Corporate Pet Relocation in Canada
For employers, HR teams and relocation companies moving staff to, from or within Canada, and for the employee bringing a dog or cat. Whoever is paying gets the quote, and bookings start only once they have signed it off in writing.
We plan the route, book the airline, arrange the crate and the CFIA paperwork, handle airport check-in for the pet and meet it when it lands, the Canadian end of a move into Canada included.
Who do we work with on an employee pet move?
Employee pet relocation in Canada usually involves more than one party, and the move has to suit each of them.
Employers and HR
You authorize the spending and need it inside the policy. The quote arrives in parts, ready to approve.
Relocation Companies
You manage the household move and want one partner for the pet. We follow the dates and the approval steps on your file.
The Employee Moving to Canada
You know the animal. We ask for its records and your dates and handle the Canadian end when it lands.
Public Servants, RCMP and Global Affairs
Your directive sets what the Crown pays for a pet, and the quote is laid out so the claim is simple to make.
Relocating to Canada for work with a pet: who handles the Canadian end?
When an employee moves to Canada for a job, the pet’s journey starts abroad and ends here, and the Canadian end is the part we run: collecting the pet at the Canadian airport where it lands, clearing it through customs, and delivery to the new home or to temporary housing. The import documents are checked against the CFIA’s requirements before the pet leaves, so a missing paper is found at the start rather than on the day.
What a dog or cat needs to enter depends on the species, its age and the country it comes from; our guide to bringing a pet to Canada sets out the CFIA rules. Moves out of Canada and between provinces run the other way, from the CFIA export certificate or the domestic booking to the handover at the new address; see international pet shipping and pet transport.
How do approval and payment work for a company?
Whoever pays receives the quote: the employee, the employer, or a relocation company acting for the employer. Bookings wait for that payer’s written approval, which keeps the company’s sign-off ahead of any cost.
The quote is set out line by line, one line per part of the move: the airline’s freight charge, the travel crate, the documents and their endorsement, each ground leg, and the arrival. A policy limit or an expense claim can be checked against those lines directly. Where the employee pays first and is reimbursed, the paid invoice repeats the quote’s lines and goes in with the receipts.
What can hold up an employee’s pet move to or from Canada?
Rarely the relocation itself, and often the calendar. A start date is agreed between the company and the employee; the pet’s date answers to rules nobody in the company sets:
- The destination’s timetable. Some countries ask for a blood test for rabies antibodies, then a wait, before entry, and an endorsed certificate dated close to the flight, so the paperwork decides the first possible day.
- Winter. Canadian airlines restrict animals in the hold in the cold months on some aircraft, which matters for a January start in the Prairies or the North.
- Size and breed. A large crate fits only some aircraft, and snub-nosed breeds narrow the choice of airline.
- A connection. Every extra airport is another place where the weather or a station’s hours can stop an animal, so the routing is kept as direct as the route allows.
Knowing these early lets the employee travel on time and the pet follow when its papers are ready, with the plan showing the earliest date before the payer approves anything.
Do employers cover pet relocation?
About half of the companies in one benchmark survey do. AIRINC’s Long Term Assignment Survey, reported with Starwood Pet Travel on 30 June 2026 in research from Starwood Pet Travel with AIRINC, found pet shipment provided in some form by 49 percent of 166 companies in 2025, against 37 percent of companies surveyed in 2022.
Of the employers offering a pet benefit, 43 percent capped the number of pets, 29 percent set a cash cap and 20 percent limited the type of pet. If your policy has one of those limits, put it in the file you send us and the quote follows it.
Federal public service, RCMP and Global Affairs postings: what pays for the pet?
