Canada to Saudi Arabia
Pet Shipping from Canada to Saudi Arabia
We provide international pet transport from Canada to Saudi Arabia, planned around its import rules, the Canadian winter and your move date.
Book door-to-door pet relocation, or only the parts you need.
- Airline booking
- The travel crate
- The CFIA export paperwork
- Check-in at your Canadian airport
- Pickup in Saudi Arabia with delivery to your new address
Saudi Arabia at a glance
Full requirementsSaudi Arabia’s Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture grants a pet import permit that lasts 30 days from its date of issue, and the pet enters through the port that document names.
- Microchip
- An electronic microchip and a passport, per the 2021 list
- Rabies vaccination
- Six months or more still to run when the permit is applied for, per the ministry’s 2025 Naama guide
- Other vaccinations
- Against rabies and other diseases, on an approved vaccination schedule
- Import permit
- Filed on the ministry’s Naama platform; good for 30 days and tied to one entry port, with a certificate of origin alongside
- Health certificate
- Canadian International Health Certificate, unless Saudi Arabia prescribes its own form
Pet Shipping from Canada to Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia’s conditions for pets come from its Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture, in an April 2021 list it supplied to the US agency APHIS, which publishes an unofficial English translation, and from the user guides the ministry issued in February 2025 for its Naama platform. The CFIA’s former page for this destination answered as gone when checked on 25 September 2026. If you would like a simple overview of international moves first, start with our guide to international pet shipping destinations. Bringing a pet the other way, into Canada? See our guide to moving to Canada with a pet.
Which route does a pet take into Saudi Arabia?
Through whichever port its permit specifies, since the ministry’s 2021 list requires a consignment to enter there. The ministry also keeps the right to schedule arrivals around the space in its quarantine facilities. By air, the 2021 list calls for a sterile, disinfected cage in line with IATA’s standards, carrying one type of animal.
Route details: Canada to Saudi Arabia
- Route
- Canada to Saudi Arabia
- Arrival airports
- The entry port named on the MEWA permit; MEWA may cap numbers and set the arrival date to the quarantine capacity at the port
- How the pet flies
- By air, MEWA says, in a cage that meets IATA’s live animal rules, one kind of animal per cage, with water and food; the papers travel with the pet
- Import permit
- MEWA permit on naama.sa, applied for 15 days before shipping and valid 30 days; the rabies shot needs 6 months of validity left
- Health certificate
- MEWA wants the original government certificate. CFIA lists no Saudi form: Canadian International Health Certificate if it fits, CFIA-endorsed
- Quarantine on arrival
- MEWA applies the Gulf states’ veterinary quarantine law and may time the arrival to quarantine capacity at the port; it states no length
- Time to get ready
- At least 15 days: MEWA asks for the permit application 15 days before shipping; the pet must be at least 4 months old
Work out your pet’s dates for this route
From official sources, read 29 October 2026: MEWA, Naama guide to the pet entry permit (Arabic); MEWA, Naama guide to the dog import permit (Arabic); MEWA, pet import requirements of April 2021, as APHIS hosts them; Naama, pet entry permit service; Naama, cat import permit service; Naama, dog import permit service; CFIA, Pets: Export certificates; CFIA, Canadian International Health Certificate.
What are the entry requirements for pets going to Saudi Arabia?
The short answer
From Canada, the application is made on the ministry’s Naama platform, the one its February 2025 user guides send applicants to. The 2021 list has it carry the pet’s passport or vaccination record showing its microchip number, a picture of the pet and a copy of the owner’s ID, and the rabies vaccination is checked for validity at that stage. An original government health certificate approved by the exporting country travels with the pet.
Which pets can enter Saudi Arabia?
Cats can, and so can dogs under extra conditions. The ministry’s 2021 list bars dogs brought in commercially. The ministry’s February 2025 guides for Naama, read 29 October 2026, have whoever applies be at least 21 for a dog or 18 for a cat; the 2021 list had set 30 for dogs. APHIS goes further on its page for US travellers, last modified 30 July 2025, where it says dogs are generally not admitted except for hunting, guarding or guiding people with disabilities, so a dog’s role is worth confirming with the ministry before a permit is sought.
