How Much Does It Cost to Ship a Pet from Canada to the United Kingdom?
Two costs sit at the far end of the trip: a dog’s tapeworm treatment, which gov.uk times against the arrival, and the handling at Heathrow’s Animal Reception Centre, alongside the UK customs agent it says every owner has to appoint.
What it costs, line by line
| Cost | Amount | Who charges it |
|---|---|---|
| CFIA export certification | Set by the CFIA at the endorsement appointment | CFIA |
| Heathrow ARC, collect from aircraft | GBP £104 | City of London |
| Heathrow ARC, boarding with paperwork pre-checked | GBP £213, plus £55 per additional pet | City of London |
| Heathrow ARC, boarding without a paperwork pre-check | GBP £293, plus £55 per additional pet | City of London |
| Tapeworm treatment (required for the UK) | Set by your clinic | Your vet |
| Airline freight | Quoted per route | Airline |
| IATA crate | Amazon.ca, read 18 September 2026, lists the Petmate Sky Kennel at CAD $188 to $674 across sizes 200, 300, 400 and 700. We size the crate at your pet’s fitting and confirm the cost before anything is booked | Retailer |
| Vet exam, health certificate, blood draw | Set by your clinic | Your vet |
One rule decides this route before any of the figures do. Owning a Pit Bull Terrier, Japanese Tosa, Dogo Argentino, Fila Brasileiro or XL Bully is against the law in the UK, and gov.uk lets a dog of a banned type into Great Britain only if it already holds a valid Certificate of Exemption. What decides the type is how the dog looks, not its breed or its name, so a crossbreed built like one of the five can fall under the rule.
The £55 is charged once for each pet after the first, not by the day.
CFIA endorsement appointments have to be booked and paid at least three days ahead, they are non-refundable once booked, and debit cards are not accepted.
How flight pricing works on this route
Live animal freight from Canada is priced per booking, not from a rate card. Gov.uk’s approved routes list, updated 25 September 2026, names Air Canada, WestJet and Air Transat among the airlines that may fly a pet into Great Britain. British Airways is on it too, and it carries no pets in the cabin at all, so a BA booking is a cargo booking with its own container rule: see our guide to the British Airways pet policy from Canada. That list places BA’s arrivals with Animal Air Care rather than the reception centre priced further down this page.
American Airlines Cargo, which does publish a transborder cargo tariff, states that it does not transport any animals outbound from Canada at all, so it is not an option on this lane unless the pet is driven to a US gateway and flown from there. The exact figure for this route is set once the crate size and dates are known, which is why we price it per booking instead of printing a number that will not match your itinerary.
What we can tell you is what drives it. Airlines charge on chargeable weight, which is whichever is greater: actual weight, or a volume figure from the crate dimensions. For pets the volume figure almost always wins. Air Canada publishes the divisor at 166 cubic inches per pound. A size 400 crate works out to roughly 66 kg of chargeable weight no matter what is inside it, which is why crate size moves the price more than the dog does.
What is not included here
Your vet sets their own fees. The examination, the certificate paperwork and any blood draw are priced by your clinic and vary between practices. Ask for a quote when you book the visit; we handle the timing so every piece lands inside its validity window. The lab fee covers the test itself, and the draw is always the clinic’s charge.
Ground transport at either end is quoted per route. Our coordination fee is included in the total we quote you and itemized on your invoice.
What moves the price
The tapeworm treatment window is measured in hours, not days, and has to be recorded by the vet who gives it. That means booking that appointment against your flight rather than around it.
Crate size drives the flight cost.
Great Britain, Ireland, Finland, Malta and Norway all require the tapeworm treatment.
Figures and sources
Figures verified July 2026; Heathrow’s charges were read again on 25 September 2026 from the page listed below. CFIA fees are re-indexed for inflation every 31 March, so check the source if you are reading this later.
- CFIA Fees Notice, Part 11
- UK government pet entry requirements
- Heathrow Animal Reception Centre charges
Terms used here are defined in our pet relocation glossary.
Want this priced for your pet and dates?
Send us the route, the breed and roughly when you want to travel. Request a quote and we will reply with an itemized plan, a timeline and clear next steps.
For entry rules and the full paperwork timeline, see our guide to pet shipping requirements for the United Kingdom.
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