What Your Vet Must Put on the Health Certificate for a Puppy Travelling to Canada Without You
Your puppy is coming home to Canada in a transporter's vehicle rather than yours. That one fact is what triggers the health certificate, and almost nothing written online tells you what actually has to be on it. There is a specific two-page form, seven numbered clauses, and two blanks that get certificates handed back at the border. Here is the whole thing, in the order your vet will fill it in.
The short version
- There is one specific form: the APHIS Veterinary Health Certificate, Export of Dogs (Non-Commercial) Eight Months of Age and Less, From the United States to Canada. Two pages.
- Any US-licensed veterinarian can sign it. No APHIS endorsement, no CFIA endorsement, no import permit.
- Seventy-two hours, measured from the examination to the first port of entry in Canada. Not ten days.
- The breeder books the appointment. We give them the crossing time so the window works.
- Two blanks decide whether it holds up: the vaccine serial number and the time of examination including the time zone.
These instructions apply to unaccompanied puppies entering Canada as privately owned, non-commercial pets. Commercial imports have different requirements and are outside the scope of this guide. If you are importing to resell, rehome, or breed, start with our commercial import guide for breeders.
Which form it is
This is the part almost nobody tells you. There is a named, published form, and it is short. Print it before the appointment and hand it to the vet.
Veterinary Health Certificate: Export of Dogs (Non-Commercial) Eight Months of Age and Less, From the United States to Canada (PDF, 2 pages, published by USDA APHIS)
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency does not publish its own certificate for dogs arriving from the United States. It refers importers to APHIS, and this is the APHIS form for a privately owned puppy. Most small-animal clinics have never filled one out, which is not a problem as long as the form is in front of them. It is a problem when the vet is asked for "a health certificate for Canada" and reaches for a generic interstate certificate instead.
Clause by clause, in the form's own order
The header: consignee, consignor, and the licensing state
The top of page one takes two names and addresses, including company name. Consignee is you, the Canadian owner receiving the puppy. Consignoris the US breeder or seller sending it. Then the certifying line: "I, the undersigned veterinarian licensed to practice by the state of ______". Any state licence qualifies.
1. The puppy was at least 8 weeks old at examination
The vet certifies the puppy was not less than eight weeks of age when they examined it. This is a hard floor and it sets the earliest date the trip can happen. A seven-week-old puppy cannot be certified, so no amount of route planning gets it across.
2. DHPP vaccination, no earlier than 6 weeks of age
The vet certifies the puppy was vaccinated no earlier than six weeks of age for distemper, hepatitis, parvovirus and parainfluenza, with a vaccine licensed by the United States Department of Agriculture. Three blanks follow, and all three have to be filled:
- Date of vaccination
- Name of vaccine and manufacturer
- Serial number
The serial number is the one that gets left out. It is on the vaccine vial label and in the clinic's record, but it is not something a vet writes on a routine record, so it gets skipped unless someone asks.
3. Examined and found healthy
The vet certifies the puppy was examined and found to be healthy and free of any clinical evidence of disease. Two blanks:
- Date of examination
- Time of examination, including time zone
4. Rabies, for animals 3 months of age and greater
Date of vaccination and name of vaccine. For a puppy under three months this clause is left blank, because a puppy that young cannot be effectively vaccinated against rabies. Carry proof of date of birth so the age can be confirmed.
5. The animals are clearly identified
Page two carries the identification table: identification, breed, sex, colour, age. One row per puppy. If several littermates are travelling on one certificate, each needs its own row and each needs to be distinguishable in real life, not just on paper.
6. Fit to travel without undue suffering
The vet certifies the puppy can be transported to Canada without undue suffering by reason of illness, injury, fatigue or any other reason. This is broader than "healthy today". The vet is signing off on fitness for the journey, which is why we tell them the route and the expected duration.
7. The shipper has been advised of the 72-hour rule
The final clause has the vet confirm that the exporter or shipper was told the animals must be presented for inspection at the first port of entry in Canada within seventy-two (72) hours of the time of examination. Then the signature block: veterinarian's name, signature, licence number, and the date and time including time zone.
The two blanks that get certificates handed back
Everything above is straightforward for a vet. Two fields are not, because they are unusual and easy to leave empty.
The vaccine serial number. Clause 2 asks for it explicitly. A vaccination record printed from the clinic software usually shows the product name and the date but not the serial. Ask for it at the appointment, while the record is open.
The time of examination, with the time zone.The form asks for time, not just date, and it asks for the zone. A certificate that says only "March 4" leaves a border officer to decide when the 72 hours started, and they will not decide in your favour. A certificate that says "March 4, 9:15 a.m. EST" leaves nothing to interpret.
