger of studying both at once. Questions on each written test are built to catch you applying the wrong class's rule. Learn this table until you can write it from memory:

Rule	Non-restricted (PAL)	Restricted (RPAL)
Storage at home	Unloaded, plus one of: a secure locking device, the bolt or bolt-carrier removed, or a locked container or room	Unloaded, plus both a secure locking device and a locked container or room, or a vault, safe or room built for restricted firearms
Ammunition in storage	Not readily accessible unless locked up	Same
Display at home	Unloaded, locking device or locked container, no accessible ammunition	Unloaded, locking device, securely attached to a non-portable structure, no ammunition
Transport	Unloaded; in an unattended vehicle, in the locked trunk or out of sight in the locked vehicle	Unloaded, locking device, locked opaque container, and an ATT
Where you may keep it	No location restriction in law	Your recorded dwelling-house or a CFO-authorized place
Registration	Not required	Registration certificate required

The rules come from the Storage, Display, Transportation and Handling of Firearms by Individuals Regulations, sections 5 to 11.

Exam tip: The word that separates the two storage rules is "or" versus "and". Non-restricted: one of three. Restricted: lock and container together. Say it aloud a few times; it is one of the most tested distinctions on both papers.

A practical trick: study the non-restricted version of each rule first, then ask "what does restricted add?" Usually the answer is one extra condition: a second lock, an opaque container, an ATT, a fixed attachment. Learning it as an addition is easier than learning two separate lists.

Our guides to firearm storage rules and transporting firearms go through every class in detail.

Check where you stand before you start

Before you plan your study days, find out what you already know. The free PAL diagnostic takes 15 minutes: 20 questions with an explanation for each answer and your score by topic. If your basics are solid, take the free RPAL diagnostic the same day and compare the two. A big gap between them tells you to spend your time on the restricted layer. Similar scores tell you the shared core is where the marks are.

A 10-day plan for the combined course

This plan assumes 45 to 60 minutes a day in the run-up to the course. If you are reading this after the course has started, jump to days 7 to 10.

Day	Focus	What to do
1	Baselines	Both diagnostics. Read the free CFSC exam guide and ACTS and PROVE note
2	Shared safety	ACTS and PROVE, the Vital Four, handling and carries. Drill until you score above 85%
3	Long-gun actions and ammunition	Bolt, lever, pump, break and semi-automatic actions, unloading order, calibre and gauge
4	Non-restricted storage and transport	Learn the PAL column of the table above from memory
5	Legal responsibilities	Licences, numbers and offences. Then sit the free PAL mock 1 under a 60-minute timer
6	Restricted classes and registration	Read the free CRFSC exam guide. Learn 105, 470 and 660, CFO approval and registration
7	Restricted storage, display, transport, ATT	Learn the RPAL column of the table. Write both columns side by side from memory
8	Handguns	Revolver and pistol parts, trigger systems, safeties, magazine out first, grip
9	Restricted mock	Sit the free RPAL mock 1. Review every wrong answer and tag it PAL rule or RPAL rule
10	Fix the mix-ups	Drill whichever rules you confused on day 9. Then a fresh mock of each exam if you can

The tagging on day 9 matters. If most of your misses on the RPAL mock are shared-core questions, go back to days 2 to 5. If they are restricted rules, repeat days 6 to 8.

The two practical tests

The written tests are where people over-prepare. The practicals are where they lose marks they didn't expect to lose. Both practicals use dummy ammunition and training firearms, with no live fire.

CFSC practical: expect to identify actions and safeties, load and unload several long-gun actions, PROVE each firearm, pass firearms open and unloaded, show safe carries and apply a secure locking device.

CRFSC practical: expect to identify revolver and semi-automatic actions, find the cylinder release, slide stop and safeties, and unload. For a pistol, take the magazine out first, then lock the slide open. For a revolver, open the cylinder and look into every chamber. Keep the muzzle in the safe direction throughout, including when you put the handgun down.

A single unsafe muzzle sweep can fail a practical, so slow, deliberate movements beat speed. Our PAL practical test guide walks through each step.

Key fact: An app or website can't teach you to handle a firearm. Use the practice time on the course to handle every action type more than once, and ask your instructor to watch you PROVE each one.

Is the combined course harder than doing them separately?

It's more tiring, not harder per test. You have the same pass mark on each paper and less time between them. The main extra risk is the mix-up between classes covered above. Taking the courses on separate dates gives the non-restricted rules time to settle before you add the restricted layer.

If you're worried about the CFSC on its own, our page on whether the PAL test is hard covers the topics people find hardest and the common mistakes.

Your next steps, and what Pro adds

Start with what's free:

1. Take the free PAL diagnostic and the free RPAL diagnostic.
2. Sit the free full mock 1 for each: PAL and RPAL.
3. Read the free CFSC and CRFSC exam guides and the ACTS and PROVE note.
4. Learn the comparison table above until you can write it out.

For a combined course you are preparing for two written tests, and that's where the free tier runs thin: one full mock per exam. Pro adds mocks 2 to 10, practice by topic and all the study notes for all 9 tests, so a single plan covers both the PAL and the RPAL. The banks hold 1,478 CFSC questions and 1,863 CRFSC questions, each with an explanation of why the wrong options are wrong. Pro costs CA$7.99 a week, CA$12.99 a month or CA$24.99 for three months, and you can cancel anytime.

It isn't a pass guarantee. It's more timed practice with honest feedback, so you walk into four tests knowing which rules you've actually got. See pricing to compare plans.