Canada's cat and dog import rules are set out in the CFIA import reference document (under the Health of Animals Regulations). If you are travelling with a pet or planning to import an animal to Canada, you will need the right paperwork at the border to meet Canada's import requirements. If you don't, you risk experiencing delays at the border and your animal may not be allowed into Canada.
Domestic cats
Domestic cats less than three (3) months of age are not subject to any restrictions for importation. Older cats need documentation: Domestic cats three (3) months of age or over may be imported if the animal is accompanied at the time of importation by a veterinarian's certificate, in English or French, that clearly identifies the animal and indicates that:
Domestic dogs
A key traveler-friendly rule: Pet dogs imported from any country are not subject to post-import quarantine in Canada. Very young dogs are exempt from rabies proof: A dog that is less than three months of age at the time of import does not require rabies vaccination or certification that the dog is being imported from a country designated as free from rabies under section 7 of the Regulations (Rabies-free country).
Entry conditions then split by age and the rabies status of the country of origin:
Dogs eight months of age or older from a country designated as free from rabies under section 7 of the Regulations (Rabies-free country) may enter Canada if:Dogs eight months of age or older from a country that is not designated as free from rabies under section 7 of the Regulations (Rabies-free country) may enter Canada if:Pet dogs less than eight months of age that are accompanied by the owner may enter Canada from:Pet dogs less than eight months of age that are not accompanied by the owner may enter Canada from any country if:
Assistance dogs are unrestricted when travelling with their user: An assistance dog that is imported as a guide, hearing, or other service dog is not subject to any restrictions for import where the person importing the assistance dog is the user of the dog and accompanies the dog to Canada.
Owners bear the preparedness burden: You must complete certain dog import requirements within specific timeframes. As the dog owner, it is your responsibility to make sure that your dog meets all requirements and that all necessary documents are ready before travelling to or from Canada. Failure to do so may result in your dog being denied entry.
Related: CA_HEALTH_OF_ANIMALS_ACT_IMPORT (Health of Animals Act importation/penalties) and pet_travel_us_cdc_dog_2024 (US CDC 2024 dog rules for the return trip).
Honest gap: the specific rabies-vaccination-certificate conditions nested under each dog subsection (e.g., certificate timing, validity windows) are rendered inside CFIA's interactive import tool and were not captured as verbatim text in this extraction; this topic presents the CFIA reference-document framework (section numbers and age tiers) as published.
Source: pdf-raw/pet-travel/reference-document.txt, pdf-raw/pet-travel/pets.txt, pdf-raw/pet-travel/dog-travel.txt (CFIA / Government of Canada, landed 2026-08-18).
Claims (verified C1 substrings of source_file)
If you are travelling with a pet or planning to import an animal to Canada, you will need the right paperwork at the border to meet Canada's import requirements. If you don't, you risk experiencing delays at the border and your animal may not be allowed into Canada.Domestic cats less than three (3) months of age are not subject to any restrictions for importation.Domestic cats three (3) months of age or over may be imported if the animal is accompanied at the time of importation by a veterinarian's certificate, in English or French, that clearly identifies the animal and indicates that:Pet dogs imported from any country are not subject to post-import quarantine in Canada.A dog that is less than three months of age at the time of import does not require rabies vaccination or certification that the dog is being imported from a country designated as free from rabies under section 7 of the Regulations (Rabies-free country).Dogs eight months of age or older from a country designated as free from rabies under section 7 of the Regulations (Rabies-free country) may enter Canada if:Dogs eight months of age or older from a country that is not designated as free from rabies under section 7 of the Regulations (Rabies-free country) may enter Canada if:Pet dogs less than eight months of age that are accompanied by the owner may enter Canada from:An assistance dog that is imported as a guide, hearing, or other service dog is not subject to any restrictions for import where the person importing the assistance dog is the user of the dog and accompanies the dog to Canada.You must complete certain dog import requirements within specific timeframes. As the dog owner, it is your responsibility to make sure that your dog meets all requirements and that all necessary documents are ready before travelling to or from Canada. Failure to do so may result in your dog being denied entry.