The 72-hour clock, and how it runs across time zones
The clock starts at the examination and ends when the puppy is presented at the first port of entry in Canada. Not at departure, not at your front door. Everything in between is your margin.
Here is a real shape of trip, and why the time zone is on the form:
- Examination: Tuesday, 9:15 a.m. Eastern, at a clinic in Ohio.
- Deadline: Friday, 9:15 a.m. Eastern, at the border.
- Crossing: Thursday evening at Lansdowne, well inside the window.
- Delivery: Saturday in New Brunswick, in the Atlantic zone, one hour ahead.
Delivery being outside the 72 hours does not matter. The window closes at the border, not at the doorstep. But if that certificate had recorded only a date, the officer would be working from midnight rather than 9:15 a.m., and a Thursday evening crossing on a Tuesday certificate gets a lot less comfortable. Write the time and the zone.
This is also why we plan a crossing backwards from the vet appointment. The vet visit is the fixed point. The route bends around it.
Who books the vet appointment
The breeder does. They have the puppy, the vaccination history, and a clinic that already knows them. You do not need to arrange anything from Canada, and you should not try to.
What we do is give the breeder the planned crossing time so the examination lands inside the 72-hour window, and confirm the form is the right one before the appointment happens. That single phone call is most of the value we add on the paperwork side. A breeder who has shipped into Canada before knows the drill. A breeder sending their first puppy north usually does not, and books the appointment a week early because that is what they do for every other state.
The printable checklist to send your vet
Forward this to the clinic with the form, or print it and bring it. Every line is a field on the certificate.
Open the printable version: Puppy Travelling From the U.S. to Canada Without You, What Your Vet Needs · one page, with fill-in fields, a QR code to the official APHIS form, and nothing your vet does not need. Send that link to your breeder.
For the examining veterinarian: Canada non-commercial puppy export certificate
- ☐ Correct form: APHIS Export of Dogs (Non-Commercial) Eight Months of Age and Less, 2 pages
- ☐ Consignee (Canadian owner) name and full address
- ☐ Consignor (US breeder or seller) name and full address
- ☐ State in which the examining veterinarian is licensed
- ☐ Clause 1: puppy at least 8 weeks old at examination
- ☐ Clause 2: DHPP given no earlier than 6 weeks, USDA-licensed vaccine
- ☐ Clause 2: date of vaccination
- ☐ Clause 2: vaccine name and manufacturer
- ☐ Clause 2: vaccine serial number
- ☐ Clause 3: examined, healthy, free of clinical evidence of disease
- ☐ Clause 3: date of examination
- ☐ Clause 3: time of examination, including time zone
- ☐ Clause 4: rabies date and vaccine name, if the puppy is 3 months or older
- ☐ Clause 5 and page 2: identification, breed, sex, colour, age, one row per puppy
- ☐ Clause 6: fit to travel without undue suffering
- ☐ Clause 7: shipper advised of the 72-hour presentation rule
- ☐ Signature, printed name, licence number, date and time with time zone
No APHIS endorsement required. No CFIA endorsement required. The puppy must reach the first Canadian port of entry within 72 hours of the examination time above.
What the certificate does not need
- No APHIS endorsement. APHIS says so directly for this certificate. You are not booking a federal endorsement appointment.
- No CFIA endorsement. There is no Canadian counter-signature step.
- No import permit. Permits belong to the commercial route.
- No microchip requirement for entry into Canada. Microchipping is a US entry rule in the opposite direction.
- No quarantine on arrival, at any age.
What travels alongside it
The certificate is the centrepiece, not the whole folder. Also crossing with the puppy:
- Rabies certificate if the puppy is three months or older, as a separate document as well as the entry on the form.
- The sale receipt, showing the date, a description of the puppy, the words "non breeding", and the price paid. It proves the puppy is already yours.
- GST on the purchase price, payable at the crossing. Declare the real value.
- A customs entry. This is the piece unique to travelling unaccompanied: a puppy moving on a for-hire carrier needs a formal entry filed by a customs broker. It is still a personal pet import. It just needs the entry, because the puppy is cargo on paper even though it is a family pet in fact.
The full document list for the trip, in both directions, is on our cross-border transport checklist. For why the requirement exists at all when you are not in the vehicle, see accompanied vs. unaccompanied.
How Dreamer's Bliss handles the certificate
We treat the vet appointment as the anchor of the trip. Before a puppy is collected we confirm the breeder has the right form, we give them the crossing time so the examination falls inside the 72 hours, and we check the completed certificate at pickup: serial number present, exam time and zone written, licence number filled, identification row matching the puppy in front of us. If something is blank we go back to the clinic then, not at the border.
