India to Canada
Moving a dog or cat from India to Canada
Canada is one of the simpler borders for a pet from India. A current rabies vaccination, no quarantine for a pet dog, and the AQCS export check at this end. Allow 2 months or more.
Stop by stop
The timeline for Canada.
In the order it happens. Where the authority sets a minimum gap, it's written on the line.
01 · Start
Start planning
2 months or more before the flight.
02 · Vet
Microchip
AQCS asks for the chip certificate at export.
03 · Vet
Rabies vaccine
Current on the day he lands, and recorded against the chip.
04 · Papers
Fitness certificate
From your local registered vet, close to the AQCS date.
- about 7 days before
05 · Check
AQCS export check
The pet and the whole file go to the quarantine office, by appointment, about a week before the flight. The export certificate is good for 10 days.
06 · Travel
Flight
The mode the airline and route allow.
07 · Arrive
Home
No quarantine for a pet dog. The same team runs the far end from the same file, then the drive to your new address. Someone from our team is with your pet after he lands.
How it works.
A pet dog 8 months or older needs a vet's certificate showing he's currently vaccinated against rabies, or a titre of at least 0.5 IU/ml taken three to four weeks after an earlier vaccine. Canada doesn't put pet dogs into quarantine on arrival, from any country. A younger dog travelling with his owner can enter too, if he meets the vaccination rule.
The thing to know early is Canada's ban on commercial dogs from countries at high risk for dog rabies, which includes India. Commercial means a dog that's going to be given to someone else, adopted, fostered, sold or bred. Your own dog, flying with you to your new home, isn't commercial. A dog you're rehoming with a friend in Toronto is, and he can't come from India.
At this end it's the AQCS export check about a week before the flight, then the airline. We measure the crate on your pet and check it against the carrier flying him.
Cats A cat 3 months or older needs a vet's certificate of current rabies vaccination, or a titre of at least 0.5 IU/ml taken 30 days or more after an earlier vaccine.
The file for Canada
- Dogs 8 months and older: a licensed vet's certificate of current rabies vaccination that identifies the dog, or a titre of at least 0.5 IU/ml.
- Cats 3 months and older: a vet's certificate of current rabies vaccination, or a titre of at least 0.5 IU/ml.
- The AQCS export certificate, issued after your pet is examined, valid for 10 days.
All of this sits on top of the standard export file.
Quarantine: None for a pet dog
CFIA says pet dogs imported from any country aren't subject to post-import quarantine in Canada. The papers are checked at the border instead, so they have to be right before he flies.
The thing that moves the date
The commercial dog ban. A dog going to anyone but you counts as commercial, and Canada doesn't accept commercial dogs from India.
Checked against the authority's own pages
- CFIA, importing dogs into Canada read 5 Oct 2026
- CFIA, Import Reference Document, cats and dogs read 5 Oct 2026
- AQCS, requirements for export of pets out of India read 5 Oct 2026
Rules change. We check the live rule for your pet and your dates before anything is booked, and nothing here is a promise about a date.
Tell us about him.
The quickest way is a message. Both of these open with it already written, from what you picked above, and a founder answers.
Hi, I'd like to move my pet.
Or fill in his pass, and it goes on WhatsApp or by email with everything in it