British Columbia Dog Breeder Licensing Requirements

No provincial licence, permit or registration is needed to breed or sell dogs in British Columbia. In 2017 the legislature passed the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Amendment Act, 2017 (Bill 7), which added a new Part 2.2 letting the province require operators of a regulated activity to be licensed or registered through a designated agency, such as the BC SPCA. Those sections take effect only by regulation, and they are still listed as not in force in the act's October 20, 2026 consolidation; no regulation has created a licence or designated an agency. What does apply is the Cattery and Kennel Regulation (B.C. Reg. 96/2016). It defines a kennel as a place where a domestic dog is kept for breeding for commercial purposes, whether or not the dog or its puppies are purebred, or for commercial boarding, and it makes operating a kennel a regulated activity under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act (ss. 1 and 2). Every person responsible for an animal, which includes owners, anyone with custody or control and operators, must care for it, protect it from circumstances likely to cause distress, and not cause or permit it to be in distress (Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, ss. 1 and 9.1). Municipal rules can add licensing. Surrey's Business License By-law defines a hobby kennel as one where no more than six dogs over six months old are kept for breeding or showing and requires the hobby kennel operator to live on the lot (s. 52); the City of Surrey licenses no more than three dogs to a property unless a hobby or commercial kennel licence is in place. Surrey also bars pet store owners and operators from selling, offering for sale or displaying to the public any dog, cat or rabbit (Business License By-law, s. 55.1), and its pet store definition excludes the city's animal shelter and shelters or rescues that are registered charities or non-member-funded societies. In Vancouver, council enacted By-laws 11999 and 12000 on December 12, 2017, amending the Business Prohibition By-law and the License By-law regarding the sale of dogs, cats and rabbits in pet stores, following a staff report on banning their sale in retail outlets.

There is no provincial application, because British Columbia has no breeder licence. Instead, anyone keeping dogs for commercial breeding should work to the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association's A Code of Practice for Canadian Kennel Operations, Third Edition (2018), whose requirements and recommendations the Cattery and Kennel Regulation recognizes as the reasonable and generally accepted practices for operating a kennel (s. 4). The code covers facilities, sanitation, food and water, health care, record keeping, socialization, breeding and the placement of puppies. Its breeding requirements include a veterinarian's finding that a dog is sound for breeding before it enters a breeding program, not breeding a dam before her second estrous cycle or 18 months of age, whichever comes first (or as a veterinarian otherwise recommends), and deciding breeding frequency, total number of breedings and retirement age in consultation with a veterinarian (code, s. 4.1.2). For sales, puppies must be fully weaned, eating on their own and at least eight weeks old before going to a new owner unless a veterinarian directs otherwise; every change of ownership needs a written agreement; dogs must be in a veterinary-directed health program; the new owner must receive health care and medical history documentation; and known inherited conformation problems, cosmetic alterations and behaviour concerns must be disclosed before sale (code, s. 4.3). Where a city licenses kennels, apply to the city: in Surrey, a business licence is required for every business carried on in the city (Business License By-law, s. 7), and the by-law sets separate hobby kennel and commercial kennel licence fees.

The province charges no breeder licence fee. Municipal kennel licences carry their own fees. Surrey's Business License By-law (Schedule A) lists $146 a year for a hobby kennel with 3 dogs, $289 a year for a hobby kennel with 4 to 6 dogs, and $579 a year for a commercial kennel, which the by-law defines as a kennel for boarding, training and keeping dogs not owned by the operator or lot owner. If the BC SPCA takes custody of an animal, the owner is liable for the society's reasonable costs, and the society may require payment before returning the animal (Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, s. 20). Appealing a custody decision to the BC Farm Industry Review Board costs $100 (Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Regulation, s. 3).

The act continues the British Columbia Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (BC SPCA), and the society's authorized agents may use their enforcement powers only if they are appointed as special provincial constables under the Police Act (ss. 3 and 10). In parts of the province where the society has no agent, police officers or persons appointed by the minister may act (s. 22). An authorized agent may enter without a warrant, during ordinary business hours, any premises other than a dwelling house where animals are kept for sale, hire or exhibition, to check whether any animal is in distress (s. 15). Because operating a kennel is a regulated activity, an agent may also enter premises or a vehicle where a kennel is operated to check compliance with the act and regulations; entry without a warrant or consent is allowed only if the place is not used as a dwelling house and only during ordinary business hours (s. 15.1). During that inspection the agent may bring an expert, require relevant records or things to be produced, inspect, copy or remove them, and take samples (s. 15.2). Other entries need a warrant from a justice, except to relieve critical distress in a place other than a dwelling house (ss. 13 and 14). If an animal is in distress and the person responsible does not promptly relieve it, the agent may take custody and arrange care and veterinary treatment (s. 11); the owner can ask the society to review that decision and then appeal to the BC Farm Industry Review Board (ss. 20.1 to 20.3). The BC SPCA describes itself as the only animal welfare organization in B.C. with authority to investigate abuse or neglect complaints under the act; it can recommend charges under the act and the Criminal Code, and Crown Counsel decides whether to prosecute.

The act and its regulations do not impose a separate record-keeping duty on breeders; a 2017 amendment that would require operators to keep prescribed records (new s. 9.2(3)) has not been brought into force. The kennel code recognized under the Cattery and Kennel Regulation, however, requires unique identification for adult dogs and non-nursing puppies; current, legible written or electronic records; identification records for each dog (date of birth, breed, sex, colour, markings, microchip or tattoo, owner contact details, and for every transfer the date, the other party's name, address, phone and email, and any sale contract); health records (disease testing, vaccination and deworming, spay or neuter date, illnesses and treatment); and whelping records for sires, dams and litters, including weekly puppy weights until weaning. All animal records must be kept for at least two years after the animal leaves the premises or dies (code, s. 3.1.2). During an inspection of a kennel, a BC SPCA agent may require relevant records to be produced and may copy or remove them (Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, s. 15.2).

Breaching the duties of care (s. 9.1), operator duties (s. 9.2), the vehicle transport rule (s. 9.3), the ban on obstruction or giving false information (s. 23), or the rules against causing distress and animal fighting (ss. 23.1 to 23.3) is an offence (s. 24(1)). On conviction, a person is liable to a fine of up to $75,000, up to two years in jail, or both (s. 24.1). A justice may also prohibit the person from owning or having custody or control of an animal for a period the justice sets, on any terms, and breaking that order is a further offence (s. 24(3) to (5)). Employees, officers, directors and agents of a corporation, and employers, who authorized, permitted or acquiesced in an offence are also liable (s. 24.01). A prosecution may be started up to three years after the facts first come to the knowledge of a BC SPCA agent who is a special provincial constable (s. 24(6)). A person is not convicted over an animal's distress if it results from an activity carried out in accordance with reasonable and generally accepted practices of animal management (s. 24.02(c)); for kennels, those practices are the CVMA kennel code (Cattery and Kennel Regulation, s. 4), so following the code is a breeder's main protection. Surrey's pet store ban and kennel licensing are enforced under its business licensing by-law.