Which Airlines Actually Carry Pet Birds To and From Canada (Maintained 2026 Table)

This table is built from each carrier’s own published pet page, not from a pet-travel blog or a forum thread. It’s the kind of thing that changes without notice, so treat “last verified” as exactly that — a date we read the page, not a guarantee it hasn’t changed since. Reconfirm directly with the carrier before you book.

Since 1 June 2025, every cabin pet carrier must be soft-sided. Cabin fees run CA/US $50–60 for travel within Canada and between Canada and the US, and $100–120 for international routes — but those fees apply to the cats and small dogs the policy actually covers, not to birds.

We could not confirm what, if anything, Air Canada offers for a pet bird travelling as checked baggage or via Air Canada Cargo, so treat that as an open question for the airline rather than an assumption either way.

For the pets Porter does carry, the cost is $50–57.50 per direction, capped at two pets per flight, with a minimum 24 hours’ notice required and the carrier counting as the passenger’s one carry-on item. None of that helps a bird owner — it’s included here only so you know exactly what’s being ruled out.

Separately from the bird-specific embargoes, WestJet refuses pets altogether — no exceptions for cabin versus hold — to or from five destinations: Barbados, Hawaii, Ireland (Dublin), Jamaica and the United Kingdom. The policy is explicit that “does not accept” covers both carry-on and checked baggage, so there’s no workaround by switching a booking from cabin to hold on those routes.

We could not confirm from the published page exactly what species, carrier requirements or fees apply if WestJet does carry a bird on a route it doesn’t embargo — that’s a direct question for WestJet before you book, not something to infer from the embargo list.

WestJet’s page also states plainly that the passenger is responsible for meeting the entry requirements of every province, territory or country on the itinerary — including the country of departure — and that WestJet assumes no responsibility for a passenger’s compliance with those requirements. Pets, including birds, can be refused entry even into Canada if judged to be in poor health, with any resulting medical exam billed to the owner.

Air Transat’s Canada/US Transborder Tariff says it plainly under Carriage of Animals: “only domestic cats and dogs are accepted for carriage. All other animals, except certified service animals, are not accepted on the carrier’s flights.” The animal fees Air Transat publishes — CAD $50 per segment in the cabin, CAD $150 in the hold — are for cats and dogs. They are not a route for a bird.

Flair’s international tariff is shorter still. Rule 75, Acceptance of Pets, reads in its entirety: “Flair does not accept any pet animals at this time.” Its domestic tariff accepts dogs and cats in the cabin, states that “all other pet animals will be refused carriage”, and adds that the carrier “does not accept pets of any type for transport in the cargo hold” of any aircraft.

So it is four of five, and the exception is the one that matters. WestJet lists “Birds (see entrance requirements)” under Pet types (species) accepted in the cabin, alongside cats and dogs, at one pet per guest per kennel — so a pet bird can fly in the WestJet cabin. The other four of the five largest Canada-origin carriers will not take a bird: Air Canada names only cats and small dogs, Porter restricts pet travel to house cats and small dogs and bars pets from the hold entirely, Flair’s international tariff says it does not accept any pet animals at all, and Air Transat’s tariff accepts only domestic cats and dogs. This is the part of the plan that catches people out, because it is the part everybody assumes is easy.

Bookmark the carrier’s own pet or live-animal page rather than a third-party summary, and get any exception in writing from the airline before you rely on it.

Note too that an airline agreeing to carry your bird only answers the transport question — it says nothing about whether the destination country will let the bird in, or whether Canada will let it back out. Those are separate regulatory questions covered in our guides on moving abroad with a pet bird and crossing the Canada–US border with a bird.

Does Porter Allow Birds As Checked Baggage Instead Of In The Cabin?

No. Porter states plainly that pets aren’t permitted in the baggage hold on any Porter flight, and that pet travel overall is restricted to house cats and small dogs. There’s no hold workaround on Porter for a bird.

Which Canadian Airline Is Most Likely To Carry A Pet Bird?

Of the three we checked, WestJet is the only one that publishes bird-specific policy at all — its “Bird embargoes” section deals directly with birds rather than staying silent on the species. That’s not a guarantee it will carry your particular bird on your particular route; confirm directly with WestJet before booking.

Are There Countries WestJet Won’t Fly Pets To At All?

Yes. WestJet’s policy states it does not accept pets — in cabin or hold — to or from Barbados, Hawaii, Ireland (Dublin), Jamaica or the United Kingdom. This applies regardless of species.

