Your Family Pets
If you are bringing your pets with you, you will have to have medical documents showing that the animals are healthy, and follow certain procedures while crossing the border. Please keep in mind, all documents for your animals have to be in English or French.
1 Cats and Dogs
If you are bringing kittens or puppies under 3 months old, you don’t have to show medical documents for them. For all cats and dogs older than 3 months, you’ll have to prove that they don’t have rabies.
If you are coming from a country recognized as rabies-free (that is, a country in which there hasn’t been a case of rabies for some time), you have to get a document from a veterinarian who works for a government veterinary service in your country, stating that there has been no cases of rabies in your country for at least 6 months, and that your cats or dogs have been in the country that whole time. Currently, countries recognized by the government of Canada as rabies-free are:
- Antigua
- Australia
- Bahamas
- Barbados
- Bermuda
- Cayman Islands
- Fiji
- Finland
- Iceland
- Ireland (Republic of)
- Jamaica
- Japan
- New Zealand
- Norway
- St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla
- St. Lucia
- St. Martin (Netherlands Antilles)
- St. Pierre et Miquelon Islands
- St. Vincent
- Sweden
- Taiwan
- Turks and Caicos Islands
- United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland)
- Uruguay
If you can’t obtain this certificate, you have to follow the steps below for people coming from countries not recognized as rabies-free.
If you are coming from any other country, you will have to ask your veterinarian for a document certifying that your cats or dogs have had current rabies vaccinations. If your animals haven’t had current vaccinations, you must ask your veterinarian to vaccinate them before coming to Canada.
Your veterinarian must include in the certificate of current vaccination the following information:
- Identification and description of the animal: name, gender, breed, colour, age, weight, etc. (if you have more than one pet, each will need a separate certificate)
- Trade name of the rabies vaccine
- Serial number of the rabies vaccine
- Amount of years for which it’s valid (maximum 3 years)
Unless you are coming from the United States, you will have to pay a fee at the point of entry. The current fees are:
- $30 for the first animal
- $5 for each additional animal
or
- $55 for the first animal if you don’t have the necessary documents
- $30 for each additional animal if you don’t have the necessary documents
If you don’t have the necessary documents when crossing the border with your cats or dogs, a customs agent at your point of entry will order you to bring your pets to a licensed veterinarian in Canada within a certain time, so they can be immunized. You will then have to take the immunization certificate to a customs agent.
When you are crossing the border, be sure that your cats are securely in carriages, and dogs are on leashes and wearing muzzles. If you are crossing the border by car, please make sure the animals are not free to move around and you can easily remove them, as you might be asked to leave the car, and customs agents might have to search it. If you are coming by plane, please ask your airline customer service what the airline’s own rules are. Some airlines specify the size of cat carriages and length of leashes for dogs, how many pets you can take on the flight, and where they have to stay during the flight.
If your dog is certified as a special needs dog (such as seeing eye, guide dogs, etc.), you don’t need to follow any of the above procedures.
2 Birds
As of this writing, it is prohibited to bring birds from certain Asian countries due to the outbreak of “bird flu”. If you are coming from a country in Asia, please contact your local CFIA office to find out whether you will be allowed to bring your bird to Canada.
You can only bring those birds with you that are typically bred as pet birds and live in cages. You cannot bring pigeons, farm birds, or wild birds.
If you are coming from the United States, you will have to sign a declaration at the point of entry stating that:
- The birds are your personal pets and you are not intending to sell them in Canada
- The birds are healthy
- Neither you nor your family members have brought birds into Canada in the last 90 days
- The birds have been with you for the last 90 days and haven’t come in contact with any other birds
If you can’t meet the last condition, you have to get an Import Permit from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Please make sure you submit your application at least 2 weeks before crossing the border. A Food Inspection Agency worker will contact about 3 days after the Agency receives your application.
If you are coming from any other country, you will have to:
- Get an Import Permit from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. This Permit can only be processed in the country you are coming from, so you must contact your local CFIA office and request the application for your country. You must request the application at least 3 months before going to Canada, as you will need to complete several other steps before you can import your bird.
- Contact a CFIA office in the province in which you are planning to live. You must do this after you already know where you will be living. A CFIA worker will have to inspect the space where you will be living. He or she will then contact your local office, and they will be able to proceed with your application.
- Write and sign a declaration stating that:
- The birds are your personal pets and you are not intending to sell them in Canada
- The birds are healthy
- Neither you nor your family members have brought birds into Canada in the last 90 days
- The birds have been with you for the last 90 days and haven’t come in contact with any other birds
Once all these documents are ready, your local CFIA office will either issue you an Import Permit or explain why you cannot bring your bird to Canada.
3 Rodents
You are not allowed to import prairie dogs, Gambian Pouch Rats, or squirrels into Canada. You can bring any other rodent pets, like mice, chinchillas, guinea pigs, beavers, chipmunks, porcupines, lemmings, groundhogs, etc. There are no restrictions on bringing them to Canada, and you do not need to obtain any documents for them.
4 Fish
There are no restrictions on bringing your aquarium fish to Canada. You do not need to obtain any documents for the fish.
