Pet Shipping from Canada to China
Canada is not on China’s list of designated low risk places, so a pet leaving Canada needs a rabies antibody test to avoid quarantine. Get that right, along with an ISO microchip and two rabies vaccinations, and your pet clears customs at any port in China with no quarantine at all. Get it wrong and your pet can only arrive at one of ten ports that have quarantine facilities, and stays there 30 days.
There is a second complication on this route. China is not one of the countries the CFIA has a negotiated certificate for, so the paperwork runs on the Canadian International Health Certificate, and it has to be endorsed by a CFIA veterinarian before your pet leaves the country. We build that sequence around your travel date and keep it in order.
Every Pet Travels Differently
Different destinations, different routes, different challenges.
Because the file decides which Chinese airport your pet is allowed to land at, we settle the paperwork before anyone books a flight out of Canada.
Destination-Focused Planning
We work from the General Administration of Customs rules and the CFIA export process, then turn them into a checklist and a dated timeline you can follow.
Smart Routing and Logistics
We help choose practical routes and travel windows from your Canadian gateway, and confirm how your arrival airport handles animals before anything is booked.
Personalized Support
One coordinator stays with your move from the first vet visit to the arrival hall, including the CFIA appointment that has to happen while your pet is still in Canada.
Pet Shipping from Canada to China
Moving a pet from Canada to China is a document exercise with two hard dependencies. The first is the rabies antibody test, usually called a titre, which has to be drawn on or after the day of the second rabies vaccination and sent to a laboratory China designates. The second is the CFIA endorsement appointment, which has to happen before your pet leaves Canada and cannot be arranged afterwards. Here is what we lock in for every China move:
- confirm what applies to your pet and route
- map out a realistic timeline
- coordinate vet steps and paperwork
- support crate readiness and routing
confirm what applies to your pet and route
How Pet Shipping from Canada to China Works
To keep everything clear, we break the process into steps:
Verify requirements and timing
We count the rabies doses on your pet’s Canadian record before anything else, because China wants two in a lifetime and a Canadian clinic has had no reason to track that.
Build your plan and timeline
We work backward from your travel date to the blood draw, so the laboratory turnaround and the courier legs are never what moves your flight.
Coordinate vet preparation
Your Canadian vet needs the chip implanted, the second rabies dose given and the blood drawn in that order, and we give the clinic the dates rather than the rules.
Review documents for consistency
A CFIA officer will not endorse a certificate that disagrees with itself, so we read the chip number, the sampling date and the laboratory name against your vet’s record before the appointment rather than at it.
Confirm crate readiness and routing
We size the crate and choose the routing together, because the carriers flying animals out of Toronto and Vancouver do not all accept the same kennel.
Travel and arrival processing
You land knowing which papers to hand over, who asks for them, and how long the desk usually takes.
Which Chinese Airports Your Pet May Land At
Get the file right and China stops constraining your itinerary. Your pet may be presented at any port of arrival, which means the routing out of Toronto or Vancouver can be chosen on the merits: the fewest connections, the coolest hours, the airport whose ground handling you would actually trust with an animal.
Get it wrong and the map shrinks to ten places. Those are Beijing Capital Airport, Beijing West Railway Station, Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport, Shanghai Pudong International Airport, Shanghai Railway Station, Shanghai International Passenger Transport Center, Wusongkou International Cruise Terminal, Urumqi Diwopu International Airport, Alashankou and Guangzhou Baiyun Airport. If you are moving to Chengdu or Shenzhen, none of them is your city, and your pet spends its first month somewhere you are not.
That is the practical case for spending the extra fortnight on the titre before you book. The paperwork is not an administrative box. It decides where your animal lands.
- Canadian departure options shift with the season and with which carrier is taking animals that month
- we settle the route and the connection before a ticket is bought
- we make sure your plan matches what’s expected at intake
What Happens at the Chinese Border
Which Pets Canada Can Send
A complete file buys you an ordinary arrival. You declare your pet, hand over the documents, collect the animal and leave. An incomplete one buys 30 days in a facility chosen by customs, and the time your pet spends held before that period formally begins is counted inside it rather than added on top.
What customs wants to see is the animal health certificate from the country you flew out of, the rabies vaccination certificate and a valid antibody test report. Originals, not photocopies. Whatever else you have prepared, those three decide the afternoon.
Dogs are then registered locally once you have arrived. Beijing requires it within 30 days and checks the registration certificate each year for a fee. Other cities write their own rules, so we tell you which set applies where you are going.
Before scheduling vet steps or flights, we confirm what applies to your pet against the General Administration of Customs rules and the CFIA export process, so nothing in your plan rests on an outdated summary.
Health Preparation and Documentation
Sequence is what this comes down to. The chip goes in first, so that every document written afterwards points at the same number. Then the rabies record, which China reads across your pet’s whole life rather than just this year: two doses minimum, with the latest still in date on the day you land. The titre blood draw comes on or after the day of that second vaccination, and the sample goes to a laboratory China designates. Courier time to that laboratory sits on top of its own turnaround, so we build both into the schedule.
