Moving a pet from Canada to Australia

Last verified: 2026-08-25

The short version

Canada is a Group 3 country for Australian pet import, so the rabies pathway is the same as the other supported origins:

identity check → rabies work → RNATT → 180-day wait → import permit → quarantine booking → treatments → CFIA endorsement → travel to Melbourne → 10 or 30 days at Mickleham

Allow at least six months, realistically closer to a year.

Use the CFIA certificate, not the one in the permit

This is the mistake to avoid first:

Instead of the veterinary export health certificate found on the Australian import permit, use the CFIA Veterinary Health Certificate — Cat (HA3199) or Dog (HA3200).

The RNATT declaration form is HA3202. All dogs and cats must carry an ISO-compatible microchip, and the Australian import permit must be obtained before entry.

The CFIA appointment

Canadian export runs through an appointment at your local CFIA Animal Health Office, and it is worth over-preparing for. Bring the completed and signed Veterinary Health Certificate, plus copies of:

• the Australian import permit;
• the identification declaration, if one was issued;
• the RNATT declaration (HA3202);
• the original RNATT laboratory report and rabies vaccination certificate — a complete rabies vaccination history may also be requested;
• all laboratory test reports;
• all vaccination certificates;
• all treatment and examination records from the licensed veterinarian.

A CFIA Official Veterinarian must endorse — sign, date and stamp — every page of the Veterinary Health Certificate.

Book early. Endorsement cannot happen once the animal has left Canada, and CFIA asks for as much advance notice as possible.

The Canadian difference: canine influenza

Dogs leaving Canada for Australia face a requirement no other supported corridor has. A dog must either:

• be vaccinated against canine influenza, with a vaccine protecting against the H3N2 strain; or
• meet all three of these instead:
  • isolated from other dogs — no direct contact with any dog outside the same export shipment — for the 10 days immediately before export;
  • a negative canine influenza PCR test within 7 days before export;
  • examined within 48 hours of export and found free from clinical signs of infectious or contagious disease.

The unvaccinated route is demanding: ten days of genuine isolation immediately before departure, in the same window as the parasite treatments and the final veterinary check. If your dog is not already vaccinated, discuss the H3N2 vaccine with your veterinarian early — it is the far simpler path, and it removes a set of conditions that a slipped flight can invalidate.

Cats are not affected by this requirement.

What this page does not cover

• Which Canadian veterinarians and laboratories may perform each step — CFIA and your provincial arrangements govern that.
• Whether Canada operates an identity-verification route equivalent to the US and UK processes; the identification declaration is referenced as “if issued”, and this site has not yet verified how a Canadian owner obtains one.
• Airline selection, crates and transit countries.
• Costs beyond the government’s own estimates.