The U.S. will soon implement new border rules for Canadians travelling with dogs

For Canadians, a road trip with their dog to the United States is about to become more stressful and costly, and this is not sitting well with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government.

New American rules kicking in on Aug. 1, 2024, add several restrictions when crossing the border with your beloved pet, leading to the federal government actively seeking a complete exemption for Canadian travellers.

Despite months of talks to try and sway the U.S. away from this move, Canadians will still face these strict new rules when heading south of the border, as will Americans returning to the U.S. from our country.

Americans have made some concessions regarding receiving official government validation for your dog’s records and the type of microchips. However, at this time, dogs crossing the U.S. border will need to be at least six months old, and have a universally readable microchip and a vaccination record signed by a veterinarian. Their owners will need to fill out a CDC form and have a veterinarian sign an export document.

“If you are travelling with a pet or planning to import an animal to Canada, you will need the right paperwork at the border to meet Canada’s import requirements,” Canada’s government states online. “If you don’t, you risk experiencing delays at the border, and your animal may not be allowed into Canada.”

Canada’s health minister, Mark Holland, says he is worried about the negative impacts.

“Having these forms done by veterinarians in Canada is going to [take] a lot of time to get validated,” said Holland. “As well as making sure all dogs have this chip. It’s going to cost a lot of money.”

Dr. Tim Arthur, the president of the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association, said the regulations bring the U.S. in line with the European Union, and they come after “a couple of close calls” with dogs being imported to the U.S. from countries that have canine rabies.

Arthur said he’s relieved to see the adjusted rules for Canada, though he acknowledged they will bring new challenges for vet clinics that are busy to begin with.

He’s encouraging pet owners to plan ahead before they travel and above all, be patient. Some clinics may not be able to get the microchipping and forms done on a short turnaround.

“It’s going to be extra work. We’re gonna try our best to get it done,” Arthur said.

Evan Rachkovsky, communications director with the Canadian Snowbird Association, said the May announcement created a great deal of confusion for frequent travellers.

“I don’t believe that (the new rules) make anybody safer. These are dogs that are coming from a low-risk country and the rules that they have currently in place are sufficient,” he said.

The Frontier Duty Free Association, which represents duty-free shops at 32 land border crossings, said it is also urging the American officials to reconsider.

“This will once again disproportionately impact border communities and the tourism industry, which is still recovering from a prolonged border closure,” said Barbara Barrett, the association’s executive director.

Feds believe cooler heads will prevail

According to the new regulations, as of Aug. 1, 2024, dogs that do not meet the U.S. import requirements may be subject to additional testing or requirements at the owner’s/importer’s expense, may be denied entry and returned to the country of departure at the owner’s/importer’s expense, or other enforcement actions.

Holland believes this will hurt tourism and cross-border trade since many truckers travel with dogs.

---

“Frankly, I don’t think this is a good use of a border officer’s time,” he added. “It’s fixing a problem that doesn’t exist.

“There are a lot of issues at the border. Whether or not my Maltese is another Maltese and having a border officer figure that out doesn’t make sense to me,” Holland noted.

The federal health minister said there would be a two-month grace period during which people without proper documentation would receive a warning, but the feds are still pushing for a full exemption.

Files from The Canadian Press were used in this report