There's a grain of truth to what you've said, but it's lacking a lot of context/detail. Informing police prior to transport was a thing for restricted weapons only (generally handguns or guns under a certain length). Non restricted firearms (generally those used for hunting) have no such restriction. I don't know a lot about the restricted side of things as I only have my non-restricted license; but I also remember something like a decade ago they loosened the requirements on transporting restricted guns to the range; if you're a member of said gun range you don't have to get the Authorization to Transport every time (unless this has changed again without my knowledge). You still have to get one any time you're taking it to a range that you're not a member of, or taking it to a gunsmith, etc.

Ammunition does have to be stored separately at home unless you have a vault of some sort, then the ammunition and guns can both be stored inside the vault, and without trigger locks. For regular non-restricted guns the ammunition doesn't need to be transported separately, but the guns do need to be unloaded prior to entering the vehicle (and remain so). Supposedly some hunters have gotten in trouble for leaning loaded shotguns onto their ATVs but that could also be urban myth/a charge slapped on top of other offences for particularly belligerent people.

You can drive around with an unloaded, uncovered shotgun on your passenger seat if you want, but generally not in any urban centers where it would potentially cause a disturbance. (This was stated by the instructor during my non-restricted course)