Canada to the United Arab Emirates
Pet Shipping from Canada to the United Arab Emirates
We provide international pet transport from Canada to the United Arab Emirates, 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 the United Arab Emirates with delivery to your new address
The United Arab Emirates at a glance
Full requirementsThe CFIA says an owner must obtain the import permit of the UAE’s Ministry of Climate Change and Environment before travelling with a dog or cat, and the ministry allows a personal import of up to two cats, two dogs or one of each a year, resident animals leaving and returning aside.
- Microchip
- Number and location recorded on HA2839
- Rabies vaccination
- At an age of 12 weeks or more, no later than 21 days ahead of departure
- Rabies titre
- 0.5 IU/ml or higher
- Import permit
- MOCCAE permit, requested online before travel: 90 days on the Ministry’s page, 30 on APHIS’s
- Health certificate
- HA2839, completed by your veterinarian, good for 10 days from issue and endorsed by the CFIA before departure
Pet Shipping from Canada to the United Arab Emirates
From Canada, two documents carry a move to the UAE. The import permit from the UAE’s Ministry of Climate Change and Environment is obtained before the animal travels, and the CFIA’s certificate, HA2839, carries the veterinary conditions: a rabies vaccination, a titre test, the other vaccines, parasite treatment and a veterinary examination in the last days before the flight.
Approved Routes and Entry into the United Arab Emirates
HA2839 asks for a container that meets IATA’s regulations for live animals, and the Ministry wants the pet sent straight from the exporting country or, where it passes through another, kept away from other animals. The certificate ends with an owner’s declaration to that effect, naming the port or city of the connection. APHIS tells owners leaving the United States that their pets travel to the UAE as manifested cargo; neither the CFIA’s two documents nor the Ministry’s service page, read 23 and 24 September 2026, says the same for a pet from Canada, so the airline’s own acceptance rules decide how it flies.
At the UAE end, the owner files the Ministry’s clearance request online and pays for it, the animal is looked over, and a release permit follows. Its centres for veterinary quarantine sit at airports that include Al Maktoum, Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah as well as Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and the papers it asks for are the customs declaration or bill of lading, the vaccination record, the certified health certificate and the titre result. Collection there and delivery to the new address can be booked as a service.
What are the entry requirements for pets going to the United Arab Emirates?
The short answer
From Canada, the certificate is HA2839 for dogs and cats going to the UAE, which a licensed vet fills in and a CFIA Official Veterinarian endorses before travel.
Import Eligibility for Pets
The import permit comes first, requested online from the Ministry, and the pet is checked against it again on arrival. The UAE requires a rabies antibody titre test for a pet from a high risk country, and the ministry’s list of low risk countries, read 23 September 2026, does not name Canada, so a Canadian pet needs one. The same classification sets the lowest import age at 15 weeks, which HA2839 prints too. The first rabies dose has to be given at 12 weeks of age or older.
HA2839 prints the sixteen dog breeds the UAE does not admit, the Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Boerboel, Tibetan Mastiff and Dogue de Bordeaux among them, and asks for a pedigree showing at least a fifth generation cross for a Bengal or serval cat. The Ministry’s page exempts a dog that works as a service, medical or emotional support animal from the breed list, given certified papers. Our post on where dog breeds are banned covers what the UAE allows once a dog lives there.
A resident pet flying home to the UAE meets conditions of its own. It needs the veterinary health certificate the Ministry gave it before it left the country. It also needs a microchip, papers from the exporting country’s veterinary authority, and a rabies vaccination given before its departure from the UAE that is still valid on arrival. If that vaccination has lapsed, the Ministry handles the animal as a first import.
Health Preparation and Documentation
On HA2839 your veterinarian records the microchip’s number and where it sits, and certifies five conditions. The rabies shot came at least 21 days before departure. An approved laboratory found the titre at 0.5 IU/ml or above, at least 21 days after a primary dose, or with no wait where a booster came while the earlier shot was still valid, and the test falls within 365 days of arrival. A dog has cover for distemper, infectious hepatitis, parvovirus and leptospirosis, and a cat for panleukopenia, rhinotracheitis and calicivirus. Internal and external parasites were treated in the 14 days before export. A vet examined the animal within 5 days of departure and found no signs of disease. The certificate stays valid for 10 days from issue.
