Pet Shipping from Canada to Vietnam
On a Canada to Vietnam move, the hard part is at this end. Vietnam asks very little of an arriving pet: no quarantine, no antibody test, and nothing to file with a ministry beforehand. Canada is where the deadline sits, because the export certificate has to be endorsed by a CFIA veterinarian at an appointment you book and pay for in advance, and that cannot be done once your pet has left the country.
One number is worth checking before anything else. Vietnamese quarantine rules cap a traveller at two animals. Households with three tend to discover this late, and it is much cheaper to solve while flights are still flexible.
Every Pet Travels Differently
Different destinations, different routes, different challenges.
Because the Vietnamese side is quick and the Canadian side runs on booked appointments, we build the plan backwards from the CFIA slot.
Destination-Focused Planning
We read the Vietnamese quarantine circular for what happens on arrival and the CFIA process for what has to be done before departure, then give you one dated list.
Smart Routing and Logistics
We pick routings out of your nearest Canadian gateway and check how each connecting airport handles animals, because Vietnam is rarely a single sector from Canada.
Personalized Support
Your coordinator books and pays the CFIA endorsement appointment on time and briefs you on what the officer at the Vietnamese border gate will ask to see.
Pet Shipping from Canada to Vietnam
Think of this route as two short lists with one appointment between them. On the Canadian list: a microchip, a rabies vaccination still valid on the day you fly, a certificate completed by a veterinarian licensed in Canada, and the CFIA endorsement. On the Vietnamese list: register on arrival, show the certificate, let the officer examine your pet. The appointment in the middle is the only step with a fixed date you cannot move. Here is what we lock in for every Vietnam 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 Vietnam Works
To keep everything clear, we break the process into steps:
Verify requirements and timing
We count the animals first. Two is the ceiling for a traveller, and it shapes everything after it.
Build your plan and timeline
We secure the CFIA endorsement slot early, then fit the vet visit and the flight around it rather than the other way round.
Coordinate vet preparation
Your Canadian veterinarian handles the microchip check, the rabies vaccination and the certificate, in that order.
Review documents for consistency
We read the certificate the way a Vietnamese quarantine officer will: microchip number, vaccination dates, signature and seal, all agreeing.
Confirm crate readiness and routing
We match the kennel and the routing to the carrier, and to a long haul out of Canada that will almost always change planes once.
Travel and arrival processing
We walk you through the border gate registration so nothing about the arrival is a surprise.
What Happens When You Land, and the Two Animal Ceiling
Vietnam handles arriving pets at the border gate itself. Under the country’s animal quarantine circular, an owner bringing an animal in registers the import quarantine with the quarantine agency at the gate rather than applying to a ministry in advance. The officer looks at the certificate issued by the country you flew from and examines your pet. That is the process, start to finish, for an animal travelling with its owner.
The same article limits how many you can bring: two, where the purpose is keeping pets, household life, or travelling with them. It is not a guideline that flexes at the counter, and a Canadian household with three animals needs a second traveller or a separate arrangement.
Sending a pet ahead as unaccompanied cargo puts the move under a different procedure with different paperwork. We establish which of the two applies to you before a crate or a ticket is bought.
- which Canadian carriers will take an animal this far shifts by season
- we settle the route and the transit point before a ticket is bought
- we check the plan against what the border gate officer will ask for
No Quarantine, but the Certificate Has to Be Right
Which Animals Canada Can Send
Nothing about a Vietnamese arrival involves a holding period for a dog or cat that came in with its owner. The circular provides for an inspection, not a stay, and pets that pass it leave with their families the same day.
What that removes in waiting it adds in precision. With no quarantine to catch an error and no ministry file to correct it against, the certificate you carry is the only thing standing between your pet and a problem at the gate. We check it line by line before it goes for endorsement, because after the CFIA appointment there is no practical way to amend it.
Before any appointment is booked, we confirm the current position with the Vietnamese animal quarantine rules and the CFIA export process, rather than relying on a summary that may be a year out of date.
Health Preparation and Documentation
Everything here hangs off one booked date. Work out when the CFIA endorsement can happen, and the veterinary appointment goes shortly before it while the flight goes shortly after. Reverse that order and the certificate either is not ready for the appointment or has been sitting too long by the time you fly.