The certificate is the part that catches Canadian owners out. China is not one of the countries the CFIA has negotiated a specific certificate for, so the paperwork runs on the Canadian International Health Certificate, completed by a veterinarian licensed in Canada and endorsed by an official CFIA veterinarian. That endorsement is by appointment only, walk-ins are refused, the fee is calculated by a CFIA officer and paid online at least three days ahead, and it is non-refundable. It also cannot happen once your pet has left the country.
| What China checks | China, from Canada |
|---|---|
| Identification chip | ISO microchip, 15 digits, scanned on arrival in China |
| Rabies doses required | Vaccinated at least twice in its lifetime and still current on the day of arrival |
| Rabies antibody test | Required, because Canada is not on China’s list of designated places. At least 0.5 IU/ml, drawn on or after the day of the second rabies vaccination, at a laboratory China designates |
| Wait after the blood draw | None. The titre result stays good for one year from the day the blood was drawn |
| Certificate used | Canadian International Health Certificate, because China has no CFIA negotiated certificate. Completed by a veterinarian licensed in Canada |
| CFIA endorsement | By appointment only, walk-ins refused. Fee calculated by a CFIA officer, paid online at least 3 days ahead, non-refundable. It cannot happen once your pet has left Canada |
| Clinical examination | Within 14 days of arrival in China |
| Animals per person | One dog or one cat per person per entry, each on its own certificate |
| Quarantine risk | None if the file is complete. Thirty days in a customs facility if it is not |
| Where you may land | Any Chinese port while the paperwork holds up. Only the ten designated ports if quarantine is triggered |
| After you arrive | Dogs are registered with the local public security office. Beijing requires it within 30 days, with an annual check |
| Time to allow | About 4 to 8 weeks once the second rabies vaccination is done, set by the laboratory turnaround, the courier legs and the CFIA appointment |
How Long a Move From Canada Takes
China does not make you wait months. It makes you sequence correctly. For a pet that already has two lifetime rabies vaccinations and a current one, budget 4 to 8 weeks. That covers the blood draw, the wait on the laboratory, and then the certificate and the CFIA appointment, which has to be booked and paid for in advance. If your pet has only ever had one rabies vaccination, the second one has to happen before the blood draw, so start earlier.
One rule reshapes more Canadian itineraries than any other. China counts one dog or one cat per person, each on its own certificate, so a family flying two animals out of Toronto needs two adults named on the booking. Settling that while seats are still open is a different job from settling it the week you fly. Chinese customs also has to be told your pet is coming before you leave Canada.
Planning the budget? See our breakdown of what pet shipping from Canada costs, fee by fee. Moving to Hong Kong instead? It is treated as a separate place with its own rules, so start with our Hong Kong page.
To put a figure on it, try our pet shipping cost calculator. The rabies titre is the long pole on this route, and our guide to the rabies titre test explains how a Canadian sample reaches a laboratory. Japan and South Korea are two other titre routes we cover.
Will my pet be quarantined on arrival from Canada?
Only if something in the file is missing. Canada does not appear on China’s list of designated low risk places, so what stands between your pet and an ordinary arrival is the rabies antibody test. With an ISO microchip, two lifetime rabies vaccinations, a current one on the day you land and a result of 0.5 IU/ml or better from a laboratory China accepts, there is no quarantine and no restriction on which port you use. Without it, entry is limited to ten designated ports and your pet is held for 30 days, with any time spent waiting before the clock formally starts counted inside those 30 rather than added to them.
What does Canada require to send my pet to China?
China is not one of the countries the CFIA has negotiated a specific export certificate for, so the paperwork runs on the Canadian International Health Certificate. A veterinarian licensed in Canada completes it, and an official CFIA veterinarian endorses it before your pet leaves the country. Endorsement is by appointment only, walk-ins are refused, and the fee is calculated by a CFIA officer and paid online at least three days before the appointment. It is non-refundable, and it cannot be done once your pet has already left Canada.
What does China require for a pet arriving from Canada?
An ISO microchip, at least two rabies vaccinations in your pet’s lifetime with a current one on arrival, and a rabies antibody test of at least 0.5 IU/ml drawn on or after the second vaccination at a laboratory China designates. The clinical examination happens within 14 days of arrival, only one animal is allowed per traveller, and Chinese customs has to be notified before you travel. On arrival you present the health certificate, the rabies vaccination certificate and the antibody test report.
Which Canadian airports will my pet fly from to China?
Most China routes leave from Toronto Pearson (YYZ) or Vancouver (YVR), and we choose the routing with the fewest connections from your city and the best conditions for your pet. Because a complete file lets your pet enter through any port in China, the route can be built around the shortest, coolest trip rather than around one approved arrival airport.
How much does it cost to move a pet from Canada to China?
The government side is small and knowable: the CFIA endorsement fee, which a CFIA officer calculates and you pay online before the appointment, plus your veterinarian’s charges for the examination, the vaccinations and the blood draw, and the laboratory fee for the antibody test. What actually moves the total is the airfare and the kennel, and both track your pet’s size, the time of year and which Canadian airport you leave from. Our Canadian cost breakdown walks through each line, and a quote request gets you a real number for your pet.
We have two pets in Canada. Can they fly together?
Not on one passport. China allows one dog or one cat per traveller per entry, each on its own certificate. Two animals means two adults on the same itinerary, each named on one certificate. Airlines will not fix this at the check-in desk, so it has to be settled when seats are chosen.
Does my dog need to be registered once we land?
Yes. Dogs are registered with the local public security office where you live. Beijing requires registration within 30 days and an annual check of the registration certificate, with a service fee. Other cities set their own rules and fees, so we confirm what applies in the city you are moving to.
How does Pet Travel Advisors handle a Canada to China move?
We build the sequence around your travel date, keep the vaccination and titre steps in the right order with your Canadian veterinarian, prepare the Canadian International Health Certificate and book the CFIA endorsement appointment before departure, arrange the crate and the routing from your Canadian gateway, and tell you exactly what to carry to the customs desk on arrival. One coordinator owns your file from the first vet visit to the moment you walk out of the airport with your pet.
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