Hey everyone,

I want to buy http://tinyurl.com/s25c7 for EDC, but I'm not sure if it is legal in Ontario, Canada. Is it?

It is legal, just like any other hunting knife.
The 3.5" blade length only applies to folders or concealed weapons.

That does not mean you can carry it into schools, offices, taverns or movie theaters. They have the right to set their own policies about what they allow on their property.

What does 'concealed weapons' mean? If you have it in a bag or something? Would people hassle me about it, even though its legal?

The quick answer is that the knife itself is legal, but how you carry it matters.

What 3.5" blade length, scafool? There's no reference to blade length in the Criminal Code, and a couple of months back I searched case law for any reference to blade length and found nothing. Is that just a local guideline? Do you know something I don't?

Dean, Canadian law for knives is actually very relaxed. The only laws specific to knives are those that prohibit automatic knives, any knife that opens by centrifugal force or gravity, and push daggers.

Other than that, knives are covered by general laws on carrying weapons. There are three provisions that really matter:

1. a weapon is anything designed for use, intended for use, or actually used to harm someone or intimidate them.
2. you may not carry a weapon for the purpose of committing an offence or causing a breach of the peace.
3. you may not carry a weapon concealed, period. (There's a provision for concealed firearms permits, but that doesn't apply here.)

So as you can see, everything hinges on whether the knife is a weapon, which is a matter of its design, your behaviour with it, and how a cop and the courts interpret your intent.

If you have a clear reason to carry that knife, e.g. carrying it openly while hunting or fishing, or carrying it home from the place of purchase, there would be no problem. Carry that same knife concealed in downtown Toronto, with the stated purpose of cutting string and tape, and you'd be in trouble.

What about carrying it in the sheath around a downtown area, or anywhere?

Thanks Andrew, I just looked and you are right.
Section 3 of the federal act listing prohibited weapons does not say anything about blade length, though it does specify some styles of knives.

I might have made a mistake, or it might be Provincial or municipal.
Either way I stand corrected and thanks for pointing it out.

However, Dean, people have been charged with prohibited weapons just for carrying a buck knife.
There is also a charge of "Possession of weapon for a purpose dangerous to public peace" which lets them charge you with anything as a weapon, even a folded newspaper, based on intent.

So think about what Andrew said at the end about how you carry, why you carry and where you carry that toad sticker.

Edit;
Maybe the best way to answer is say, "Ask yourself if you would stop you and question you if you were a cop."

I'm not in Canada, but I'd bet a lot of Canadian dollars that carrying a knife with an 8 inch blade "in the sheath around a downtown area" would cause you some problems.

The cops would look at whether you're carrying a weapon dangerous to the public peace. That's a question of how they interpret your intent, based on the context and your behaviour. The test is reasonability: would a reasonable person consider that knife appropriate to whatever you were doing?

Note that self-defence is not considered a valid reason to carry a weapon except under very limited circumstances.

Carrying that knife downtown would result in it being confiscated, and probably in charges.

Carrying that knife while hunting or fishing probably wouldn't raise any eyebrows -- unless you got involved in an altercation.

scafool's test is the right one: would you question it, if you were a cop?

A key point to remember is a knife is a tool, and not a weapon when questioned, in any area you may be in.
Edit, I guess I need to work more on making sure my sarcasm is more noticeable

It might be a good trick to convince the "downtown" authorities that a sheath knife with an 8 inch tanto blade, designed for "penetrating power" as Kabar ad itself says, is a tool and not a weapon.