Bringing Dogs Between the U.S. and Canada

Each country applies its own import rules to dogs arriving from the other, and those rules depend on the dog's age and why it is crossing. Every dog entering the United States must meet the rules of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and a dog imported for resale or adoption must also meet the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal Welfare Act import rules, run by APHIS Animal Care. Every dog entering Canada must meet the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) requirements under the Health of Animals Act and Regulations, which treat personal pets differently from commercial dogs (dogs brought in to be sold, adopted out, given or transferred to someone else, fostered, bred or shown). Canada's humane transport rules (Part XII of the Health of Animals Regulations) also apply to every animal entering or leaving Canada. These federal rules do not replace provincial, territorial, state or local requirements, which importers must also meet.

Since August 1, 2024, every dog entering the United States, including a U.S. dog coming home, must be at least 6 months old on arrival, have a microchip that can be read with a universal scanner, appear healthy, and arrive with a receipt showing that a CDC Dog Import Form was submitted before arrival (42 CFR 71.51(f), (g) and (h)). A dog that arrives at a land crossing without the receipt is refused and sent back, although the owner can apply again once the form is filed. Canada is not on the CDC's list of countries at high risk for dog rabies. For a dog that has been only in Canada, the United States or Mexico, the CDC Dog Import Form is the only document the CDC requires, so no rabies certificate is needed for CDC purposes, and the dog can enter at any airport, seaport or land border crossing. The form can be completed on the day of travel, and the receipt stays valid for 6 months of repeat trips as long as the dog keeps travelling from the same country and does not visit a high-risk country. Stricter rules apply to a dog that has been in a high-risk country in the past 6 months, which can include rescue dogs imported into Canada from abroad: a dog vaccinated against rabies outside the United States cannot enter by land and must fly into an airport with a CDC-registered animal care facility.

A dog imported into the United States for resale needs an import permit from APHIS Animal Care under the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2148; 9 CFR 2.150 to 2.153). The rule covers dogs from any part of the world, including Canada. APHIS counts any transfer of ownership for compensation after import as resale, including sales through retail or wholesale channels and adoptions for a fee or donation. The dog must be at least 6 months old and arrive with an original health certificate in English from a veterinarian licensed in the exporting country. The certificate must name the importer, identify the dog, and state that it is at least 6 months old, is in good health, and was vaccinated against distemper, hepatitis, leptospirosis, parvovirus and parainfluenza (DHLPP) within the 12 months before arrival. It also needs a rabies vaccination certificate in English showing that the dog was vaccinated at 3 months of age or older and at least 30 days before arrival, with the vaccination still valid on arrival. The permit is applied for online through APHIS eFile at least 5 business days before import (APHIS guidance states there is no fee), and the dog must arrive within 30 days after the proposed arrival date on the permit. The permit and certificates are presented to U.S. Customs at the port of first arrival, and a dog refused entry can be removed or seized, with the importer paying for its care. No permit is needed when there is no resale after import, for example a pet delivered to its owner, a show dog, a breeding dog that will not be resold, or a dog bought from a Canadian breeder and delivered to a new owner who will not resell it. The CDC rules apply in every case.

The CFIA treats a dog as a personal pet only if it will live with its owner, the owner is the importer, and the owner obtained ownership before the dog enters Canada. A dog brought in to be given away, sold, fostered, bred, shown or used for other commercial purposes is a commercial dog. A pet dog 8 months or older coming from the United States needs a valid rabies vaccination certificate, and must appear healthy and be transported humanely. The certificate must be in English or French (or come with an official translation), be issued and signed by a licensed veterinarian, identify the dog and its owner, and give the vaccination date, the vaccine's trade name and serial number, and the period of validity (if none is given, the vaccination is treated as valid for 1 year). The dog must have been at least 3 months old when vaccinated. A pet puppy between 3 and 8 months old needs the same rabies certificate. If it is not travelling with its owner, it also needs a Veterinary Certificate of Health from an examination in the 72 hours before import, showing that it is at least 8 weeks old, healthy, fit to travel, and vaccinated at 6 weeks or older against distemper, hepatitis, parainfluenza and parvovirus. A pet puppy under 3 months does not need a rabies vaccination but needs proof of age from a veterinarian, plus the Veterinary Certificate of Health if it is not travelling with its owner. Pet dogs are not quarantined in Canada. If a pet dog arrives without valid proof of rabies vaccination, the CFIA can order the owner to have it vaccinated within a set time, at the owner's expense.

