How to Bring Your Dog or Cat to Canada

The short answer

For most people bringing a personal dog or cat to Canada, the whole requirement is one document: a valid rabies vaccination certificate for any animal 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. Puppies and kittens under 3 months are exempt from the rabies requirement, there is no post-import quarantine for pet dogs that meet the rules, and no microchip or import permit is needed for an ordinary personal pet. The complications are all in the details — the certificate's wording, the animal's age, whether it travels with you, and whether the import is personal or commercial — so sort those before you book travel, not at the border.

Step 1: Work out which rules apply to your pet

The CFIA's requirements turn on four things: the species, the animal's age, the country it is coming from, and the purpose of the import. A personal pet travelling with its owner is the simplest case. A dog travelling without its owner, a puppy under 8 months old, and any commercial import — for sale, adoption, breeding or exhibition — each add requirements. The CFIA's Automated Import Reference System (AIRS) gives the requirements for your exact combination, and the CFIA's Import Reference Document sets out the rules for domestic dogs and cats by age and origin. Run that check before you buy tickets: requirements can change, and the airline has its own separate rules about crates, health certificates and breeds that have nothing to do with the CFIA.

Step 2: The rabies vaccination certificate

For a dog or cat 3 months or older, the rabies vaccination certificate is the document that matters. The CFIA's Import Reference Document requires it to:

• Be written in English or French
• Be issued and signed by a licensed veterinarian
• Clearly identify the animal
• Show that the animal is currently vaccinated against rabies

A cat may instead enter on a veterinarian's certificate showing it comes from a country the CFIA designates as free from rabies and lived there for the six months before entry, or on a Rabies Neutralising Antibody Titre Test result of at least 0.5 IU/ml taken at least 30 days after any prior rabies vaccination. A dog has the same alternatives. Confirm the exact certificate wording the CFIA expects for your animal in the CFIA's Automated Import Reference System before you travel, since the certificate rules turn on the animal's age, the country of origin, and whether it travels with you. Carry the physical original of every required document: the CFIA strongly recommends travelling with originals, because a hard copy may be requested at inspection, and a phone photo is not a substitute.

Step 3: Puppies and kittens under 3 months

A domestic dog or cat under 3 months old is not subject to the rabies vaccination requirement at all. The CFIA's Import Reference Document states this plainly for both species: a dog less than 3 months old at the time of import does not require rabies vaccination or certification, and a domestic cat less than 3 months old is not subject to any import restrictions. What you do need is proof of the animal's age from a veterinarian, so the border officer can see the exemption applies. Plan the vaccination for when the animal is old enough — the requirement will apply on any later trip.

Step 4: Dogs travelling without their owner, and rabies-free countries

Two special cases change the paperwork:

• A dog under 8 months old travelling without its owner needs the rabies certificate plus a veterinary certificate of health from an examination shortly before import. The CFIA's Import Reference Document requires the dog to be imported not more than 72 hours after that examination, and the certificate must state the examination findings, the vaccinations given, and the date and time of the examination.
• A dog or cat from a rabies-free country can enter on a veterinary certificate instead of a rabies certificate. The certificate must be issued and signed by a licensed veterinarian, identify the animal, and be accompanied by confirmation from the government veterinary authority that no rabies has occurred in the country in the six months before shipment — or, for a dog, a Rabies Country-Freedom Certificate from that authority. The countries the CFIA treats this way include Australia, Fiji, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Sweden and the United Kingdom, but confirm the current list in AIRS rather than relying on memory.

Certified assistance dogs travelling with their handler are a further exception: the CFIA's Import Reference Document states that an assistance dog imported as a guide, hearing, or other service dog is not subject to any import restrictions where the person importing the dog is the user of the dog and accompanies the dog.

Step 5: Commercial dogs — the high-risk country ban

If the dog is being imported for sale, adoption, breeding, exhibition or any other commercial purpose, it is not a personal pet and the rules tighten sharply. The CFIA states that commercial dogs from countries at high risk for dog rabies are no longer permitted entry into Canada, and it will not issue import permits for them — so a rescue dog from a high-risk country cannot be brought in by calling it a personal pet either. Commercial imports generally need an import permit requested through the CFIA's online portal, My CFIA, plus a veterinary certificate of health. If you are adopting from abroad, confirm the dog's origin country against the CFIA's high-risk list before you pay anything or book transport.

At the border: declaring and inspection

Travellers are required by law to declare all plant, animal and food items they bring into Canada, and that includes a family pet — say so on your declaration, do not wait to be asked. At the border, a CBSA officer inspects the animal to confirm it appears healthy and checks the documents against the CFIA's requirements. An animal that appears ill can be refused entry even with correct paperwork. The CFIA notes that advance notice is needed for CFIA inspections of live animals at some ports of entry, and that an inspection by a CFIA veterinarian may be required at the first point of arrival — if your route involves one, arrange the appointment at least 24 hours before you arrive. An inspection fee may also apply at the border; the amount is not confirmed on the CFIA pages, so check the current fee before you travel rather than budgeting from a figure quoted elsewhere.

After arrival: provincial and city rules still apply

Clearing the federal border is not the end of the paperwork. Provinces and cities have their own rules — including local licensing and, in some places, breed-specific rules — that apply once the animal lives in Canada. Check the rules where you will live before you travel, and licence the animal locally once you arrive. Our Toronto dog-licensing guide covers the city process step by step.

Figures the CFIA pages do not state

The CFIA pages do not state the border inspection fee, so no dollar figure is given in this guide — 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. The 72-hour window for the veterinary certificate of health for an unaccompanied young dog IS stated in the CFIA's Import Reference Document, as is the rabies-free country list in this guide — the list matches the CFIA pet import tool's list — but confirm your country in AIRS, since the list can change.

Related guides

• 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.
• How to import and export goods in Canada — the wider import picture: permits, declarations, and the agencies involved when goods cross the border.
• How to licence your dog in Toronto — the next step after arrival in Toronto: the city licence, the fee, and keeping it current.
• How to start sponsoring your parents or grandparents to come to Canada — the family-move companion: the people side of the same relocation.
• 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, Importing terrestrial animals to Canada — the CFIA's pet import guidelines, the declaration requirement, the commercial-dog ban for high-risk countries, and the advance-notice rule for inspections.
• Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Import Reference Document — the rules for domestic dogs and cats by age: under 3 months exempt, no post-import quarantine for pet dogs, and the rabies-free country route.
• Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Import policies for live animals — the CFIA's live-animal import policies and the pointer to the Automated Import Reference System for pet-specific requirements.