How to Licence Your Dog in Toronto

This guide covers the City of Toronto only. Every dog living in Toronto must be licensed and wear a tag, and the licence must be renewed every year. Licensing is run by Toronto Animal Services with the City's online partner, DocuPet. Rules, fees, and providers in other Ontario municipalities are different, so if your dog lives outside Toronto, check with that municipality instead of using the Toronto figures here. All fees and routes below come from the City of Toronto pet licensing fees page and the City of Toronto ways to licence your pet page.

Step 1: Confirm the fee for your dog

Pet licences are valid for one year and must be renewed before the expiration date. The licence includes a pet tag at no additional charge. The fees on the City page are:

• Dog, spayed or neutered: $25.00
• Dog, not spayed or neutered: $60.00
• Service dog: no charge
• Replacement tag: $5.65

Failure to license a dog or cat every year may result in a $240 ticket or a maximum fine of $5,000.

Special rates apply in three cases. Pet owners aged 65 and over receive 50% off pet licence fees, and the senior rate does not apply to replacement tags. Households with income of less than $50,000 will qualify for subsidized or waived fees; call 416-338-7297 or email petlicensing@toronto.ca for more information. When licensing a Certified Guide or Assistance Dog for the first time, call 416-338-7297 or email petlicensing@toronto.ca for more information, since future renewals may be done online once the status is verified. If your pet has been designated a dangerous dog, visit a Toronto Animal Services location if this is your first year of dangerous dog designation.

All of the money from pet licensing fees goes to help the animals in Toronto's shelters. The City lists food, shelter and spay or neuter care, emergency animal rescue, returning lost pets, veterinary services, rescuing sick, injured, or distressed animals and wildlife, spay and neuter programs, adoptions, investigating animal care issues, and keeping neighbourhoods safe among the uses the fees support.

Step 2: Licence online, by phone, by mail, or in person

The City has partnered with DocuPet to make pet licensing and renewals faster and easier. The four routes are:

Online: use the DocuPet service to get or renew a pet licence. Payment can be made using a credit card or Visa or Mastercard debit card.

By phone: call 416-338-PETS (7387), Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

By mail: fill out a Pet Licence Application and send it with a cheque, payable to Treasurer, City of Toronto, to Toronto Animal Services, 433 Eastern Ave., Building B, 2nd Floor, Toronto, ON M4M 1B7.

In person: licensing is available at Toronto Animal Services shelters. Note that with in-person services you will still receive your pet tag in the mail. Animal shelters are open to the public by appointment only; call 416-338-7297 during the hours of 10:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. to make an appointment. The locations are:

• Toronto Animal Services North, Animal Shelter and Spay/Neuter Clinic, 1300 Sheppard Ave W, Toronto, ON M3K 2A6
• Toronto Animal Services East, Animal Shelter and Spay/Neuter Clinic, 821 Progress Avenue, Toronto, ON M1H 2X4
• Toronto Animal Services West, Animal Shelter, 146 The East Mall, Toronto, ON M8Z 5V5

Step 3: Keep the licence current

Licences expire exactly 365 days from the licence start date. You can renew your pet's licence within 60 days of the current licence expiration date. If you renew before the upcoming expiration date, the new licence will start the day after expiration, not on the date of purchase.

If your pet has been spayed or neutered since your last pet licence was purchased, contact 1-855-249-1370 to adjust your pet's profile to the appropriate status, so the spayed or neutered fee applies at renewal. Refunds may be granted for a licence if a pet passes or is returned within 30 days of the licence purchase.

If you are moving within the City of Toronto, update your address by logging into your online account and going to the Profile Settings page. You will still be able to keep your pet's tag and access the online account. If you are moving outside Toronto, get in touch with the pet licensing provider in the new community to find out what applies there, since a Toronto licence does not carry over as a local licence elsewhere.

What this guide could not verify

The opened City pages state the fees, routes, and renewal rules above, but state no list of documents you must present, such as proof of rabies vaccination or proof of spaying or neutering, and no processing time for a licence or tag beyond the note that an in-person tag arrives in the mail. This guide therefore states no document checklist and no delivery time. Confirm what proof, if any, the application asks for when you licence online, by phone, by mail, or in person, and do not assume a document from another municipality's process is required in Toronto.

Related guides:

• How to Start a Dog Training Business in Canada — the business side of working with dogs in Canada, separate from a pet licence.
• How to Start a Dog Walking and Pet Sitting Business in Canada — dog walking and pet sitting as a business, with its own permits and insurance questions.
• How to Start a Pet Grooming Business in Canada — pet grooming as a business, separate from licensing your own dog.

Sources

• City of Toronto, Pet Licensing Fees — the licence requirement and tag, the dog fees, the service dog and replacement tag fees, senior and low-income rates, renewal timing, refunds, moving rules, penalties, and where the money goes.
• City of Toronto, Ways to License Your Pet — online, phone, mail, and in-person routes, payment methods, the mail address, and the three shelter locations and appointment rule.
• DocuPet, Pet Licensing in Toronto — the City's online licensing partner service, the mandatory licence, the 365-day expiry, and the renewal window.