A commercial dog under 8 months of age can enter Canada only under a CFIA import permit. For puppies from the United States imported for resale or adoption, the CFIA requires a single-entry permit, applied for through My CFIA before the shipment, that lists the number of dogs and the full route and port of entry. Before the permit is issued, the importer must prove that the kennel where the puppies were born and have always lived holds a valid USDA licence; state, county and city licences are not accepted. Each puppy needs a Veterinary Certificate of Health issued by a USDA-accredited veterinarian within 48 hours before export, showing that it was at least 16 weeks old when examined, was vaccinated against rabies at 12 weeks of age or older and at least 28 days before export, was vaccinated at 6 weeks or older against distemper, hepatitis, parainfluenza and parvovirus at least 28 days before export, was treated for internal and external parasites in the 7 days before export, and is identified with an ISO microchip. The certificate must also confirm that the kennel showed no evidence of those diseases in the previous 90 days or of rabies in the previous 6 months. Puppies born in one country and moved to another to be raised are not eligible. The importer must book the CFIA veterinary inspection at the port of entry before the puppies leave, and for an air shipment must have a CFIA-approved quarantine facility within 100 km of the first port of entry. Air shipments must follow the International Air Transport Association's Live Animals Regulations. A commercial dog 8 months or older from the United States needs a valid rabies vaccination certificate and no import permit.

A Canadian breeder can import puppies under 8 months from the United States under the breeding end use, which has different conditions. The importer must show current membership in the Canadian Kennel Club or another equivalent national breed association or club in Canada, and the kennel address on the permit application must match the address on the membership. Each permit allows at most 2 dogs, and each importing kennel can receive at most 2 permits a year; a breeder who wants more must meet the resale and adoption requirements. Instead of a USDA licence, the U.S. kennel needs a Kennel of Origin Certificate: a USDA-accredited veterinarian must have inspected it in the 90 days before export against standards for veterinary care, identification and records, housing, sanitation, water, feed storage and waste removal, and a USDA official veterinarian must endorse the certificate, which must be issued within 7 days before export. The puppies must be at least 8 weeks old, examined in the 5 days before export, treated for internal and external parasites in the 7 days before export, vaccinated against distemper, hepatitis, parainfluenza and parvovirus, and identified with an ISO microchip. Puppies under 12 weeks may travel without a rabies vaccination; puppies 12 weeks or older must be vaccinated against rabies before export, with no waiting period.

Since September 28, 2022, Canada has prohibited the entry of commercial dogs of any age from countries that the CFIA lists as high-risk for dog rabies, and the CFIA no longer issues import permits for them. The CFIA says the prohibition applies until further notice. The United States is not on the CFIA's list. The CDC keeps its own high-risk list, which includes neither Canada nor Mexico. A dog travelling from Canada that has been in a CDC high-risk country in the past 6 months must meet the CDC's high-risk rules instead of the simpler rules for dogs that have been only in Canada.

A Canadian breeder cannot send a young puppy to a U.S. buyer: the CDC refuses entry to any dog that is under 6 months old on arrival. The same rule stops a U.S. puppy under 6 months from returning home after a show or trip in Canada. A dog 6 months or older sold to a U.S. buyer who keeps it as a pet must meet the CDC requirements but does not need the APHIS resale permit; if the U.S. buyer will resell it or adopt it out for a fee, the permit and certificates also apply. The CFIA lists transferring ownership as a commercial purpose, so a puppy that a U.S. breeder sends into Canada to complete a sale is a commercial import; a dog counts as a personal pet only if its owner is the importer and already owned it before it entered Canada. A commercial puppy under 8 months needs a CFIA import permit and, for resale or adoption, a kennel of origin with a USDA licence and puppies at least 16 weeks old when examined for export, so a U.S. breeder licensed only by a state or local government cannot meet the resale and adoption conditions. Under the Animal Pedigree Act, a dog offered or sold in Canada as registered on the strength of a U.S. or other foreign registry must come with an express statement that its registration is from outside Canada (s. 64(e)), and a seller who will not deliver Canadian registration papers within six months of the sale must have stated that the registration is foreign and that the dog will not be registered in Canada (s. 64(j)). Anyone moving the dogs must follow Canada's humane transport rules. An unfit dog, which includes a female in the last 10 percent of pregnancy or one that gave birth in the previous 48 hours, generally may not be loaded or transported (Health of Animals Regulations, ss. 136 and 139). Unless the vehicle is specially equipped, dogs must be given feed, water and rest at intervals of no more than 36 hours, or 12 hours for a compromised dog (ss. 152.2 and 152.4). Commercial carriers and anyone else transporting animals in the course of business or for financial benefit must have a contingency plan and make a transport record for each shipment (ss. 138.2 and 154). On the U.S. side, the CDC counts a flight parent (a person who carries dogs for an importer for resale, adoption or transfer of ownership) as an importer, and flight parents must hold any federal licences or registrations the USDA requires.