Pet transport from Canada to Vietnam
Moving a pet from Canada to Vietnam is one of the more straightforward international relocations, because Vietnam does not currently require a rabies antibody titer test or a mandatory quarantine period for companion dogs and cats that arrive with complete documentation. The process still involves several coordinated steps on both ends: a Canadian export health certificate endorsed on the departure side, an import permit issued on the Vietnamese side, and careful sequencing so that no document expires while another is still being processed. The order in which the microchip, the rabies vaccination and the health certificate happen matters more than the total elapsed time — a vaccination given before the microchip is implanted is commonly rejected, and a certificate issued too early can fall outside its validity window by the travel date. Vietnamese import rules can also change with limited public notice, so current requirements should be confirmed with the responsible authority before flights are booked rather than after.
Documentation requirements
- ✓ISO-compliant microchip (11784/11785, 15-digit) implanted before or on the same day as the rabies vaccination — chipping after vaccination can invalidate that vaccination for entry purposes.
- ✓Rabies vaccination administered ahead of travel and still within its stated validity on the arrival date. A pre-travel interval after vaccination is commonly published as 21 to 30 days; confirm the current figure before booking.
- ✓Canadian export health certificate issued by a CFIA-accredited veterinarian. The issuing window is typically published as a small number of days before departure, so the vet appointment has to be timed to the flight rather than booked early.
- ✓Import permit issued by Vietnam's Department of Animal Health, arranged in advance. Processing times vary and are not fixed.
- ✓General vaccinations current and documented (distemper and parvovirus for dogs, feline panleukopenia for cats) as advised by the attending veterinarian.
- ✓Verify current rules: requirements and timings on this corridor are set by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency on the export side and Vietnam's Department of Animal Health on the import side. Confirm both against those authorities for your specific travel dates.
Timeline
Plan for roughly three to six weeks from the first veterinary appointment to arrival. That range is driven by the CFIA export certificate window and by import permit processing rather than by flight time, which is a single long-haul day. A pet that is already microchipped and current on rabies vaccination can sometimes move at the shorter end of that range; a pet that needs a first rabies vaccination cannot, because the post-vaccination interval has to elapse before departure. Treat any published range as planning guidance and confirm current processing times with CFIA and Vietnam's Department of Animal Health, since permit turnaround in particular is not guaranteed.
Crate & airline
Crates must meet IATA Live Animal Regulations sizing: the animal needs to stand fully upright, turn around, and lie down naturally without touching the sides or the roof. Sizing is taken from the pet's own measurements, not from breed averages, and your coordinator confirms the crate size before booking so the crate can be sourced and the pet acclimatised to it in advance. Airline and routing choice depends on the pet's size and breed, on snub-nosed breed restrictions where they apply, and on the live-animal policy each carrier is operating at the time of booking.
What affects cost
Cost on this corridor is driven by the pet's size and weight, the crate size that follows from it, documentation and permit handling, ground transport at both ends, and seasonal timing. Many carriers restrict live-animal cargo during peak summer heat, and an embargo that pushes travel into a different month can change both the routing and the price. A route-specific quote follows a review of the pet's details rather than a published flat rate.