If An Airline Agrees To Carry My Bird, Does That Mean The Destination Will Let It In?

No. An airline’s pet policy only covers transport. Whether a country will admit your bird is a separate legal question covered by that country’s own import rules, which you need to check independently — see our guide on moving abroad with a pet bird.

Why Does This Page Say “Last Verified” Instead Of Just Stating The Policy As Permanent Fact?

Airline pet policies are commercial terms the carrier can change at any time, and there’s no regulator or central database tracking them. We read each carrier’s own page on the date shown and link to it directly so you can check it’s still current before you book.

Can I Ship My Bird As Cargo Instead Of Flying With It?

Not on Air Transat or Flair. Air Transat’s transborder tariff accepts only domestic cats and dogs, and Flair’s domestic tariff states it does not accept pets of any type in the cargo hold while its international tariff accepts no pet animals at all. Air Canada Cargo is a separate business and we could not confirm a published live-bird policy for it, so contact them directly and get any acceptance terms in writing before relying on them.

If you’re mid-move and your bird can’t fly with you on the dates you need, boarding gives your bird a stable place to stay in the Greater Toronto Area while you sort out permits, routing or a cargo carrier — get a quote and we’ll hold the dates.

Every number below was checked against the agency’s own website on 27 July 2026. Government phone numbers and web pages still change without notice. If one does not connect, find the agency through its own official site rather than trusting what is printed here.

• Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) — import and export of live birds, health certificates, permits: 1-800-442-2342 from Canada and the US, or 1-613-773-2342 local and international, 8 am to 7 pm EST Monday to Friday except holidays. CFIA names services related to travelling with pets as something its area offices handle — for the GTA that is the Mississauga animal health office, 289-247-4100, 8 am to 4 pm
  · inspection.canada.ca
• Environment and Climate Change Canada — CITES permitting — export and import permits for CITES-listed species, and what documents exist for repeat crossings:
  1-855-869-8670
  · cites@ec.gc.ca
• Canada Border Services Agency — what happens at the border itself, declarations and inspection fees: 1-800-461-9999, Monday to Friday 8 am to 4 pm local time. Press 0 to reach an agent; CBSA’s published service standard is to answer within 20 minutes
• USDA APHIS — the US pet-travel hub, with separate paths for import, export and interstate movement, and the list of which birds count as pets at all:
  aphis.usda.gov/pet-travel
• US Fish & Wildlife Service — CITES and Wild Bird Conservation Act permits, applied for through the ePermits portal at fws.gov/permits. The agency contact centre is 1-800-344-9453
  · info@fws.gov

There are two things we can do. If your bird cannot travel with you — because the paperwork is still in progress, the airline will not carry it, or the timing simply does not work — we can board your bird in the GTA for as long as you need, including by the month. And if it becomes clear the bird genuinely cannot come with you, we can help you rehome it to a good home rather than leaving you to sort that out alone.

We publish this guide because our boarding clients ask us about it constantly, and because the answer is genuinely hard to assemble from the primary sources.

• 27 July 2026 — We had listed 1-800-358-2104 as the US Fish & Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement number. That number is widely repeated online but does not appear anywhere on the current fws.gov, so we have replaced it with the contact route the agency does publish — the ePermits portal and its agency contact centre. Every other number in that section was re-checked against the agency’s own website the same day, and CBSA’s border information line has been added.
• 27 July 2026 — Air Transat and Flair were listed as “not confirmed” because neither publishes a clear pet-bird answer on its website. We have since read both carriers’ filed tariffs, which are the contract of carriage and prevail over the website, and both refuse birds outright. Those rows and the surrounding section now give the sourced answer instead of a placeholder. Air Canada Cargo remains genuinely unconfirmed.
• 28 July 2026 — Corrected: an earlier version of this page said all five of the largest Canada-origin carriers refuse pet birds. That was wrong about WestJet, which lists “Birds (see entrance requirements)” under Pet types (species) accepted in the cabin on its own pets page. The error came from treating WestJet’s published “Bird embargoes” section as evidence that it refuses birds, when an embargo naming particular destinations implies carriage to the others. The count is four of five, and a pet bird can fly in the WestJet cabin subject to WestJet’s own conditions and destination embargoes. If you read this page before today and concluded that no Canadian airline would carry your bird, that conclusion was ours and it was wrong.