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Australia

Bringing a Dog or Cat to Australia from Canada

General information, not veterinary advice. Requirements are set by the destination authority and can change: confirm with the official authority, your accredited vet and your airline.

Canada is a Group 3 country for Australia. That means a rabies titer test, a minimum 180-day wait counted from the lab, pre-export tests and treatments, and government quarantine in Victoria: at least 10 days with the identity check, at least 30 without. For Canadian owners, the paperwork runs through the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), which uses its own numbered forms.

How long the whole move takes

Australia's Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) advises allowing at least six months. The main reason is a fixed rule: your pet cannot be exported until 180 days after the laboratory receives the rabies titer sample. DAFF states there are no exceptions. Working backward from a target flight date, your identity check and blood draw need to happen well over six months ahead.

Is your pet eligible?

Dogs. The Dogo Argentino, Fila Brasileiro, Japanese Tosa, American Pit Bull Terrier (or Pit Bull Terrier) and Perro de Presa Canario are prohibited, as are the Czechoslovakian, Saarloos, Italian and Kunming wolfdog hybrids. Mixed breeds are allowed when everything else is in order.

Cats. Savannah, Safari, Chausie and Bengal cats are banned.

All pets. Not eligible if more than 30 days pregnant, nursing, or under quarantine restrictions at export. The microchip must be ISO compliant and must not begin with 999. Lab reports cannot be corrected later to fix a chip number.

CFIA forms, step by step

HA3201: Identification Declaration (optional)

A CFIA official verifies your pet's microchip and communicates it to Australia, before the rabies titer blood collection and at a separate visit. It is optional, but it reduces the minimum quarantine from 30 days to 10 days.

Rabies vaccination and titer test

Your vet vaccinates at 84 days of age or older, with a vaccine approved by CFIA. The vaccination must stay valid without a gap from the blood draw until export. The titer test must be FAVN or RFFIT, with a result of at least 0.5 IU/mL, and the sample is taken between 12 months and 180 days before export. DAFF gives no lab list and directs owners to the exporting country's authority, so ask CFIA which labs to use.

HA3202: RNATT Declaration

You complete this at your local CFIA Animal Health Office, bringing the original titer report and the rabies vaccination certificate. The chip number, result and sampling date must match the lab report exactly.

HA3200 (dogs) and HA3199 (cats): health certificates

These are the export certificates for Australia, used instead of the Appendix 1 certificate attached to your permit. A licensed vet signs them, then a CFIA Official Veterinarian endorses every page at an appointment at your local Animal Health Office. CFIA states that endorsement is mandatory before your pet leaves Canada.

The Australian side: permit and quarantine

With the lab report and endorsed HA3202, you apply for an import permit in BICON. Payment is due in full at submission. DAFF's fee page currently lists AUD 626 for the first cat or dog in a consignment and AUD 299 for each additional animal.

The permit stays valid until the titer result expires, 12 months after sampling. After it is granted, you book quarantine at the Mickleham facility through the Post Entry Biosecurity System; the permit itself does not reserve a place. Per animal, DAFF lists a reservation charge of AUD 263, an importation charge of AUD 1,053 and AUD 52 per day, all reviewed annually.

Canine influenza: a choice for Canadian dogs

Canada is one of the countries DAFF names for canine influenza, and Canadian dogs get two options:

  • Vaccination. CFIA specifies a vaccine that protects against the H3N2 strain. Unvaccinated dogs complete the primary course at least 14 days before export; regularly vaccinated dogs get the booster between 12 months and 14 days before export.
  • Isolation and testing. 10 days of isolation from other dogs, a negative canine influenza PCR on a nasal or deep pharyngeal swab within 7 days before export, and an exam within 48 hours of export.

Final weeks checklist

Timing before export Requirement
12 months to 14 days Dogs: Leptospira Canicola vaccination, or a negative MAT within 45 days
At least 30 days (dogs) or 21 days (cats) External parasite treatment starts
Within 45 days Dogs: Leishmania test (quantitative IFAT or ELISA); Brucella canis for entire dogs
Two doses within 45 days, 14+ days apart Internal parasite treatment, second dose within 5 days
Within 5 days Clinical exam and CFIA endorsement

Australia requires originals, with wet-ink stamps on each page.

Getting to Melbourne

Your pet flies as manifested cargo directly into Melbourne International Airport, in an IATA-approved crate with nothing inside. Your airline needs a confirmed quarantine booking before accepting your pet.

At the time of writing, Air Canada's pet page says pets traveling alone go via Air Canada Cargo and that pets cannot travel as checked baggage or cargo from 18 December to 4 January. American Airlines Cargo states it has no outbound animal transport from Canada. Confirm the routing with your airline directly.

Plan it with the kit

The Canada to Australia kit turns these CFIA and DAFF steps into a set of working files. It includes a user guide, a timeline workbook that computes every date from your flight date, a vet visit brief, a document and airline checklist, and letter templates.

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