The permit is requested and paid for online. The Ministry’s page gives it 90 days from issue, while APHIS, writing about the same permit for pets leaving the United States, gives 30; the two differ, so the application is timed to the shorter. The endorsement appointment is booked in advance, since walk-ins are not accepted. Payment of its fee is covered on the CFIA’s booking page, which was read on 22 September 2026.
| Requirement | the United Arab Emirates, from Canada |
|---|---|
| Microchip | Number and location recorded on HA2839 |
| Rabies vaccination | At an age of 12 weeks or more, no later than 21 days ahead of departure |
| Rabies titre | 0.5 IU/ml or higher |
| Import permit | MOCCAE permit, requested online before travel: 90 days on the Ministry’s page, 30 on APHIS’s |
| Health certificate | HA2839, completed by your veterinarian, good for 10 days from issue and endorsed by the CFIA before departure |
| Quarantine | No quarantine period on the Ministry’s page, read 23 September 2026; release follows an inspection at the port |
For what those steps add up to, work through our Canada to UAE pet shipping cost breakdown.
The requirements on this page come from three documents. The Canadian side comes from two CFIA documents read on 23 and 24 September 2026: its page for dogs and cats going to the UAE and the certificate it links, HA2839, as amended on 27 November 2025. The UAE side comes from the Ministry’s import service for cats and dogs, read 23 September 2026.
Planning Timeline for Pet Shipping to the United Arab Emirates
Counted back from the flight, the vet examination falls in the 5 days before it and the parasite treatment in the 14. The certificate, valid for 10 days from issue, is written in the same final stretch, and all of it sits inside the permit’s life. Further back comes the titre blood draw, at least 21 days after a primary rabies dose. For a young animal, the 12 week minimum for that dose comes first. None of the three documents read on 23 and 24 September 2026 puts a time on the laboratory’s result.
Every Pet Travels Differently
Different destinations, different routes, different challenges.
Destination-Focused Planning
HA2839 has a line for every date and batch number the CFIA veterinarian will check. We check your vet’s entries against it and the permit before the endorsement appointment.
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 the United Arab Emirates
Request a QuoteWhich Canadian airports will my pet fly from to the UAE?
Which Canadian airport the pet leaves from depends on the airline that accepts it for the UAE and how it carries it, and road transport to a more distant departure point can be booked separately.
What does Canada require to send my pet to the UAE?
The certificate is the CFIA’s HA2839 for dogs and cats going to the UAE. Your own vet fills it in, and an official veterinarian of the CFIA endorses it at an appointment booked ahead. Endorsement cannot be done once the animal has left Canada, the agency says. It also advises reading the certificate against the Ministry’s import permit, since the UAE may change its requirements without telling the CFIA.
When is the best time to fly a pet from Canada to the UAE?
Air Canada’s passenger page on travelling with animals, read 16 September 2026, lists the United Arab Emirates among the destinations where pets may not ride in the baggage compartment at any time of year, and it publishes separate cold-weather limits by date, temperature and aircraft, which our guide to fall and winter pet travel restrictions explains. Both restrictions cover pets flying as checked baggage, and Air Canada Cargo publishes its own conditions.
How much does it cost to move a pet from Canada to the UAE?
On the UAE side the Ministry publishes two fees on its import service page, one for the permit, per animal, and one for releasing each dog or cat on arrival. On the Canadian side a CFIA officer works out the endorsement fee when the appointment is made, and the agency’s booking page explains how it is paid.
Airline freight is usually the largest line, and on this lane it is quoted per booking. Your crate size drives it more than your pet’s weight does. Add your vet’s charge for the examination and certificate paperwork, and ground transport at either end.
Every quote is built for your pet and route. Request a quote and we price the full journey up front, with government fees included. See our pet shipping cost calculator for how the Canadian side of the bill breaks down.
How does Pet Travel Advisors handle a Canada to UAE move?
The services are separate, so a move can use one or all of them: the permit application and the HA2839 paperwork up to the CFIA appointment, a travel crate, flight booking, check-in where the pet departs, and collection in the UAE with delivery onward. Door-to-door relocation suits some moves; others need only the flights.
Ready to start?
Book door-to-door pet relocation, or only the parts you need.