Long-Term Bird Boarding While You Relocate: 30, 60 and 90+ Days

Bird Sitting Toronto doesn’t have a separate “relocation package” — a long stay is billed the same way a short one is, just for longer, and longer stays are charged at a lower rate per day, already factored into your quote. What does change in practice is how we plan for it: your bird settles into an actual routine rather than a short visit, and we build in the flexibility to extend if your departure date moves, because for this specific situation, it usually does.

We should also be upfront about what this article is and isn’t. It’s about the operational side of boarding a bird for months — not about permits, quarantine, or border rules. For that side of a relocation, see our guide to moving abroad with a pet bird, and if you haven’t yet decided between boarding and rehoming, start with what to do with your bird while you sort out the move. Bird Sitting Toronto boards birds and helps rehome them when they genuinely can’t travel — we don’t file permits, complete applications, or act as a customs broker, and nothing on this page should be read as immigration or import advice.

• Under section 13 of the Import Reference Document, incorporated by reference into the Health of Animals Regulations, a personally-owned pet parrot or songbird can move between Canada and the United States with just an owner declaration at the border — no veterinary certificate, no permit — but only if the owner has personally possessed the bird in Canada or the US for the 90 days immediately before entry, and no one in the household has used this route in the preceding 90 days. That’s a narrow, specific set of conditions, and it only applies to US-origin moves.
• The same document is explicit that a parrot arriving from anywhere other than the US is not a “pet bird” under section 13, and can only be imported under a Ministerial permit issued under paragraph 12(1)(a) of the Regulations. Worth checking: current processing time for a paragraph 12(1)(a) Ministerial import permit — we could not confirm this from an official source. Ask the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (1-800-442-2342) before you rely on it.
• Flight availability for live animals, connecting-country transit rules, and destination-country import conditions can each add weeks on their own. Worth checking: any country-specific quarantine or permit timelines relevant to your route — we could not confirm this from an official source. Ask the Canadian Food Inspection Agency before you rely on it.

None of this is something we can shortcut for you. What we can do is give your bird somewhere stable to be while it sorts itself out — however long that takes.

If you’re boarding more than one bird together, each additional small bird is 50% off, and each additional medium or larger bird is 25% off. Statutory holidays add $5–$10 per bird, per holiday. Book early and you always pay the ordinary price: only last-minute bookings over the Christmas holidays and the August holidays, when we are close to capacity, cost 5–20% more. A deposit secures your dates — worth knowing if you’re booking well ahead of a move that hasn’t been finalised yet.

That consistency is worth protecting deliberately when a bird is going to be somewhere for months rather than days, and it’s part of why we try to keep the same routine and same care approach running for the length of a long-term stay rather than treating each week as a fresh start.

Longer stays also mean enrichment matters more, not less. A bird that’s bored for a week is fine. A bird that’s bored for three months is a bird with new feather-destructive habits by the time you pick it up. Toy rotation, foraging opportunities and social interaction aren’t extras on a long stay — they’re the difference between a bird that comes home the same as it left and one that’s picked up stress behaviours in your absence.

Extra-large birds cost more for each service — again, current at time of writing, check /pricing/.

Diet is the other continuity piece worth planning for. If your bird is on a specific pellet, seed mix or supplement, that’s worth flagging clearly at drop-off so it can be maintained for the length of the stay rather than substituted partway through — a diet change is stressful enough on its own without adding a house move and a boarding stay on top of it. Fresh daily chop ($2 per day) is available if you’d like a fresh-food routine to continue while you’re away, and a grooming subscription can also be set up in advance if you know the stay is going to run long enough to need more than one grooming session.

A short clip each day of your bird eating, playing or just being itself does more to settle nerves on your end than any written update could, especially when you’re checking it from a time zone eight or twelve hours removed from Mississauga.

It’s worth building the time difference into your expectations rather than your worry: a video posted at what’s evening here might land at breakfast time wherever you are, or vice versa. It’ll still be there waiting for you — it just won’t necessarily arrive when you’re awake to see it.

What we can’t do is help with the part that got you to that point — filing the permit itself, corresponding with CFIA, USDA, or your destination country’s agency, or advising on what documentation you actually need. That’s genuinely outside what a boarding business does, and it matters that we say so plainly rather than let you assume otherwise partway through a stay. For the border and import side, see our walkthroughs on crossing the Canada-US border with a bird and bringing a pet bird into Canada.

What Happens If My Move Gets Delayed And I Need To Extend The Stay?

Tell us as soon as you know your dates have changed. We’ll confirm your bird’s spot for the extended period and, if the extension is significant, take a fresh deposit to secure it. There’s no penalty rate for extending — the same rates apply throughout.

Can I Still See Updates On My Bird While I’m Abroad?

Yes. Every boarding client has access to a client portal with a daily update video of their bird, which you can check from anywhere. Just factor in the time difference between the Greater Toronto Area and wherever you’ve landed — the video will be there, even if it doesn’t post at a convenient hour for you.

Can Grooming Be Done During A Long-Term Boarding Stay Instead Of Scheduling A Separate Appointment?

Yes. Nail clipping, wing clipping, beak trimming and DNA sexing can all be arranged during a boarding stay rather than requiring a separate visit, and a grooming subscription can be set up in advance if the stay is expected to run long enough to need more than one session.

Can Bird Sitting Toronto Help With My Import Permit Or Paperwork While My Bird Is Boarding?

No. We board birds and, if a bird genuinely can’t travel, help with rehoming — we don’t file permits, complete applications, liaise with any government agency, or act as a customs broker. Any border or import questions need to go to the relevant agency directly, not to us.

What If My Relocation Falls Through Entirely While My Bird Is Boarding?

Your bird can stay boarded for as long as you need while you work out next steps. If the situation changes enough that an open-ended stay no longer makes sense — for example, if a move is shelved indefinitely — rehoming is also something we can help with, and it’s worth discussing with us directly rather than defaulting to one option.

Does My Bird’s Diet Stay The Same During A Multi-Month Stay?

Yes, if you tell us what it’s on. Flag your bird’s specific pellet, seed mix or supplements at drop-off so the same diet can be maintained for the full length of the stay. Fresh daily chop ($2 per day) is also available if you’d like fresh food included throughout.

If you’re facing a relocation timeline that’s still moving and need somewhere stable for your bird to stay in the meantime, you can get a quote for a long-term stay on our booking page.

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.