Who clears your pet through customs
Every commercial pet shipment across the Canada-US border needs a licensed customs broker. We've worked with two trusted partners for years. They know animal imports, they know our operation, and they get your pet across the border quickly.
RNR International
- Fee: $150 CAD + HST on declared animal value
- Clears shipments entering Canada
- Coordinates with CFIA (Canadian Food Inspection Agency)
- Handles importer-of-record paperwork
OmegaCHB
- Fee: $428 CAD ($300 USD) per shipment, billed by us
- Clears shipments entering the United States
- Coordinates with USDA APHIS and CDC
- Files CBP entry documentation
What a customs broker actually does
A customs broker is the licensed professional who files the entry paperwork that lets a shipment leave one country and enter another. They don't touch the animal. They handle the filing.
Worth clearing up, because plenty of transport companies get it backwards: your pet is not automatically a commercial shipment. CBSA defines commercial goods as goods imported for sale or for commercial use, and casual goods as everything else. A pet you own, coming home to live with you, is casual goods even when a paid carrier drives it. What makes it commercial is the purpose of the import, not the fact that you hired us.
For a Canada-to-USA trip, we work with OmegaCHB in the US. They file the entry documents with US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), coordinate with USDA APHIS (agriculture) and the CDC (health), and get the shipment cleared so we can proceed past the border.
For a USA-to-Canada trip, we work with RNR International. They file with the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and coordinate with CFIA.
Clearance into the United States is $428 CAD ($300 USD), in addition to your transport quote and billed on the same invoice. We pay the broker. Nothing to settle at the border. With our $465 CAD minimum charge, a trip into the United States starts at $893 CAD.
Customs broker questions
Do I have to use your brokers?
No. If you have your own broker, we'll coordinate with them. RNR International and OmegaCHB are our recommendations because we've vetted them over years of shipments.
Why do I need a broker at all? My pet is just a dog.
Strictly speaking you don't. CBSA says importers may prepare and submit their own documentation, so you are allowed to clear your own dog. The catch is who else can do it for you. CBSA Memorandum D17-1-3 says the carrier transporting the goods cannot act as an agent of the importer unless it is a licensed customs broker, and we are a carrier, not a broker. So we cannot file on your behalf, whatever we might prefer.
That leaves two honest options. Meet your dog at the port of entry and clear it yourself, which is allowed and costs you nothing but the trip. Or have a broker file the entry, which is what happens on nearly every move we run, because most people are not standing at the border when their puppy arrives. Clearance is $428 CAD ($300 USD) into the United States and $150 CAD plus tax into Canada.
When do I pay the broker?
Broker fees are in addition to your transport quote. Into the United States, the $428 CAD ($300 USD)clearance goes on our invoice and we pay OmegaCHB. Into Canada, RNR International bills you directly, $150 CAD plus tax at your province's rate. We give you their contact information and coordinate the timing.