A consultant for Cadex Defence, a Quebec-based small arms manufacturer, registered to lobby on July 3 to discuss Canadian firearm export policies.

Specifically, filings say Cadex wants to lobby federal officials on the question of “export controls and the firearm country control list.”

The federal Automatic Firearm Country Control List includes 44 countries to which Canadian manufacturers can export certain automatic firearms. If a country is not listed, Canadian manufacturers cannot export designated guns there.

Among the listed countries are Australia, Finland, Colombia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Ukraine and the United States.

One country that is not included on the list is Russia. Nonetheless, a Global News investigation first published in October found Cadex rifles were being used by Russian soldiers in the country’s war with Ukraine.

That’s despite additional sanctions forbidding Canadian companies from exporting weapons to Russia.

After the initial report was released in October, Cadex said it initiated an internal investigation into how the weapons ended up in the hands of Russian soldiers.

In May, the company said it found the weapons were “fraudulently diverted from their intended destination before ending up in Russia, without the authorization, knowledge or consent of Cadex.”

That’s not unusual. In its 2025 report, Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) said Russia was known to attempt to get its hands on sanctioned or controlled technology from Western countries, including Canada.

“Specifically, Russia sought to procure Canadian technology, such as microelectronics, satellite communication technology and precision firearms,” the report says.

Global News reported in May that CSIS officials had visited the company’s Quebec headquarters to discuss Russian attempts to evade sanctions.

It’s not clear whether Cadex’s lobbying is related to shipping its firearms to a specific country, and the company did not respond to the IJF’s request for comment about its lobbying activity.

In the same filing, Cadex also registered to discuss becoming a chosen firearms supplier for the Canadian military through the Munitions Supply Program.

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