How Much Does It Cost to Ship a Pet from Canada to Hawaii?

Two more charges sit behind those figures and both are avoidable. A pet that arrives before its 30 day waiting period is finished does not qualify for direct release and is held at USD $14.30 a day until the clock runs out. A pet that needs longer than the five days pays USD $17.80 a day beyond them. Neither is a large number on its own, and both are the symptom of a date that moved.

Hawaii wants two rabies vaccinations, given not less than 30 days apart, with the most recent not less than 14 days before arrival. A pet with a single lifetime vaccination does not qualify, however current it is, which is the detail that catches most Canadian owners.

After the vaccinations comes the OIE-FAVN rabies antibody test at an approved laboratory. Hawaii counts the result as valid for 36 months from the day the blood was received at the laboratory, so a test done for an earlier move may still be live. Then the waiting period: your pet must not arrive until at least 30 days after a passing FAVN result. The microchip matters here because it is what ties the blood sample to the animal.

The paperwork has its own deadline. The original documents have to reach the Animal Quarantine office at least 10 days before your pet lands. The file is the import form, both rabies certificates, the passing FAVN result, the health certificate and the payment. If the health certificate cannot travel with the rest, the original goes to the inspector on arrival instead.

Direct airport release happens at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu, and inspection runs from 8:30 in the morning to 4:30 in the afternoon, every day. A flight that lands at seven in the evening does not get a same day release, no matter how complete the file is, so the arrival time is part of the plan rather than an afterthought.

Kona, Kahului and Lihue can release directly too, on a Neighbor Island Inspection Permit arranged in advance. Without that permit a pet bound for Maui, Kauai or the Big Island clears in Honolulu first and takes an inter island flight afterwards, which is another booking and another handling stop.

Live animal freight from Canada to Honolulu is quoted per booking, priced once the airline knows the crate outside dimensions, the loaded weight and the date. Air Canada Cargo and WestJet Cargo both serve Hawaii from Vancouver seasonally, and most other Canadian departures route through Vancouver, Seattle or Los Angeles, which adds a handling stop and a customs clearance.

Honolulu itself is rarely the heat embargo problem. The mainland connection points are. Airlines apply embargoes on forecast temperature at every airport on the routing, so a Toronto to Honolulu itinerary through Phoenix in July can be refused while the same pet on the same day would fly through Seattle.

Your veterinarian sets their own fees. The two vaccinations, the examination, the blood draw and the certificate paperwork are priced by your clinic. Ground transport from the airport to your address on the island is charged separately, as is any inter island flight, and so is boarding in Canada if your flight date and your own moving date do not line up.

Crate size drives the flight cost, as on every route, because freight is charged on the space the crate occupies rather than on what your pet weighs. After that, the government side of this move is fixed and public: $185 if you are on time, $1,080 if you are not. That makes Hawaii unusual among destinations, because the largest single variable is a decision you make months earlier about when to start rather than a quote you negotiate later.

Figures verified September 2026. CFIA fees are re-indexed for inflation every 31 March, and Hawaii revises its program fees periodically, so check the sources if you are reading this later.

• Hawaii Animal Industry Division, Five Day Or Less program
• Hawaii Animal Quarantine information
• Hawaii animal quarantine questions and answers
• CFIA Fees Notice, Part 11, item 26(2)

For the federal side of a move into the United States, see our Canada to the United States cost page. Terms used here are defined in our pet relocation glossary.

Send us the route, the breed and roughly when you want to travel. Request a quote and we will reply with an itemised plan, a timeline and clear next steps.

For entry rules and the full paperwork timeline, see our guide to pet shipping requirements for Hawaii.