We check it that carefully because we learned it the hard way. When we started, we assumed the ten-day window applied, the same one everyone repeats. We were refused entry at the border, spent the night in a Niagara Falls hotel, and found a vet the next morning to issue a fresh certificate before we could cross. The puppy was fine. Nobody enjoyed it. It is the reason the 72 hours is the first thing we confirm on every trip and the last thing we check before we roll.
If your puppy is one of a litter heading to several homes, we also run multi-puppy routes, where each puppy needs its own identification row on the certificate.
Confirm before you travel
Treat this as general information, not legal or veterinary advice. Requirements change and a border officer always has the final say, so we confirm current requirements for every trip rather than relying on last season. The two authorities:
Related: accompanied vs. unaccompanied · importing a puppy from the USA · commercial vs. non-commercial · returning a US-bought puppy · get a transport quote
FAQs
What exactly does my veterinarian need to put on the health certificate?
Seven things, on the APHIS form for non-commercial dogs eight months of age and less. That the puppy was at least 8 weeks old at examination. That it was vaccinated no earlier than 6 weeks of age against distemper, hepatitis, parvovirus and parainfluenza with a USDA-licensed vaccine, with the vaccination date, the vaccine name and manufacturer, and the serial number written in. That it was examined and found healthy and free of clinical evidence of disease, with the date of examination and the time of examination including the time zone. Rabies vaccination date and vaccine name, for a puppy three months or older. That the puppy is clearly identified, listed on page two by identification, breed, sex, colour and age. That it can travel without undue suffering. And that the shipper has been advised the puppy must reach the first port of entry in Canada within 72 hours of the examination. The vet also gives their licensing state, name, signature, licence number, and the date and time with the time zone.
Which form is it, and where do I get it?
It is the APHIS form titled Veterinary Health Certificate, Export of Dogs (Non-Commercial) Eight Months of Age and Less, From the United States to Canada. Two pages, published by the United States Department of Agriculture and accepted by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Print it and hand it to the vet at the appointment. Most clinics have never seen it, and the visit goes faster when the form is already on the table.
Is it 72 hours or 10 days?
Seventy-two hours. The 10-day figure people repeat comes from two other places: airline policy, and the requirements for a dog going the other way into the United States. Neither applies here. The form itself says the animals must be presented for inspection at the first port of entry in Canada within 72 hours of the time of examination.
Does the certificate need to be endorsed by APHIS or CFIA?
No. APHIS states plainly that this certificate does not require APHIS endorsement, and there is no CFIA endorsement step either. Any veterinarian licensed by a US state can examine the puppy and sign. If you have been told to book an endorsement appointment two weeks out, that advice belongs to a different kind of shipment.
Do I need an import permit for a puppy travelling unaccompanied?
Not for a privately owned pet. Permits belong to the commercial import route, which covers dogs brought in for resale, adoption, fostering, breeding, show or research. A puppy you have already bought and are bringing home to keep is not on that route.
Does it change if the puppy flies alone instead of driving alone?
Not for the certificate. Unaccompanied is unaccompanied, whether the puppy is in a transport vehicle or in an aircraft hold. What changes is the crate, the schedule, and how tightly the 72 hours has to be planned around a flight time you cannot move.
My puppy is under 12 weeks and has no rabies shot. Can it still travel?
Yes. A puppy under three months cannot be effectively vaccinated against rabies, so clause 4 is simply left blank. Everything else on the certificate still applies, including the DHPP vaccination given no earlier than 6 weeks of age. Carry proof of the puppy's date of birth so its age can be confirmed.
How young can a puppy be to travel?
Eight weeks at the time of examination is the floor, because clause 1 of the certificate requires the vet to certify the puppy was not less than eight weeks old when they examined it. Canada sets no minimum entry age on top of that. The 6-month wall people worry about is a United States entry rule and applies in the opposite direction.
What happens if the 72 hours runs out mid-trip?
The certificate is no longer usable and the puppy has to be examined again before crossing. That means finding a clinic near the border on short notice, which is exactly the situation you plan a route to avoid. We build the crossing time backwards from the vet appointment rather than the other way around.
Who books the vet appointment, the breeder or me?
The breeder. They have the puppy, they have the vaccination records, and they have a relationship with the clinic. On our trips the breeder books the appointment and we give them the planned crossing time so the examination lands inside the 72-hour window. You do not need to arrange anything from Canada.
Ready for a quote?
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