The ministry's February 2025 guide to the dog import permit refuses these breeds, purebred or crossed: American Pit Bull Terrier, American Bully, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, Rottweiler, Boxer, any Mastiff including the Fila Brasileiro and Dogo Argentino, Japanese Tosa, Bulldog and Perro de Presa Canario. A pet has to be four months old or more, and one person may bring in two cats or two dogs per half year. For a bird or another kind of animal, ask the ministry, since these documents set out their conditions for dogs and cats. Ready to start? Request a quote.
What vet work and documents does a pet need for Saudi Arabia?
Identification with a passport and an electronic microchip, a rabies vaccination, and a government health certificate approved by the exporting country, according to the ministry’s 2021 list, which adds immunization against other diseases on a schedule “approved in the country” and freedom from external parasites. For the export paperwork, where no form has been negotiated the CFIA points to the Canadian International Health Certificate, provided Saudi Arabia prescribes none and its conditions can be met.
| Requirement | Saudi Arabia, from Canada |
|---|---|
| Microchip | An electronic microchip and a passport, per the 2021 list |
| Rabies vaccination | Six months or more still to run when the permit is applied for, per the ministry’s 2025 Naama guide |
| Other vaccinations | Against rabies and other diseases, on an approved vaccination schedule |
| Import permit | Filed on the ministry’s Naama platform; good for 30 days and tied to one entry port, with a certificate of origin alongside |
| Health certificate | Canadian International Health Certificate, unless Saudi Arabia prescribes its own form |
| Quarantine | The ministry may set the arrival date around its quarantine capacity |
Three documents stand behind this page, read 25 September 2026, and the ministry’s requirements again on 11 October 2026. The CFIA’s page on exporting pets carries a modification date of 31 March 2025. From the ministry come its April 2021 requirements, as hosted by USDA APHIS in translation, and APHIS’s own Saudi Arabia page is the third. Two more were read on 29 October 2026, both user guides the ministry wrote for Naama in February 2025: one on the permit for pets entering and leaving the Kingdom, and one on the import permit for dogs, both for applications made on naama.sa.
Planning Timeline for Pet Shipping to Saudi Arabia
The rabies vaccination goes first, because the ministry checks that it is valid at the application stage. Next comes the permit: the ministry’s February 2025 guides have the request made 15 days ahead of shipping, and the permit lapses 30 days after issue. If a local CFIA animal health office has to negotiate a certificate with Saudi Arabia, the agency cautions that the process can take several months.
Every Pet Travels Differently
Different destinations, different routes, different challenges.
Destination-Focused Planning
The first check is whether the pet can go at all: a barred breed, an age under four months or an applicant younger than the ministry’s minimum age ends the application.
Smart Routing and Logistics
We help choose practical routes, travel windows, and handoff procedures so your pet’s trip is safer and more predictable.
Personalized Support
Pet Travel Advisors assigns a move coordinator who keeps you updated and checks details before travel so nothing important is missed.
Questions about moving a pet to Saudi Arabia
Request a QuoteWhich Canadian airports will my pet fly from to Saudi Arabia?
That follows from the airline carrying the animal and from where on board it travels, cabin or hold, and getting to a more distant airport by road is a separate booking. On arrival, the port named on the import permit is the Saudi airport.
What does Canada require to send my pet to Saudi Arabia?
Saudi Arabia has no negotiated certificate among those the CFIA links from its pet export page, read 25 September 2026. In that situation the agency asks owners to obtain Saudi Arabia’s current conditions from its veterinary authorities or embassy; the Canadian International Health Certificate serves if those can be met and no format is prescribed, and otherwise a local CFIA office reviews them.
When is the best time to fly a pet from Canada to Saudi Arabia?
Air Canada restricts animals in its baggage compartment during winter by date, temperature and aircraft type, according to its pets page as read on 16 September 2026, and our fall and winter restrictions guide sets those limits out. That page’s list of routes and dates when pets may not travel in the baggage compartment leaves out Saudi Arabia, so the timing is judged against whichever airline is booked.
How much does it cost to move a pet from Canada to Saudi Arabia?
Every move is priced individually, because the route from Canada, airline fees, your pet’s size and crate, the season, and Saudi Arabia’s requirements all change the total. Tell us your city and timing and we’ll put together an estimate: request a quote.
How does Pet Travel Advisors handle a Canada-to-Saudi Arabia move?
Pick any piece on its own: reserving flights, a crate for the journey, the CFIA certificate and the documents behind the Saudi permit, check-in before departure in Canada, and collection at the arrival airport with delivery onward. Or book it all as one door-to-door relocation.
Ready to start?
Book door-to-door pet relocation, or only the parts you need.