Bringing a Dog or Cat to Canada Checklist

The short answer

For most personal pets, this checklist has one document at its centre: a valid rabies vaccination certificate for any dog or cat 3 months or older. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) sets the import rules and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) checks the animal and the documents at the border. This page is the checklist only — tick each item off as you complete it. The full walkthrough, with the certificate wording and the commercial-import rules, is in our companion guide on bringing a dog or cat to Canada.

The checklist

Work down this list in order, and check each item off only when it is done.

• Confirm which rules fit your pet. The CFIA's requirements turn on four things: the species (dog or cat), the animal's age, the country it is coming from, and whether it travels with its owner. A personal pet travelling with its owner is the simplest case; a young dog travelling alone and any commercial import add requirements.
• Get the rabies vaccination certificate, if the animal is 3 months or older. It must be a valid certificate issued in English or French by a licensed veterinarian from the country of origin, clearly identifying the animal and showing that the animal is currently vaccinated against rabies.
• If the animal is under 3 months old, carry proof of age instead. A dog under 3 months does not require rabies vaccination or certification, and a domestic cat under 3 months is not subject to any import restrictions. A veterinarian's proof of age shows the officer the exemption applies.
• If the animal comes from a rabies-free country, get the veterinary certificate instead of a rabies certificate. For a cat, the certificate must be in English or French, identify the animal, and show it lived in a country designated as free from rabies during the six months immediately before entry. For a dog 8 months or older, it must show rabies has not existed in that country for the six months before shipment and the dog was there for that period or since birth. Confirm the CFIA's current designation for the country before you travel.
• If the animal has a rabies antibody titre test instead of a vaccination certificate, check it meets the CFIA's numbers. The test must show a titre of at least 0.5 IU/ml, taken at least 30 days after any prior rabies vaccination, with the animal properly identified on the laboratory report and the report travelling with the animal.
• If a dog under 8 months old travels without its owner, get the veterinary certificate of health as well. It must bear the veterinarian's signature and name in legible handwriting, state the dog is at least 8 weeks old at examination, free from any clinical evidence of disease, vaccinated at no earlier than 6 weeks of age for distemper, hepatitis, parvovirus and parainfluenza, and able to be transported without undue suffering. The dog must be imported not more than 72 hours after the examination.
• If the dog is a certified assistance dog travelling with its handler, note the exemption. An assistance dog imported as a guide, hearing, or other service dog is not subject to any restrictions where the person importing the dog is the user of the dog and accompanies the dog to Canada.
• Declare the pet when you arrive. You must declare all food, plant and animal products when you arrive, and that includes any pets you are travelling with. If you do not declare them, border services officers may seize them and you may have to pay a penalty of up to $1,300.
• Expect a border inspection, not quarantine. Pet dogs imported from any country are not subject to post-import quarantine in Canada. The officer inspects the animal to confirm it appears healthy and checks the documents. If the animal does not meet the requirements, an inspector may order you to have it vaccinated against rabies at your own expense and to present the vaccination certificate to an inspector.
• Check the licensing rules where you will live, once you arrive. Clearing the federal border is not the end of the paperwork: provinces and cities have their own rules, including local licensing. Check the rules where you will live before you travel, and licence the animal locally once you arrive.

Figures the linked pages do not state

The CFIA Import Reference Document and the CBSA page do not state the border inspection fee, so no dollar figure is given in this checklist — secondary sources report $30 plus tax for the first animal and $5 plus tax for each additional animal, with animals arriving from the United States exempt, but that figure could not be confirmed on an official page and may have changed. They do not state whether a microchip is required for a personal pet, so this checklist makes no microchip claim. They do not list the rabies-free countries by name, so confirm your country's designation on the CFIA's site before you travel. They also do not state how long a rabies certificate stays valid, so this checklist says only that the animal must be currently vaccinated — re-check the certificate's validity on the day you travel.

Related guides

• How to Bring Your Dog or Cat to Canada — the companion walkthrough: the certificate wording, the under-3-months rule, the special cases, and the commercial-dog rules, in full.
• How to licence your dog in Toronto — the next step after arrival in Toronto: the city licence, the fee, and keeping it current.
• Newcomer arrival checklist — the wider arrival list: the documents and first tasks for a newcomer, alongside the pet's paperwork.
• How to import personal goods from the USA to Canada — the companion for the rest of the move: what else in your shipment gets declared, and what the CBSA checks alongside the pet.
• Travel document checker — check the travel documents for the humans in the party before you sort the pet's paperwork.

Sources

• Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Import Reference Document (As referenced in the Health of Animals Regulations) — the rules for domestic cats and dogs by age and origin: under 3 months exempt, the rabies certificate and rabies-free country routes, the titre-test alternative, the unaccompanied young-dog health certificate and its 72-hour window, the assistance-dog exemption, and no post-import quarantine for pet dogs. Last amended October 8, 2025.
• Canada Border Services Agency, What visitors can bring into Canada — the declaration requirement for all food, plant and animal products including pets, and the seizure and up-to-$1,300 penalty for undeclared items.