Canada Health of Animals Act — importation, forfeiture of unlawful imports & penalties (ss. 16, 17, 31) — verbatim extracts from the Health of Animals Act (R.S.C. 1985, c. H-3.3; S.C. 1990, c. 21) as published on the Justice Laws Website. The Act is Canada's federal animal-disease and border-control statute; its import provisions apply to any animal (including exotic companion animals) brought into Canada. C1 substring-verified against pdf-parsed/ca-2026/health_of_animals_act_1990_fulltext.txt.
Importation into Canada
16 (1) Where a person imports into Canada any animal, animal product, animal byproduct, animal food or veterinary biologic, or any other thing used in respect of animals or contaminated by a disease or toxic substance, the person shall, either before or at the time of importation, present the animal, animal product, animal by-product, animal food, veterinary biologic or other thing to an inspector, officer or customs officer who may inspect it or detain it until it has been inspected or otherwise dealt with by an inspector or officer.
Forfeiture of imports
17 Subject to section 18, if the Minister determines that an animal or thing has been imported — or an attempt has been made to import an animal or thing — in contravention of this Act or the regulations or that a requirement imposed by or under the regulations in respect of an imported animal or thing has not been met, it is forfeited to Her Majesty in right of Canada and may be disposed of as the Minister may direct.
Penalty
Every person who contravenes any provision of this Act, other than section 15, or the regulations or who refuses or neglects to perform any duty imposed by or under the Act or the regulations is guilty of (a) an offence punishable on summary conviction and liable to a fine not exceeding fifty thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or to both; or (b) an indictable offence and liable to a fine not exceeding two hundred and fifty thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or to both.
These import/forfeiture/penalty provisions are the Canada-tier mechanism governing the lawful entry of live animals (including exotic pets) and the consequences of unlawful importation. The Minister may also make regulations prohibiting or governing importation (s.22) and may forbid entry of animals/things into Canada or a province where a disease or toxic substance exists (s.13).