Vietnam is not a country the CFIA has negotiated its own certificate for, so this route uses the Canadian International Health Certificate, filled in by a veterinarian licensed in Canada and then endorsed by an official CFIA veterinarian. We confirm the current form and its validity window with the CFIA before the vet visit, because that window is what the flight has to fit inside.
| What Vietnam checks | Vietnam, from Canada |
|---|---|
| How many animals | A traveller may bring two, where the purpose is keeping pets, household life or travelling with them |
| Identification chip | Required, and the number has to match what the certificate says |
| Rabies dose | Valid on the day you fly, with the dates and the vaccine recorded on the certificate |
| Rabies titre test | Not required. Nothing goes to a laboratory on this route |
| Export certificate | Vietnam is not one of the countries the CFIA has a negotiated certificate for, so the paperwork runs on the Canadian International Health Certificate, completed by a veterinarian licensed in Canada |
| CFIA endorsement | Booked as an appointment, walk-ins refused. A CFIA officer calculates the fee, you pay it online at least 3 days before, and it is not refunded. It has to happen while your pet is still in Canada |
| Anything to apply for | None to apply for. An owner arriving with an animal registers the quarantine at the border gate itself |
| On arrival | The gate officer checks the certificate from the exporting country and examines your pet. No holding period |
| Time to allow | 3 to 5 weeks in most cases, and what sets it is how far out the CFIA appointment can be booked, not any waiting period |
How Early to Start From Canada
Three to five weeks covers most Canadian moves to Vietnam, and almost none of that is waiting. There is no titre to send away and no permit to chase, so the calendar is really the CFIA appointment book plus a vet visit and a flight either side of it. If your pet is overdue a rabies booster, add that before anything else is scheduled.
Where a Canadian move gets complicated is the routing rather than the paperwork. There is no direct service from most Canadian cities, so your pet will change aircraft at least once, and the connecting airport matters as much as the departure one. We build the itinerary around airports that handle animals properly and around the cooler end of the day at both ends.
Working out the budget? Our Canadian cost breakdown goes through the fees line by line. Looking at the wider region as well? There are pages for Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines.
Our pet shipping cost calculator gives a working figure, and our CFIA health certificate guide covers the appointment in detail. If Indonesia is also in the picture, our Indonesia page explains why the island decides the answer.
Is my pet held on arrival in Vietnam?
No holding period applies to an animal that arrives with its owner. Vietnamese quarantine rules provide for an inspection at the border gate: the officer reads the certificate you carry from Canada and examines the animal in front of him. Pets that pass walk out with their families that day, which is why this route has no boarding costs at the far end.
What does Canada require to send my pet to Vietnam?
Vietnam is not among the countries the CFIA has negotiated a specific export certificate for, so the Canadian International Health Certificate is what this route uses. A veterinarian licensed in Canada completes it and an official CFIA veterinarian endorses it. That endorsement is by appointment, the fee is worked out by a CFIA officer and paid online at least three days beforehand, it is not refundable, and it has to be done while your pet is still in the country. Book the slot before you book anything else.
Can both our animals travel on one person?
Two. Vietnam’s quarantine circular sets that ceiling for animals brought in for keeping as pets, for household life, or for travelling with. Three-animal households have to split the move between two travellers or make separate arrangements, and that is a conversation worth having while flight dates are still open.
Is there anything to file before we leave Canada?
Not one you apply for from Canada. Where an owner arrives with the animal, the circular has the owner register the import quarantine with the agency at the border gate on the day. Plenty of pet shipping pages describe a ministry application weeks ahead, which is not what the regulation says for an accompanied pet. Sending an animal ahead as cargo is a separate procedure, so we settle which one applies to you first.
Does my pet need a rabies titre test for Vietnam?
No, and that is unusually convenient from Canada. Because there is no rabies titre laboratory in this country, titre-country routes mean couriering a blood sample abroad and waiting on a result before anything else can be scheduled. Vietnam skips all of it. A current rabies vaccination on the day you travel is what the route asks for.
Which Canadian airports will my pet fly from to Vietnam?
Vancouver (YVR) and Toronto Pearson (YYZ) carry most of this traffic, and there is no non-stop service to Vietnam from either, so your pet will change aircraft at least once. The connecting airport is worth as much attention as the departure one, since that is where an animal spends the longest stretch on the ground. We choose the routing on handling quality and temperature at both ends, not on price alone.
How much does it cost to move a pet from Canada to Vietnam?
The official costs are modest by the standards of this work: the CFIA endorsement fee, calculated by an officer and paid before the appointment, and your veterinarian’s charges for the examination, the microchip check and any vaccination. Nothing goes to a laboratory and Vietnam levies no advance permit fee on an accompanied pet. What the budget really turns on is the flight and the crate. Our Canadian cost breakdown takes it apart line by line.
How does Pet Travel Advisors handle a Canada to Vietnam move?
We count the animals, secure the CFIA endorsement slot, and build the veterinary appointment and the flight around that date. Your coordinator prepares the Canadian International Health Certificate for endorsement, checks it the way a Vietnamese quarantine officer will read it, arranges an IATA compliant crate, picks a routing whose connection handles animals properly, and tells you exactly how the border gate registration goes. One person owns the file throughout.
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