Can a suit stop a bullet? What ballistic tailoring really is, and the law in Canada

In John Wick: Chapter 2, Keanu Reeves asks his tailor for a “tactical” lining, and for the rest of the series his jackets stop bullets. Three questions follow every time someone watches it: is that real, would it actually protect you, and could you legally own one here? The answers are partly, not the way the films show, and it depends which province you are standing in.

First, plainly: Sam does not make ballistic or protective garments, and nothing on this page is an offer to. We are a tailor explaining how these things work, the way we would at the counter if you asked.

Is a bulletproof suit real?

Bullet-resistant clothing is real, and a small specialist industry makes it. The best-known maker, in Bogotá, has been producing jackets, blazers and shirts with protection inside since the early 1990s. Underneath, these are ordinary-looking garments with pockets sewn into the lining that hold thin panels of very strong fibre: aramids, the family that includes Kevlar and Twaron, or ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene, sold as Dyneema. The panels slide out so the garment can be cleaned. Hobby builders have made working John Wick jackets the same way, with layers of soft armour cut to fit inside.

The suit cloth does nothing. Wool, however fine or tightly woven, stops nothing. All of the protection is in the panels, and only where the panels are.

What would it actually stop?

In North America the usual reference is the US National Institute of Justice standard. For years its levels ran IIA, II and IIIA for soft armour, and III and IV for armour that needs rigid plates. The current version, NIJ Standard 0101.07, published at the end of 2023, keeps the threat levels in a separate document and relabels them: handgun levels HG1 and HG2, and rifle levels RF1 to RF3. You will still see the old labels on a lot of armour.

The practical line is the same under either system. Soft, flexible panels thin enough to hide in a jacket are made for handgun rounds. Rifle protection needs hard plates, and no tailored jacket can hide a hard plate without looking like it is hiding one.

Would you walk away unhurt?

No, and this is the part the films skip. Soft armour stops a bullet going in. It does not stop the blow. When the round is caught, the panel bulges into the body behind it. Under the 2008 version of the US standard, a soft panel could pass its test while letting a stopped round push a dent of up to 44 millimetres, about an inch and three quarters, into the clay behind it. Luca Mosca, the costume designer on the first three films, said much the same of Wick’s fictional fabric: the bullet would not get through, and the impact would still break ribs.

The other limits are plainer:

• Coverage stops at the edge of the panel. Panels in the chest and back leave the arms, neck, sides and legs.
• A jacket held up as a shield is fiction. Loose panels in a swinging jacket would fold, slide and leave gaps.
• It is heavier, warmer and stiffer than the suit it looks like. The jacket has to be cut around the panels, so it never hangs quite like a normal suit, and on a humid Toronto afternoon it is a sauna.

That is why the honest word is bullet-resistant, not bulletproof.

Is it legal to own body armour in Canada?

It depends on the province. There is no single national permit system for owning body armour; the provinces regulate it, and four have their own laws. A jacket with ballistic panels in the lining is body armour for these purposes. Alberta’s government, for example, defines body armour as any garment or item that protects the body from objects used to stab, pierce or puncture it, and a jacket with ballistic panels fits that description.

• Alberta. The province’s body armour permit page says you must have a permit to buy, transport or wear body armour, issued under the Body Armour Control Act. Some workers, including police officers, licensed security guards and emergency health workers, are exempt.
• British Columbia. The government’s page on possessing body armour says you must apply to the Registrar of Security Services for permission to possess it, unless you are exempt. Exemptions include licensed security workers while working, peace officers and holders of a valid Canadian firearms licence. Visitors and people who believe they face imminent harm can apply for a 90-day exemption.
• Manitoba. Under The Body Armour and Fortified Vehicle Control Act, possessing body armour is prohibited without a valid permit, granted only after screening, with exemptions for police, fire, ambulance and licensed security staff.
• Nova Scotia. Since 20 February 2019, the province has restricted possession to people who need body armour for their work, such as police, sheriffs, corrections officers, security guards and paramedics. Temporary permit regulations that took effect on 22 September 2026 add a narrow route for Nova Scotia residents leaving the province to do humanitarian journalism or media work.

Ontario had no body armour statute of its own when we checked in October 2026, and we found no Ontario rule requiring a private individual to hold a permit. The same appears to be true of the provinces and territories not listed above. That does not mean anything goes: other laws can still care how and why armour is worn, and the rules change.

Travel matters. The rules follow where you are, not where you live. A jacket you can keep in a closet in Vaughan needs a permit or an exemption in Alberta, B.C. or Manitoba, and is off limits to most people in Nova Scotia. Other countries, and individual US states, set their own rules.

This is background written by tailors, not legal advice. If you are seriously considering owning or travelling with armour, read the current rules for every province you will be in, or ask a lawyer.

So what is worth taking from the John Wick suit?

For almost everyone, the cut. Nearly every man who asks about Wick’s jacket wants to look like that, not to be shot at. The near-black cloth, the trim line and the high armhole that lets you move are ordinary tailoring, legal in every province, and the subject of the John Wick suit guide, which sets out exactly what to ask for. If you want the cut made to your measurements, book a time and say so at the first appointment.

Where the details come from: Film Independent on Luca Mosca, the National Institute of Justice on Standard 0101.07, Wikipedia on the Bogotá maker, and the provincial pages linked above. Check the current law in your province before acting on any of it.