Today, the Honourable Mark Holland, Minister of Health, issued the following statement to update on the United States (U.S.) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) decision to make changes to their import requirements for all dogs entering the U.S., coming into effect on August 1, 2024:
"Since the requirements were first announced by the CDC on May 8, 2024, the Prime Minister, myself and Members of Parliament have also raised the issue with U.S. partners, and U.S. Congressional leaders have shared concerns over the changes. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has been engaging with the CDC to seek solutions and flexibilities, clarify the new requirements and highlight the significant impact these requirements will have on Canadians and Americans.
"This has resulted in changes to the guidelines for Canadians, but the Government of Canada remains concerned by the potential negative impacts these new regulations will have on both Canadians and Americans.
"Canada is free of dog-maintained rabies virus variant (DMRVV), also known as dog rabies, and shares the same rabies free status as the United States. These new CDC regulations will impact all dogs entering the U.S. from Canada and will require Canadians to take on additional planning and costs to satisfy the new requirements. These regulations will also impact Americans returning with their dogs to the U.S. after visiting Canada.
"Tourism in the U.S. and in Canada will be impacted as travelers are forced to pay extra costs to travel to the U.S. with their dogs and navigate overwhelming administrative processes. Additionally, some airlines are unclear on how they could implement these new regulations.
"Transportation sectors, such as trucking, will face challenges that will affect both American and Canadian supply chains. Canada and the U.S. trade billions of dollars in goods and services every year. At a time when cost of living and economic growth are top of mind for our citizens, implementing these new CDC measures could strain these critical supply chains.
"The Government of Canada is concerned by the impacts to local economies and hospitality industries especially in border communities, which are often rural and rely on cross border traffic to support their local businesses and their jobs. Both Americans and Canadians living in border communities, who regularly cross the border to buy goods and services or to get to their place of work, will feel these effects.
"These CDC regulations disproportionately impact people with service dogs who require these support animals wherever they travel.
"Indigenous peoples that regularly travel across the border to their traditional territories will feel the effects of these CDC regulations.
"We continue to advocate for an exemption from these requirements, given that both Canada and the United States are free from dog rabies, the geographic realities of our shared border, and our strong economic and social ties.
