Thank you for the reply Sgt. I know it is a sensative issue here but military surplus has been worn by civies for many years and most of it brought from authentic surplus stores. From what I've seen, the military will throw something out for the most minor reason, sometimes these reasons don't need to be addressed by the civy and other times it is just a matter of a little needle and thread.
The '82 pattern is being surplused all over the place and some civies use it for hiking, hunting, etc. Same with the old OD clothing. The civy should not be pressed upon for wearing something that the Canadian government said is ok. If the government does not like it they can make it illegal.
Of course stolen equipment of any type is illegal as well as issue CADPAT which has not been surplused yet. Commercial CADPAT is of course a legal version made by the commercial market and wearable by anyone, even if they want to go around in full CADPAT pants, jacket, and pack...as long as they are not trying to pass themselves off as a member of the military.
Being a civy though, it still irks me when I see surplus clothing being worn with rank patches. Rank patches is like a cop badge, only those who were appointed that rank should be wearing it. And from my martial art training...sure anyone can buy a black belt, but you shouldn't wear it unless you are a black belt; where the gi whenever you like.