Importing a Pet Bird to Canada: The Complete CFIA Guide (2026)

Section 13 applies only to personally-owned pet parrots and song birds arriving from the United States. It is a self-contained route: if you meet its conditions, you may import the bird under section 13 itself, with no permit involved anywhere in the process. Every parrot or song bird arriving from a country other than the United States is a different animal in the eyes of this rule — it does not qualify as a “pet bird” under section 13 no matter how long you’ve owned it, and section 13(3) is explicit that those birds “may only be imported in accordance with Paragraph 12.(1)(a)” — a Ministerial import permit, issued case by case.

That split explains almost everything else in this article. Two owners flying home with an identically tame, identically loved conure can face two totally different processes, purely because of which country the flight departed from.

The HPAI-Endemic Prohibition List And What It Means (There Is No Permit That Fixes This)

CFIA maintains and updates restrictions tied to highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) status in the exporting country. Because this list changes as disease situations evolve, Worth checking: the current list of countries and regions from which bird imports are prohibited or restricted due to HPAI, and the exact scope of the restriction — we could not confirm this from an official source. Ask the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (1-800-442-2342) before you rely on it. If your country is on it, there is no permit path around it — the restriction applies at the border regardless of how strong your paperwork is.

Part III of the Import Reference Document is blunt about the baseline: “the world is an undesignated area for regulated animals.” No country or region currently carries a standing designation as a lower-risk area, which is why every non-US import runs through the individual-permit route rather than a pre-cleared list of “safe” countries.

What To Do Instead If Your Country Is On It

If your country of origin is currently restricted, your realistic options are to wait for the restriction to lift, arrange for the bird to be rehomed rather than travel, or board the bird in Canada with someone else while you sort out longer-term plans. None of these is a workaround for the restriction — they are what people actually do while it is in effect.

The Owner Declaration To CBSA: The Four Things You Must Be Able To Say Truthfully

Under section 13 of the Import Reference Document, a personally-owned pet parrot or song bird from the United States needs no veterinary health certificate — only a declaration you make to a Customs Officer at the place of entry. Section 9 (Poultry) expressly excludes “songbirds and parrots referred to in section 13” from the poultry certificate requirement, so there is no certificate hiding in a different section either.

To use this route, you need to be able to say, truthfully, that:

• You are the bird’s owner, and you are accompanying it in person — a family member cannot bring your bird in for you under section 13.
• It is your personal pet and is not for sale.
• It has not been in contact with other birds.
• It has been in your personal possession in Canada or the United States for the 90 days immediately preceding the date of entry.

The 90-Days-Immediately-Before-Entry Possession Rule

The 90-day clock runs to the date of entry — not to the date you apply for anything, since there is nothing to apply for — and the possession has to have been in Canada or the United States specifically. Time spent with the bird in a third country doesn’t count toward it.

“No Contact With Other Birds” — What That Means If Yours Boarded Or Saw A Vet

The Import Reference Document states the “no contact with other birds” condition but does not define what counts as contact in a shared airspace, a boarding facility, or a veterinary waiting room. Worth checking: whether professional boarding, grooming, or a veterinary visit where other birds are present breaks the “no contact with other birds” declaration under s.13 — we could not confirm this from an official source. Ask the Canadian Food Inspection Agency before you rely on it. If your bird has boarded, been groomed alongside other birds, or shared a vet waiting room recently, confirm this before you rely on the declaration.

The One-Import-Per-Household-Per-90-Days Rule That Catches Couples Splitting A Flock

There’s a limit that rarely gets published anywhere but sits directly in the regulation’s logic: no member of the importer’s household may have imported a bird under section 13 during the 90 days immediately preceding the date of entry. In effect, this is one pet bird per household per 90 days through this route. Couples who try to split a small flock across two trips, or two people, to get around it will find the household — not the individual — is what’s being counted.