Federal public service relocation, RCMP transfers and postings abroad each run under their own directive, and each names pet costs differently:
| Directive | Who it covers | What it says about pets |
|---|---|---|
| NJC Relocation Directive, 11.15 and 4.16 | Public servants relocated under the National Joint Council directive | Actual and reasonable costs of transporting pets to the new location, and kennel fees during interim accommodation, from the Core Customized Fund; boarding during a house hunting trip under 4.16 |
| RCMP Relocation Directive, 3.13 | RCMP members on transfer | Pet shipment, boarding or kennel fees, and commercial accommodation fees for pets, from the Flexible Spending Account, up to $1,000 per relocation; pet carriers, veterinary costs and transport to and from boarding are not reimbursable |
| Foreign Service Directive 15, 15.1.10 | Public servants posted outside Canada, Global Affairs Canada staff among them | Shipment or boarding of pets is an admissible expense under the flexible relocation expenses fund, paid on receipts up to the fund’s amount, which are due within six months of arrival |
Checked 24 October 2026 against each directive. In every case the claim rests on receipts, and the paid invoice gives each part of the move its own line.
Diplomat pet relocation in Canada: embassy and consulate staff
Diplomats and consular staff arriving in Canada need the same Canadian end as anyone else: a pet whose papers meet the CFIA’s import requirements, met at the airport and taken to the residence. When their posting here ends, the move runs the other way, from the CFIA export certificate to the flight out. Canadian diplomats going abroad fall under FSD 15, in the table above.
For HR teams and for relocation companies
Send us the file as soon as the relocation is agreed, even before the dates are fixed. It helps to include:
- The employee’s name and the best way to reach them
- The origin, the destination and the target date
- The species, breed and approximate weight of each pet, where known
- Who approves the quote and who pays, and where the quote should be sent
- Any pet limit in the policy: how many pets, a cash ceiling, or which kinds of animal it covers
Use the contact page, call 1-877-707-1739 or email info@pettraveladvisors.ca. We deal with the employee on the animal and on departure day, and the quote and the paid invoice go to the payer.
How does an employee pet move work?
Five steps, the same whichever party sends the file.
1. The File Comes In
From HR, the relocation company or the employee: the route, the date and the pet.
2. Plan and Quote
Your route, the paperwork in sequence, and one line per part, addressed to the payer.
3. Approval in Writing
The payer signs off the quote; the flight and crate are booked after that.
4. Vet Work and Documents
Appointments with the employee’s veterinarian are timed back from the flight, with the CFIA endorsement where one is needed.
5. Flight and Delivery
Check-in is done by the team, the flight is tracked, and someone meets the pet when it lands and delivers it.
What should the employee have ready?
- The pet’s rabies certificate, microchip number and any titre test result
- Its measurements, so the crate meets the airline’s rules
- Both addresses, old and new, and the dates the employee travels
- A contact in Canada to take the pet in if it lands before the employee does
For a first look at the parts on a route, the cost calculator breaks one down, and the destinations index lists every country we serve.
Get a Pet Relocation Quote for Your Employee
Frequently asked questions
Can the employer pay for part of the move and the employee the rest?
Yes. Each part can be booked separately, so the quote marks the lines the employer covers and the lines the employee covers, and nothing is booked until each payer has signed it off.
Do you replace the relocation company?
No. We look after the pet and work next to the relocation company and the household goods movers, following the timeline on the file.
Can you meet a pet that lands in Canada before the employee?
Yes. A pet travelling as cargo can arrive on a different flight from its owner. The team meets it on arrival and takes it to the address you give us, which can be temporary housing or boarding the employee has arranged.
Do you move pets for employees transferring between provinces?
Yes, by air as cargo, or by road with partner drivers, between provinces or from home to the airport.
Can you move an employee’s pet from Canada to the United States?
Yes. A dog going to the US has to meet the CDC’s entry rules, which our United States page sets out, and the move runs from collection here to delivery at the US address.
Is the RCMP’s $1,000 limit per pet?
It is per relocation. Section 3.13 of the RCMP Relocation Directive caps the pet expenses a member can claim from the Flexible Spending Account at $1,000 for each relocation.
Which animals can an employee bring?
Cats and dogs, and also birds and small exotic pets, wherever the carrier and the country of arrival take that species. Snub-nosed breeds narrow the choice of airline.