Flying to Toronto with a Pet: Canada's Entry Rules for Dogs and Cats
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Check the CFIA's import rules for your pet's species, age and country of origin, then confirm with your airline that your pet can fly on every leg. Dogs eight months or older and cats three months or older need rabies documentation that meets the CFIA's requirements.
Scope: For pet dogs and cats travelling with their owner on a flight into Canada, for example to Toronto. Commercial imports, assistance dogs, animals being sold or adopted, and animals other than dogs, cats and ferrets have different rules and aren't covered. Airline and airport pet policies differ and aren't listed.
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Bringing a dog or cat into Canada involves two separate sets of rules: the Canadian Food Inspection Agency's import requirements, which decide whether your pet can enter, and your airline's pet policy, which decides whether and how your pet can fly. This guide covers the first and tells you what to confirm about the second.
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Part of: Flying with a Pet
What changes by airline
- Whether your pet can travel in the cabin, as checked baggage or as cargo
- The carrier size and type required
- Which documents the airline asks for
General advice: applies wherever you fly
Start with two checks, in this order
First, check Canada's import requirements for your pet's species, age and the country it's coming from. Second, confirm with your airline, before you book, that your pet can travel on your route, whether in the cabin or as checked baggage or cargo, and which carrier and documents the airline needs.
Allow time: some requirements, such as a rabies vaccination or an antibody test, have to happen weeks before travel.
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Official rules: Canada (CFIA)
Dogs
The CFIA's import reference document says a dog under three months old at the time of import doesn't need a rabies vaccination or rabies-free-country certification.
A dog eight months or older from a country Canada designates as free from rabies can enter with a veterinarian's certificate that identifies the dog and shows rabies hasn't existed in that country for the six months before shipment.
A dog eight months or older from a country that isn't designated rabies-free needs a valid rabies vaccination certificate issued in English or French by a licensed veterinarian in the country of origin, identifying the dog and showing it's currently vaccinated. The alternative is a rabies neutralising antibody titre test result of at least 0.5 IU/ml, taken at least 30 days after a prior rabies vaccination.
Dogs between three and eight months old have their own conditions, which differ depending on whether they travel with their owner. Check the CFIA's reference document for your dog's exact age.
Official rules: Canada (CFIA)
Cats
The CFIA's import reference document says domestic cats under three months old aren't subject to any import restrictions.
A cat three months or older must arrive with a veterinarian's certificate, in English or French, that clearly identifies it and shows that it's currently vaccinated against rabies, or that it's coming from a designated rabies-free country where it lived for the six months before entry, or that it has a rabies antibody titre test result of at least 0.5 IU/ml taken at least 30 days after a prior vaccination (with the lab report travelling with the cat).
If a cat doesn't meet those requirements, an inspector may order it vaccinated against rabies at the owner's expense within a set time.
General advice: applies wherever you fly
Before you fly, confirm these
Keep written confirmation where you can.
Checklist
- Your pet's exact requirements in the CFIA's Automated Import Reference System for its species, age and country of origin.
- That your airline accepts your pet on every flight in your itinerary, in the cabin or as checked or cargo travel.
- The carrier size and type your airline requires.
- That vaccination certificates or test results are dated and worded as the rules require, in English or French.
- Where your pet can have a break at your departure and connecting airports. Check each airport's own website.
Official sources
Rules and amounts change. Before you rely on anything marked as an official rule, check the source. These are the official pages we used.
- Travelling with a pet · Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA)
- Import Reference Document (Health of Animals Regulations) · Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA)
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