With some exceptions, it is illegal to possess hand-held lasers over 1 milliwatt (mW) in public areas within:
Up until 2012 any laser pointer was legal to own in Canada. At the time the problems involving handheld laser pointers were occuring at an increasing rate. The biggest problem that prompted Health Canada to regulate laser pointers was pilots and aircraft getting stuck by laser beams. This particular problem already came with pricey fines and even jailtime, but that wasn't enough to curb the occurances.
Starting on June 12, 2012 new regulations were established regarding the importation and sale of laser pointers (handheld battery powered) that emit a power of over 5mW (miliwatts). The regulations were created and are governed by Health Canada (a division of the Governement of Canada), more details can be found in the Canadian Consumer Protection Act.
Canadians are not alone. United States has also banned laser pointers over 5mW, and they did so years before Canada. United Kingdom, Australia and much of Europe only allows up to 1mW.
Be Aware: If you attempt to purchase a laser pointer over 5mW it's means it's coming from outside North America and when it's going through customs it will be checked and held or returned to sender. Worse case scenario the store where you purchased from will not honor a refund.
