North America
Pet relocation from the Philippines to Canada
Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary and Montreal — a well-travelled route for us, including cats and dogs with complete export documentation.
Canada does not require an import permit for dogs and cats from the Philippines, and it does not require a rabies titer test either. A current rabies vaccination for dogs, a health certificate and the Philippine export documents are what the route needs, and with the record already in order a pet can be on a flight in less than one month. Cats follow the same route with a shorter document set.
Requirements reviewed October 2026. Rules change — we confirm the current position for your route before anything is booked.
Typical lead time
Less than one month for dogs and cats, requirements complete
Rabies titer test
Not required for dogs or cats
Import permit
Not required for pets
Rabies vaccination
Required for dogs
Our experience
Vancouver, Toronto and beyond
Cats
Same route, shorter document set
What your pet needs
Requirements for Canada
The steps below are the ones that decide your departure date. Everything else follows from them.
Rabies vaccination for dogs
Dogs need a documented rabies vaccination. The certificate must identify the animal, normally through the microchip number, and be issued by a licensed veterinarian.
Health certificate
A veterinarian certifies the animal is healthy and fit to travel. We time the appointment so the certificate is current on the flight date.
Philippine export permit
The BAI veterinary health certificate — the International Veterinary Certificate — is issued in the Philippines before departure, with the export permit. Both are checked at the airport with the rest of the document set.
Winter and cargo temperature rules
Canadian winters restrict cargo acceptance for animals on some aircraft. We build the flight plan around the airline's temperature policy rather than discovering it at check-in.
How the work is sequenced
Step by step
- 1
Start
Inquiry, route review and written quote, including airline temperature policy for the season.
- 2
Veterinary work
Vaccination confirmation, microchip check, crate fitting.
- 3
Permits and booking
Vet appointments, health certificate, export permit, airline booking.
- 4
Flight and handover
Airport handling, inspection, tracking and arrival coordination in Canada.
Answers
Canada questions we get asked
If your question is not here, message us — the answer depends on your pet, not on a template.
Does my dog need a titer test to enter Canada?
No. Canada does not require a rabies titer test for dogs or cats travelling from the Philippines, and the export route does not add one. What the route needs is a current rabies vaccination for dogs, a health certificate and the export documents — which is why Canada can move in less than one month when the vaccination record is already complete. If the vaccination has lapsed, we rebuild the record first and the calendar follows that instead.
Can I send a cat to Canada from the Philippines?
Yes. Cats travel with a health certificate and the export permit, with a shorter document set than dogs. We flew Grim, a cat, from the Philippines to Canada — the story is on our relocation stories page.
Is there quarantine in Canada?
There is no routine quarantine for healthy, correctly documented dogs and cats arriving in Canada. If documentation is incomplete, the animal can be held, which is why we check every page before departure. Rescue, adoption and transfer dogs are a different case: they count as commercial imports, and commercial dogs from the Philippines are not permitted into Canada at all.
Case studies
Relocations we completed on this route
Written from the owners' own reviews.
Ready to start?
Send us your pet's origin, destination and travel date. A team of specialists reviews it and replies with the documents, a relocation plan and an itemized quote.