Before you fly · Everyone
What CFIA requires to bring a pet from India to Canada
The short answer
A personal pet dog or cat may enter Canada from India without an import permit. What it needs is a rabies vaccination certificate carrying seven specific details, and an animal that arrives healthy. The ban people actually hit is a different one: commercial dogs from India are prohibited outright, and CFIA counts adoption, fostering and rescue as commercial.
On this page
The hard part of moving a pet from India to Canada is not the paperwork. It is that the same dog gets two opposite answers depending on a question nobody thinks to ask: why is it entering?
Personal pet or commercial import
Canada treats these as different things, and the gap between them is the whole subject.
Your own pet: admissible
- Travelling with you, or sent unaccompanied as your animal
- No import permit, at any age
- A rabies vaccination certificate from three months old
- Arrives healthy and transported humanely
- India being high-risk for rabies does not block it
Commercial: prohibited
- Entering for sale, adoption, fostering, breeding, exhibition or research
- Banned from high-risk rabies countries since 28 September 2022
- India is on that list
- No permit is available, so there is no paperwork that fixes it
- The prohibition runs until further notice
This is the rule that catches good intentions
A street dog you have arranged to rehome in Canada is an adoption, and CFIA counts adoption as a commercial import. It is not a permit you have failed to get; it is a category that is closed. The identical animal, if it is genuinely your own pet and travelling as such, is admissible on the same day under the same rabies rules.
Nothing about this is discretionary at the counter, so decide honestly which one you are before you book a flight, not at the airport.
What your dog actually needs
For a personal pet, the requirements turn only on the dog’s age when it lands in Canada.
- Under 3 months old
- 3 months and older
- Any age, personal pet
The certificate is where files get bounced, because CFIA asks for more than a vet’s signature.
Written in English or French
Issued and signed by a licensed veterinarian
Identifies the animal
States that the animal is vaccinated against rabies
The date of vaccination
The vaccine's trade name and serial number
The duration of immunity
Cats are a different rule
A cat of three months or older has a choice a dog does not, and either route works without a permit.
Route one: vaccinate
- A valid rabies vaccination certificate
- Same seven requirements as a dog's certificate
- The straightforward path for most families
Route two: residence
- A veterinary certificate that the cat has been in the exporting country since birth or for at least six months
- Plus official government documentation that the country has been free of rabies for six months before shipment
- Harder to obtain from India than simply vaccinating
In practice the first route is the one to take. The second exists for cats coming from countries that can produce the rabies-free attestation, and India is not one of them.
Getting out of India
India’s Animal Quarantine and Certification Service issues the No Objection Certificate that lets the animal leave, and it wants the pet in front of an officer, not just its file.
The pet itself, for examination
A fit-to-fly veterinary health certificate
The microchip certificate
Vaccination details
Copies of your passport and air ticket
Two postcard-size photographs of the pet
Cargo shipments also need the airway bill, and an authorisation letter if someone else is handling the appointment for you.
The ten day squeeze
The two Indian timings do not leave much room, and no page seems to mention that they interact.
Two numbers that have to fit together
Present the animal at the seven-day mark and the certificate covers you to roughly three days past your flight. That is your entire margin if the airline reschedules, and live-animal bookings are rescheduled more often than passenger seats, because carriers hold back on temperature and aircraft grounds. Book the appointment as late inside the window as the office will allow.
At the Canadian border
Declare the animal. CBSA can “refuse entry, confiscate or detain an animal” when it is undeclared, and that wording covers family pets by name.
Carry the physical originals rather than photographs of them. CBSA’s own advice is to always travel with the original copy of every required document, and an officer at the counter is not going to work from a phone screen while a queue builds behind you. Bring proof that the animal is yours as well as proof of its vaccination, because ownership is what separates the admissible personal pet from the prohibited commercial import.
What to do next
Settle the category first. If the animal is your own pet, the path is open and the work is a certificate with seven specific fields on it. If it is a dog you are rehoming, the path is closed, and knowing that now is worth more than any amount of paperwork later.
Then work backwards from the flight. The Indian appointment sits seven days before departure, the rabies vaccination has to predate that comfortably, and a microchip has to predate the vaccination to be recorded on it. Families who start a month out are usually fine. Families who start a week out are usually not.
Two neighbouring rules come up in the same conversation: what food clears customs with you, and what happens to medicines, including the ones your vet sends along for the animal.
Airline rules are a third layer on top of both governments, and they are not published in one place. Crate standards, breed restrictions and temperature embargoes vary by carrier and by season, so confirm those with the airline before you fix any of the dates above.
Common questions
Can I take my dog to Canada from India?
Yes, as a personal pet. Canada requires no import permit for a personal pet dog from India at any age. A dog three months or older needs a valid rabies vaccination certificate, must appear healthy on arrival and must be transported humanely. India being a high-risk rabies country changes the rules for commercial dogs, not for the family pet travelling with you.
Do I need an import permit to bring a pet to Canada?
No, not for a personal pet. CFIA's import requirements for a personal pet dog or cat list a rabies vaccination certificate and a healthy animal, with no permit at any age bracket. Pet relocation companies often say otherwise, and they are selling relocation services. Commercial imports are a separate category with separate rules.
Can I bring a rescue dog from India to Canada?
No. This is the rule that catches good intentions. CFIA classes a dog entering for adoption, fostering, breeding, sale, exhibition or research as a commercial import, and since 28 September 2022 commercial dogs from countries at high risk for dog rabies have been prohibited outright. India is on that list. The same animal travelling as your own pet is admissible.
Does my puppy need a rabies vaccination to enter Canada?
Not if it is under three months old. CFIA asks for proof of the dog's age from a veterinarian instead, plus a healthy animal and humane transport. From three months, a valid rabies vaccination certificate is required. The age that counts is the dog's age on arrival in Canada, not on the day you book.
What must the rabies certificate say?
Seven things. It must be in English or French, issued and signed by a licensed veterinarian, and it must identify the animal by age, breed, sex, colour and markings, weight and microchip or tattoo number. It must state the animal is vaccinated against rabies, give the vaccination date, give the vaccine's trade name and serial number, and specify the duration of immunity. Without that last item it is treated as valid for one year.
Can I bring my cat to Canada from India?
Yes, with a choice of two routes. A cat three months or older needs either a valid rabies vaccination certificate on the same terms as a dog, or a veterinary certificate stating the cat has been in the exporting country since birth or for at least six months, supported by official government documentation that the country has been free of rabies for six months before shipment. No import permit either way.
What does AQCS need to export a pet from India?
The animal itself for examination, a fit-to-fly veterinary health certificate from a local registered veterinarian, a microchip certificate, vaccination records, copies of your passport and air ticket, and two postcard-size photographs of the pet. Documents and the animal go in seven days before departure, by prior appointment confirmed with the AQCS officer.
Related guides
Before you fly
Packing is the easy part.
The permit itself, or the visitor visa for the parents who will follow you out, is where a licensed consultant earns their keep.
Three fields · about 30 seconds