Travelling with Animals

Your Pets

At Canadian North, our first priority is your animal's safety and comfort.

Our expert personnel have years of experience transporting a wide variety of live animals, and their expertise is at your disposal from the moment your pet boards the plane at our cargo terminal to the time it leaves the destination airport. 

Animal Transport

When traveling with your animal as checked baggage on a Canadian North ticket, there is a one-way kennel charge of $100 for transporting animals regardless of the size of the kennel. Space may be limited, and animals traveling as baggage will be accepted on a first booked, first served basis. Animals travelling as checked baggage or shipped as cargo must be booked a minimum of 24 hours in advance of flight.

Please check your booking to ensure that the scheduled aircraft can accommodate your requirements. Further information can be found in the Canadian North Carry-On and Checked Baggage Policies.

Carry-on baggage page

Checked baggage page

Pets are precious too!

We pay extra-special attention to your pet's safety, comfort and security. That's also why properly constructed containers and careful preparation for transport are so important.

  • When shipping pets, a favourite toy or article inside the container helps to calm the animal. 
  • Marking the pet's name on the outside of the container is also important. We can better reassure the animal when we talk to it using its name. 

Containers

For your animal’s well-being as well as the safety of all our guests’ baggage, your pet’s container must:

  • Be leak-proof and escape-proof
  • Be well-constructed, and able to withstand damage caused by other freight in which there is buckling or bending of the container structure.  
  • Be constructed in such a way as not to cause the animal to injure itself, and must be made of non-toxic material such as fibreglass or rigid plastic. One entire end of the container must be open and covered with bars, weld mesh or smooth expanded metal, securely attached to the container.   
  • Comply with IATA Live Animals Regulations and adhere to points (1) and (2). Access to the container should be by means of a sliding or hinged door adequately secured to prevent accidental opening. 
  • Be large enough to permit the animal to stand in a natural position, turn around and lie down. Make sure kennels are nose and paw-proof: that is, ventilation openings are of a size that makes it impossible for your pet to get his nose or paws outside the kennel. 

General

  • Feed the animal only a light meal and a short drink two hours before its scheduled departure on Canadian North. 
  • Exercise the animal immediately before it leaves your premises. 
  • Shipment of females in heat is not recommended. 
  • Nursing females with unweaned young will not be accepted for air transport. 
  • Weaned puppies younger than eight weeks should not be shipped due to possible dehydration during the flight.

Codeshare

Animals can only be accepting on flights operated by Canadian North. If your travel plans include a flight operated by another carrier your itinerary must be booked through the operating carrier directly.