Alberta Dog Breeder Licensing Requirements

No provincial licence, permit or registration is needed to breed or sell dogs in Alberta. Neither the Animal Protection Act (RSA 2000, c. A-41) nor the Animal Protection Regulation (Alta Reg 203/2005) sets up a breeder licence, and the regulation adopts outside care standards only for animals used in research and for zoos, not for dog kennels (Animal Protection Regulation, s. 2). The regulation's transport rules do apply to all animals: no one may load or transport an animal that would suffer unduly during transport because of illness, injury, fatigue or another cause, or crowd animals in a vehicle in a way likely to cause injury or undue suffering (Animal Protection Regulation, ss. 10 and 11). Instead, every person who owns or is in charge of an animal must ensure it has adequate food and water, provide adequate care when it is wounded or ill, give it reasonable protection from injurious heat or cold, and provide adequate shelter, ventilation and space (Animal Protection Act, s. 2.1), and no one may cause an animal to be in distress or, as owner or person in charge, permit it to be or stay in distress (s. 2). Distress that results from reasonable and generally accepted practices of animal care, management or husbandry does not count (s. 2(2)). The act sets no minimum age for selling puppies, no limit on breeding frequency and no disclosure rule for sales. Licensing happens at the city level. In Calgary, a business that cares for, boards, breeds or sells animals needs a municipal business licence (the kennel service/pet dealer licence type), but a person who owns three or fewer animals kept as personal pets and sells no more than one litter of offspring from each animal in a calendar year does not. Calgary's Responsible Pet Ownership Bylaw also limits households to six cats and six dogs, and the City says it will grant excess animal permits where reasonable to accommodate breeders. In Edmonton, the Animal Care and Control Bylaw (Bylaw 21244, in effect May 19, 2026) allows no more than three dogs on any premises, not counting dogs under six months old, but the limit does not apply to a non-residential property with a business licence for an Animal Breeding and Boarding Facility under the Business Licence Bylaw (Bylaw 21244, s. 36). That business category covers a business that keeps animals on the premises for breeding, boarding, sale or similar purposes (Business Licence Bylaw 20002, Schedule A).

There is no provincial application. In Calgary, breeders who need a licence apply to the City for a business licence under the kennel service/pet dealer licence type, which needs land use and fire approvals; the City generally discourages home-based animal boarding and reviews home-based kennel service/pet dealer applications before approval. Even businesses that do not need a Calgary licence still need a Business ID and land use approval. Calgary breeders who keep more than six dogs or six cats apply through 311 for an excess animal permit, which requires every pet to be licensed and is approved by the Chief Bylaw Officer. In Edmonton, keeping more than three adult dogs for breeding requires an Animal Breeding and Boarding Facility business licence for a non-residential property, with application requirements set out in the Business Licence Bylaw (Bylaw 20002, Schedule B); every cat and dog over six months old in Edmonton also needs a City pet licence.

Alberta charges no provincial breeder fee. Business licence fees for Calgary's kennel service/pet dealer licence and Edmonton's Animal Breeding and Boarding Facility licence are set by each city. When a peace officer takes an animal into custody, the humane society or caretaker may recover its expenses from the owner under the regulation's tariff and may require payment before returning the animal (Animal Protection Act, s. 5). The tariff allows up to $15 a day for the food, water, care and shelter of an animal weighing 20 kg or less, up to $30 a day for one over 20 kg and under 200 kg, transportation of a non-livestock animal at up to $30 a trip for 50 km or less or $1 a kilometre beyond that, and the actual cost of necessary veterinary treatment (Animal Protection Regulation, s. 18).

Enforcement rests with peace officers, defined as RCMP members, municipal police and peace officers appointed under the Peace Officer Act for the purposes of the act (Animal Protection Act, s. 1(1)(g)). The Alberta SPCA's peace officers take reports from anywhere outside the cities of Edmonton and Calgary; in Calgary, the Calgary Humane Society's Animal Protection Team investigates cruelty and neglect; and in Edmonton, the City's Animal Control Peace Officers enforce the act, a role previously filled by the Edmonton Humane Society; the City's animal protection team investigates neglect concerns wherever animals are up for sale, hire or exhibition, such as pet stores. A peace officer may enter, without a warrant and during ordinary business hours, any premises other than a private dwelling house where animals are kept for sale, hire or exhibition, to inspect the animals (s. 10). If an officer believes on reasonable and probable grounds that an animal is in distress, the officer may enter land, a vehicle or a place other than a private dwelling house without a warrant when getting one is not practical, but needs a warrant for a private dwelling house (s. 4). If the owner does not relieve the distress, the officer may take custody of the animal and arrange food, water, care, shelter and veterinary treatment (s. 3). When the Animal Protection Amendment Act, 2026 is proclaimed, peace officers will be able to enter at any reasonable time and without a warrant any land, vehicle or place where animals are kept for sale, adoption, hire or exhibition, boarding, grooming and training facilities, and places used to facilitate the sale or transfer of animals (a private dwelling house still needs consent or a court order), require records and answers, and issue corrective action orders (new ss. 3, 10 and 10.1).

Alberta's act and regulation impose no record-keeping duty on breeders. In Calgary, kennel service/pet dealer licence holders must keep a permanent, legible written or electronic record of the supplier's name and address and the purchase date for each animal bought, a full description of the animal, and the buyer's name and address and the sale date for each animal sold; entries may not be erased, defaced or altered, and the record must be shown immediately to a licence inspector on demand. Once the 2026 amendments are proclaimed, a peace officer inspecting a place where animals are kept for sale will be able to require production of records related to the animals and copy them (new s. 10.1).

Anyone who contravenes the act or the regulations commits an offence and is liable to a fine of up to $20,000 (Animal Protection Act, s. 12(1)). If an owner is found guilty of causing or permitting distress, the court may also order that the owner not continue to have custody of an animal for a period it sets, on terms it considers appropriate (s. 12(2) and (3)). A peace officer may apply to the Court of King's Bench for custody of an animal while a charge is pending (s. 13). Unless another act says otherwise, a provincial offence prosecution must begin within 12 months of the offence (Provincial Offences Procedure Act, s. 4(1)). The Animal Protection Amendment Act, 2026 (SA 2026, c. 6), once proclaimed, replaces these rules: the maximum becomes a fine of $250,000, up to 12 months in jail, or both; each day an offence continues is a separate offence and fines can be counted per animal; a court can add a fine equal to any monetary benefit gained; prohibition orders can ban or limit owning, keeping or living with animals for any period, including for life, and in some cases can be granted without a conviction; orders from other provinces and territories become enforceable in Alberta; and prosecutions may start up to two years after evidence first comes to a peace officer's attention (new ss. 12, 12.1 and 13.1).