Most pets enter Canada in the back of a car, not in an aircraft hold, and the people driving them are usually coming home rather than emigrating. That shapes the whole question. The Canadian border is less a clearance process than a conversation with one officer, and what decides how it goes is what you say and what you can produce.
The short answer is that you can handle a great deal of it. If your dog or cat is in the vehicle with you, there is no broker, no filing and no facility to visit. What you must do is declare the animal and carry paperwork that satisfies an officer on the spot. Where it gets harder is an animal arriving on its own as air freight, or a species that is protected, and in those cases the work starts weeks before anyone reaches a border.
Declare the Animal, Every Time
Start here, because it is the one rule with no nuance in it. The CFIA states that “Travellers are required, by law, to declare all plant, animal, and food items they bring into Canada.” A family pet is an animal item.
The CBSA sets out what can follow. Its officers “will inspect and can refuse entry, confiscate or detain an animal” if any of four things is true, and the first is the one people create for themselves:
- The animal is undeclared, including family pets.
- You do not have the necessary permits or certificates.
- The animal is suspected of being sick or infected with a pest or disease.
- The animal is transported in a non-humane way and not kept safe from harm and injury.
Notice what that list does not include. It says nothing about where you came from and nothing about what species you are carrying. Three of the four are within your control on the day, and the first costs nothing at all to get right.
Two Agencies, and Only One of Them Meets Your Pet
The division of labour is worth understanding early, because the agency that writes the rules is not the agency you will speak to.
The CBSA is clear about it: “The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is responsible for establishing import requirements for all animals.” The CFIA decides what your animal needs. It does not, in the ordinary case, meet your animal.
The border services officer does. That officer applies the CFIA’s requirements at the port, decides whether your documents satisfy them, and holds the power to refuse entry, confiscate or detain. Where a CFIA inspection is required, the CFIA says this is flagged in its Automated Import Reference System rather than decided at the booth.
The practical consequence is worth stating plainly. Arguing the biology of your case at the border is the wrong move, because the officer in front of you did not write the rule and cannot rewrite it. Turning up with the document the rule asks for is the right one, and that work happens at your veterinarian’s office weeks earlier.
What the Inspection Costs, and Why Origin Is Not the Test
This is the part most published advice gets wrong, including ours until we went back and read the schedule itself. The charge is set by the purpose of the import, not by the country the animal is coming from.
The CFIA Fees Notice sets out, at item 14, the fee for inspecting animals presented at the time of importation. For dogs, cats or ferrets imported for any purpose other than research or transit, it is CAD $36.95 for the first animal in the shipment and CAD $6.16 for each additional animal.
Two lines in that item do name the United States, and they are narrower than a general exemption rather than broader. They cover animals imported from the US for use in research and consigned to a facility approved by the Canadian Council on Animal Care, and animals imported from the US in transit to another country. Both sit at CAD $43.12.
There is no line anywhere in item 14 that exempts a pet because it is arriving from the United States. Whether an officer raises the charge on any particular crossing is a question for the port rather than something the schedule answers, so the honest planning position is to budget for it and be pleased if it does not appear. The notice prints two columns of rates and they change every 31 March, so read the current one.
| Which line applies | First animal | Each additional |
|---|---|---|
| Dog, cat or ferret imported for any purpose other than research or transit | CAD $36.95 | CAD $6.16 |
| From the US for research at a CCAC-approved facility, or in transit to another country | CAD $43.12 per shipment | CAD $43.12 per shipment |
| Where an inspector has made a vaccination order | CAD $67.75 | CAD $36.95 |
The Vaccination Order Is the Expensive Line
One line in the same item costs almost twice as much, and it is triggered by your paperwork rather than by your animal.
Where an inspector has made a vaccination order, the Fees Notice sets CAD $67.75 for the first animal and CAD $36.95 for each additional animal. That line carries no origin qualifier at all.
A vaccination order is what happens when the rabies certificate is missing, unreadable, undated, or does not identify the animal in front of the officer. So the difference between the routine charge and the expensive one is not the length of your drive or the breed of your dog. It is whether a piece of paper does its job at the moment it is handed over. That is the inspection charge alone, and the veterinarian who carries out the vaccination bills separately.
This is the single strongest argument for reading your own certificate before you travel rather than filing it unopened. Check that the microchip or tattoo number on the certificate matches the animal, that the vaccine name and date are legible, and that the veterinarian signed it.
Arriving as Freight Rather Than in the Car
Everything above assumes the animal is with you. An animal arriving in Canada on its own is a different transaction.
It travels on an air waybill, lands at a cargo facility rather than a passenger hall, and is released against that document by people whose hours and procedures are built for freight. You may well be able to collect it in person, but the release itself runs on the shipment rather than on you, and the facility is often not at the terminal you would drive to as a passenger.
Two Canadian details matter when planning this. Air Canada Cargo states that door-to-door service is not available for animals, and that not every city it serves has a cargo facility, so the airport nearest the new address is not always the airport the animal can land at. And both Canadian carriers treat live animals as a specialized product with its own booking route rather than something added to a passenger reservation.
If the animal is flying rather than driving, settle the arrival airport before the flight is booked. Changing it afterwards usually means rebooking the animal, not rerouting it.
Birds and Exotics Arriving in Canada
A protected species arriving in Canada adds a federal permit layer that has nothing to do with animal health, and the requirement differs by CITES appendix.
