Hong Kong is one of the cheapest strict destinations from Canada and one of the least forgiving. Canada is a Group II place, which means a compliant pet is exempted from quarantine altogether. Get the documentation wrong and the minimum is four months. The permit itself costs HK$432. On this route the money is small and the margin for error is the thing to manage.
| Cost | Amount | Who charges it |
|---|---|---|
| AFCD special permit, first animal | HK$432 | Hong Kong AFCD |
| Each additional animal | HK$102 | Hong Kong AFCD |
| Quarantine, if fully compliant | Exempted | Hong Kong AFCD |
| Quarantine, if documentation is not in order | Minimum four months | Hong Kong AFCD |
| Animal health certificate, form VC-DC2 | Set by your clinic | Your veterinarian |
| Export certificate endorsement | Set by the CFIA at the endorsement appointment | CFIA |
| IATA crate | CAD $80 to $340 at retail depending on size | Retail |
| Airline freight | Quoted per booking | Airline |
The permit is the spine of this route. It is valid for six months and covers one consignment only, and AFCD takes five working days from receiving the application and the fee to issuing it. Everything your veterinarian has to do is set by the conditions printed on that permit, and the health certificate is a specific form, VC-DC2. That is why the sensible order is to apply for the permit first and let it tell you what the vet work is, rather than arranging vaccinations and then discovering they do not match the conditions.
The quarantine exemption is conditional, not automatic. It applies subject to full compliance with the permit conditions. An animal that arrives showing signs of disease, or without the right documents, can be held, and an animal arriving with no documentation at all faces a minimum of four months. That asymmetry is the whole risk on this route, and it is a paperwork risk rather than a money one.
Two of Hong Kong’s conditions decide whether the move can happen at all, and neither is about money. Four dog types cannot be imported: the Pit Bull Terrier, also known as the American Staffordshire Terrier, the Japanese Tosa, the Dogo Argentino and the Fila Braziliero, along with any crossbreed of them. A Staffordshire Bull Terrier can go, but it travels with a statutory declaration confirming the breed, because the two are easily confused on paper.
Age is the other. A dog or cat under five months old must not be imported, and neither may an animal more than four weeks pregnant. That five month floor interacts with the vaccination window, since the rabies vaccination has to be given not less than 30 days and not more than one year before export, so a young animal has to be old enough for the shot and then old enough again to travel.
The microchip must meet the ISO standard or the AVID standard and be readable by an AVID or other ISO compatible reader. Get any of this wrong and the permit terms allow the animal to be returned to the country of export, or quarantined for a period the Senior Veterinary Officer decides.
Live animal freight from Canada is priced per booking rather than from a rate card. Chargeable weight is whichever is greater, the actual weight of pet and crate together, or a volume figure taken from the crate’s dimensions, so for most dogs the crate decides the price. Send us the two cities and the crate size and we will quote the real rate.
Your vet sets their own fees. The examination, any vaccination and the VC-DC2 certificate are priced by your clinic and vary by province. Boarding, and domestic travel to the departure airport, sit outside these figures, as does anything AFCD charges if your pet is held on arrival.
Crate size drives the flight cost, as on every route. After that it is the season and whether the routing is direct. The largest single variable on this route is not priced at all: it is whether the permit conditions are met exactly, because the difference between full compliance and a gap in the paperwork is the difference between walking out of the airport and four months of boarding.
Checked September 2026. Permit fees, validity and the quarantine position come from the Hong Kong Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department guidance on importing dogs and cats from Group II places. The veterinary requirements themselves are set by the conditions on your permit, so read that document rather than relying on any summary, including this one.
Send us the route, the breed and roughly when you want to travel. Request a quote and we will reply with an itemised plan, a timeline and a real number for your pet rather than a range.
Last updated 7 September 2026
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