TheGunBlog.ca has just published details on the number of firearms purchased and imported by Canadians from January-September 2021. You can read the source of these numbers here .

Much like the increase in firearms sales seen here in the US, Canada has seen year over year growth in firearm purchases since last year. For Canadians, modern handguns were the only category to slow, all other categories saw some growth, including muzzleloaders.

Why is this of note? Well, Canada has next to nothing in the way of in country firearms and ammunition manufacturing. Import data like this is one of the only was for us to see the changes in the industry for our neighbors to the north.

According to the data, muzzleloaders have seen a 15.9% increase in imports since the first of the year. Muzzleloading enthusiasts spent over $1.3 million (CAD) importing muzzleloading firearms in 2020. The average price of each muzzleloader was $277 (CAD).

When looking at the 2020 numbers vs 2019 numbers we see a slight drop. In 2020 Canadians purchased 4,748 muzzleloaders and in 2019 they purchased 5,105.

Looking at the data, it’s easy to see muzzleloaders in Canada, much like the US, make up a small portion of the overall industry. It is nice to be included in this data though! When checking out the numbers all the way back to 1988, we can see that recent years havn’t been a boom for muzzleloaders. We can see though that growth is much more than we saw in the 80s into the early 2000s, lining up with similar data gathered here in the US.

While the industry at large focuses on modern muzzleloaders and the money driving muzzleloader hunting seasons, many of us enjoy the slower pace of traditional muzzleloading. Regardless of your preference, seeing nearly 16% growth in muzzleloading sales in Canada has to be encouraging.