Environment and Climate Change Canada sets it out simply. For an Appendix I species you need two documents: a Canadian CITES import permit, and a CITES export permit issued by the country the animal is leaving. For an Appendix II species you need one: the export permit from that country.
That difference is worth checking before anything else, because a Canadian import permit is an application with a processing time attached, and an Appendix I animal cannot lawfully enter without one. Many common pet species sit in Appendix II, where the paperwork burden falls on the exporting side, but the appendix is a property of the species rather than of the animal, so it is a question of fact rather than judgement.
If you are moving a bird or an exotic pet in the other direction, out of Canada, the export sequence is set out on our bird and exotic pet transport page.
What You Can Genuinely Do Yourself
More of it than the trade tends to let on. Five things, all free:
- Declare the animal. It is a legal requirement and it is the first item on the CBSA’s own list of reasons an animal is refused.
- Read your own rabies certificate before you travel, and check that the identification number on it matches the animal.
- Drive your own dog or cat across the border with no broker, no filing and no facility to visit.
- Look up the requirement yourself. The CFIA publishes it, and its Automated Import Reference System is where a required inspection is flagged.
- Carry your own copies of every certificate rather than relying on someone else to hold them.
What Is Harder to Do Alone
The narrow parts are worth naming honestly, because they are the parts we are actually paid for.
Sequencing is most of it. A rabies certificate has to be valid on the day of travel rather than the day of booking, an export certificate has a window measured from the veterinary examination, and a CITES application has a service standard that runs in calendar days regardless of your flight. Get the order wrong and the remedy is usually another veterinary appointment, not another email.
The freight side is the other part. Which Canadian stations can physically accept a live shipment, and which aircraft types will carry one at all, is operational knowledge held by the carriers rather than something published for planning.
And there is the answer nobody wants to give: sometimes it is no. Some species cannot enter some countries, and some breeds cannot fly on some carriers. We would rather say so in the first conversation than after you have bought a crate.
Pet Travel Advisors has been moving animals since 2023. We are licensed and insured, our team is certified in the IATA Live Animals Regulations, and the documentation work follows CFIA requirements. Plenty of our clients drive their own dog across the border and hand us only the part that needs a specialist. That is a perfectly normal way to use us.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to declare my pet at the Canadian border?
Yes, and it is not a formality. The CFIA states that travellers are required by law to declare all plant, animal and food items brought into Canada, and the CBSA lists an undeclared animal, “including family pets”, as the first of four reasons an officer may refuse entry, confiscate or detain it. Declaring costs nothing and takes a sentence.
Is there a fee to bring my dog into Canada from the United States?
There can be. The CFIA Fees Notice sets the charge by the purpose of the import rather than by the country of origin: dogs, cats or ferrets imported for any purpose other than research or transit are CAD $36.95 for the first animal and CAD $6.16 for each additional animal. The two lines in that item that name the United States are narrower, covering research and transit only, both at CAD $43.12. Whether an officer raises the charge on a given crossing is a question for the port, so budget for it.
What is a vaccination order and why does it cost more?
It is what an inspector issues when the rabies certificate is missing, unreadable, undated or does not identify the animal. Where one has been made, the Fees Notice sets CAD $67.75 for the first animal and CAD $36.95 for each additional animal, and that line carries no origin qualifier. The inspection charge is separate from whatever the veterinarian charges for the vaccination itself.
Who actually inspects my pet, the CFIA or the CBSA?
The CBSA. Its own page states that the CFIA “is responsible for establishing import requirements for all animals”, while CBSA officers inspect at the port and can refuse entry, confiscate or detain. So the agency that wrote the rule is not the one you will be speaking to, which is why arriving with the right document beats explaining your situation.
My pet is flying to Canada without me. What changes?
It arrives as freight rather than as baggage. It travels on an air waybill, lands at a cargo facility rather than a passenger hall, and is released against that document. Air Canada Cargo also publishes two constraints worth planning around: door-to-door service is not available for animals, and not every city it serves has a cargo facility, so the nearest airport is not always the arrival airport.
Does my parrot or tortoise need a permit to enter Canada?
It depends on the CITES appendix its species sits in. Environment and Climate Change Canada requires a Canadian CITES import permit plus an export permit from the sending country for an Appendix I species, and only the sending country’s export permit for an Appendix II species. Check the appendix before anything else, because the Canadian import permit is an application with a processing time attached.
Can I clear my own pet, or do I need to hire someone?
For a dog or cat in your own vehicle, you can almost certainly do it yourself, and the useful preparation is free: declare the animal and carry a certificate that reads clearly. For an animal arriving as air freight, or a protected species, the work sits weeks before the border in sequencing and permits, and that is the part we are usually hired for.
Sources
- Canada Border Services Agency, travelling with animals.
- Canadian Food Inspection Agency, importing or travelling with pets, and the Automated Import Reference System.
- CFIA Fees Notice, Part 11, item 14, inspection of animals presented at the time of importation.
- Environment and Climate Change Canada, trade in protected species: permit requirements.
- Air Canada Cargo, before you book: animals.
Figures and rules verified September 2026. CFIA rates change every 31 March.
If you would rather hand over only the difficult part, tell us what you are moving and where, and we will say plainly which bits you can do yourself. For what an airline is liable for while the animal is in its care, see pet shipping insurance and airline liability in Canada.
Last updated 8 September 2026