The Border Inspection Fee And Booking Your CFIA Appointment

Expect a border inspection fee and, in many cases, a requirement to arrange your CFIA appointment ahead of arrival rather than showing up unannounced. Worth checking: the current CBSA/CFIA border inspection fee amount and fee code, and how far in advance a CFIA appointment must be booked for a live pet bird import — we could not confirm this from an official source. Ask the Canadian Food Inspection Agency before you rely on it. Confirm both before you travel; a missed appointment window can hold your bird at the border even when your declaration itself is in order.

Our plain-English companion piece, Bringing a Pet Bird Into Canada: The CFIA Rules Explained in Plain English, walks through the same ground with less regulatory language if you want a second pass.

The CFIA Import Permit Application

You apply to CFIA for an individual import permit before the bird travels — this is not something you can arrange retroactively at the border. Worth checking: the current application form/reference number, whether it’s submitted through the My CFIA portal, and whether single-use versus multiple-use permits are available — we could not confirm this from an official source. Ask the Canadian Food Inspection Agency before you rely on it. Build in real lead time; a permit that has to be issued before the bird can legally travel is not something to start a week before your flight.

Getting Your Home Approved As A Quarantine Premises

This is typically the longest step in the whole process, and the one people underestimate. As a condition of the permit, your home (or another designated location) generally has to be inspected and pre-approved by CFIA as a quarantine premises before the bird arrives — not after. Worth checking: the current criteria CFIA uses to approve a home as a quarantine premises, including required separation from other birds, ventilation, and biosecurity measures, and the typical lead time to get a site approved — we could not confirm this from an official source. Ask the Canadian Food Inspection Agency before you rely on it. Start this conversation with CFIA as early as possible; it is realistically the bottleneck on your whole timeline, not the flight or the certificate.

Condos, Apartments And Rentals: Can You Host An Approved Quarantine?

Whether a condo, an apartment, or a rental unit can qualify as an approved quarantine premises depends on the same site criteria above, and CFIA assesses each location individually rather than against a public checklist you can self-certify against. Worth checking: whether shared-building airflow, shared hallways, or landlord consent affect quarantine premises approval, and how CFIA treats multi-unit residential buildings specifically — we could not confirm this from an official source. Ask the Canadian Food Inspection Agency before you rely on it. If you live in a condo or a rental, raise this with CFIA before you commit to a move date, not after.

The Origin-Country Certificate Must Come From The Central Veterinary Authority, Not Your Vet

The permit will require a health certificate from the exporting country, but that certificate generally has to be issued or endorsed by that country’s central (national) veterinary authority — the government body responsible for animal health — rather than simply a private veterinarian’s letter. Worth checking: the exact certifying-authority requirement for your bird’s country of origin, and whether a private vet’s signature must be countersigned by the national authority — we could not confirm this from an official source. Ask the Canadian Food Inspection Agency before you rely on it.

The Certification Windows Your Exporting Country’s Vet Must Meet

Import permits for birds from outside the US commonly specify a series of time windows the origin-country certificate has to satisfy — how long the bird must have lived in that country before shipping, how recently before departure it was examined, and whether it must be free of vaccination against specific avian diseases such as Newcastle disease. Worth checking: the exact residency period, pre-export examination window, and vaccination-exclusion requirements that apply to your specific permit — we could not confirm this from an official source. Ask the Canadian Food Inspection Agency before you rely on it. These figures are set out in the individual permit CFIA issues you, not in a single published table, so don’t rely on a number you’ve seen for someone else’s bird.

Mid-Quarantine Testing: What To Expect

At some point during quarantine, a CFIA veterinarian carries out testing on the bird — commonly described as a cloacal swab — to screen for disease before the bird is released from quarantine. Worth checking: the exact timing of mid-quarantine testing, and the process if a result comes back positive or inconclusive, including whether retesting, extended quarantine, or removal from Canada can result — we could not confirm this from an official source. Ask the Canadian Food Inspection Agency before you rely on it. Whatever the outcome, Part IV of the Import Reference Document is clear about the fallback: where an animal doesn’t qualify to remain, the importer will be ordered to remove it from Canada under section 18 of the Health of Animals Act within a specified period, and must comply.

Psittacosis Treatment During Quarantine

Psittacosis (chlamydiosis) often comes up in the context of parrot quarantine. Worth checking: whether psittacosis treatment is currently recommended or mandated as part of the quarantine protocol for imported birds — we could not confirm this from an official source. Ask the Canadian Food Inspection Agency before you rely on it. Don’t assume either way until you’ve confirmed it against your specific permit.

Bird Sitting Toronto boards birds by the day, week or month at its Mississauga location, with daily photo and video updates in the BST Mobile App. For a permit process that can run for months rather than days, the daily rates are below, and longer stays are charged at a lower rate per day, already factored into your quote:

A CFIA import permit does not confirm your CITES paperwork is in order, and CFIA will not check it for you — you need to sort CITES separately if your species is listed.

This same “two separate boxes” logic shows up on the US side of this cluster in a way worth flagging here: under the US Wild Bird Conservation Act, 50 CFR 15.33 sets out an approved list of captive-bred species that can be imported into the US regardless of CITES status. A bird can be CITES-listed but still on the approved list, or CITES-unlisted but still barred by the WBCA — the two checks are genuinely independent, and conflating them is one of the most common mistakes in this space.

What If My Bird Has Lived With Me For Less Than 90 Days?

Then it doesn’t meet the section 13 possession requirement, and the US declaration route isn’t available to you for this trip. You’d need to look at the general import-permit route that applies to non-US arrivals, or wait until the 90-day clock is satisfied.

Can My Spouse Bring Our Second Bird In Under Section 13 If I Already Brought One In This Quarter?

No. The rule limits imports under section 13 to one per household in any 90-day period, not one per person — a second household member importing a second bird within that window falls outside the section 13 route regardless of whose name is on the declaration.

My Bird Is A Rescue With No Paperwork — Can I Still Get A US Import Permit For It?

Possibly. Under 50 CFR 15.25(a)(5)(ii), acceptable proof of legal acquisition includes a CITES permit copy, or — where none exists — a seller’s receipt or signed statement giving name, address, date of sale and species, or a signed breeder’s certificate. A rescue bird without formal paperwork may still qualify if you can obtain one of these.

I’m A Canadian Who Has Lived Outside The US For Over A Year — Can I Still Get A Personal Pet Permit Under 15.25?

On the face of the regulation, yes. 50 CFR 15.25 does not require US citizenship or returning-resident status; its stated criterion, in both the application requirements and the issuance criteria, is documented continuous residence outside the United States for at least one year. A Canadian who has lived in Canada for a year or more meets that criterion as written.

How Many Birds Can I Bring In As Personal Pets Under 15.25?

No more than two exotic birds as personal pets in any year — this cap appears three separate times in 50 CFR 15.25, as an application rule, an issuance criterion, and a standing permit condition. It also comes with a standing condition that the bird cannot be sold after it’s imported into the US.

Is My Species One Of The “Hard” Ones For A US Import?

If it’s an African grey, any macaw, any amazon, any cockatoo, an eclectus, a caique, a senegal, a pionus, or any conure other than the Jendaya conure, it does not appear on the WBCA approved species list (50 CFR 15.33), so the import prohibition applies and you’ll need a permit route such as 15.25. Budgies, cockatiels, Indian ringnecks, peach-faced and masked lovebirds, Jendaya conures, lineolated parakeets, Pacific parrotlets, Neophema parrots, rosellas, Alexandrine parakeets and scaly-breasted lorikeets are on the approved list.

Does The CFIA Permit Process Move Faster If I’m In A Hurry To Relocate?

Not by default — Worth checking: whether CFIA offers any expedited processing for import permits or quarantine premises approval, and under what circumstances — we could not confirm this from an official source. Ask the Canadian Food Inspection Agency before you rely on it. Build your relocation timeline around the permit and quarantine approval, not the other way around.

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.