How to Import a Horse From the U.S. to Canada (2026 Guide)

Chestnut horse looking out of an aluminum horse trailer approaching a Canadian border crossing

Who This Guide Is For

This guide covers horses coming into Canada from the United States by road: a horse bought at a U.S. sale or from a U.S. farm, a horse coming up for a race, show or training, a mare sent for breeding, and a Canadian horse coming home. The health rules are the same whoever the importer is. The customs side differs depending on whether the horse is staying, visiting, or returning.

Garden City clears horses for businesses importing under a Canadian Business Number: racing stables, breeders, dealers, equestrian operations and U.S. sellers registered as non-resident importers. Our horse and equine import service has two brokers dedicated to equine entries. If you are a private individual bringing in a single horse for your own use, the health requirements below still apply and the customs declaration is made in your own name at the border.

What Canada Requires: The Health Paperwork

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) sets the health conditions and publishes them in its Automated Import Reference System (AIRS); the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) enforces them at the port of entry. For horses from the United States the conditions are printed on the certificate itself, which a USDA-accredited veterinarian completes and a USDA veterinarian endorses. Each horse normally gets its own certificate; one certificate can cover several horses only when they share one consignor, one premises of origin and one destination, with every horse described and its EIA test chart attached.

The certificate confirms that the horse:

was inspected by a veterinarian within 30 days before export and found healthy, free of communicable disease and fit to travel
had, to the veterinarian's knowledge, no exposure to communicable disease in the 60 days before inspection
has lived in the United States or Canada since birth, or has lived in the U.S. for at least 60 days after meeting U.S. import rules (otherwise, certificates from each country it lived in during the last 60 days travel with it)
tested negative for equine infectious anemia (EIA) by Coggins (AGID) or ELISA within six months before export; a nursing foal under five months old travelling with its dam is exempt if it is listed on the dam's certificate or has its own
was not on premises where contagious equine metritis (CEM) was found, or under CEM quarantine or investigation, in the previous 60 days; mares were not bred to or inseminated from a CEM-positive stallion; and no clinical signs of CEM on the day of inspection
spent the previous 21 days only in states free of clinical and epidemiological evidence of vesicular stomatitis
was not in Texas or New Mexico in the previous 21 days, or, if it was, meets the extra conditions below

Horses from Texas or New Mexico

A horse that has been in Texas or New Mexico in the 21 days before export, including a Canadian horse returning from those states, needs a CFIA import permit (the permit number goes on the certificate), a veterinary inspection within 15 days of export, a tick inspection with treatment if needed, no equine piroplasmosis on the premises or adjoining premises in the previous 60 days, and a negative piroplasmosis cELISA test within 15 days of export. The permit has to be applied for before the horse travels, and a CFIA veterinary inspection at the border has to be arranged in advance; a trailer that arrives without either is turned back or held.

These rules change when there is an outbreak. A state that is clear this month can be restricted next month, so the current conditions in AIRS are checked for every shipment, close to the travel date.

Count Back From the Crossing Date

Most horse paperwork problems are timing problems: a test that is a week too old, a certificate issued too early, an endorsement that did not come back in time. Work backwards from the day the trailer crosses.

EIA test (Coggins or ELISA)
Valid for six months before export. If the horse is arriving near the end of that window, retest; a negative result dated after export is worthless at the border.
Veterinary inspection and health certificate
A USDA-accredited veterinarian examines the horse and completes the Canadian certificate. The inspection has to be within 30 days of export, so do not book it months ahead.
Movement check
The horse must not have been in Texas or New Mexico, or in any state with vesicular stomatitis, in the 21 days before export. If it has, the Texas and New Mexico conditions above apply and a CFIA permit is needed first.
Texas and New Mexico horses only
Second inspection, tick check and piroplasmosis cELISA, all within 15 days of export, plus the CFIA permit number on the certificate and a border inspection booked.
Endorsement
The completed certificate goes to the USDA Veterinary Services office for endorsement. Allow for it; a certificate that is complete but not endorsed does not clear.
Customs declaration prepared
Your broker has the certificate, test results, bill of sale or value, the horse's description and the carrier details, and prepares the entry so release is ready when the trailer arrives.
At the border
Original certificate and test results travel with the horse. The driver presents the horse, the documents and anything else in the trailer. Horses that need a CFIA inspection are seen by the CFIA veterinarian at the appointed time.

Permanent Import or Temporary Entry?

On the customs side there are three different situations, and the paperwork and tax outcome follow from which one you are in.

A horse bought by a Canadian importer

This is a normal commercial import: a consumption entry on the value of the horse, with the bill of sale or a Canada Customs Invoice showing the price and the country of birth. Horses are duty-free (see below) and 5% GST is payable on the value. The horse is then Canadian for customs purposes; breed registry transfers are a separate matter between you and the registry. If the importer is a business, it needs a Business Number with an import account and, for release before payment, Release Prior to Payment security; see our first-time importer guide.

A horse visiting for competition, racing, training, breeding or pasturage

A horse that will go back to the United States can enter under tariff item 9993.00.00, the temporary importation provision. Duty is relieved, and because animals for pasturage, competition, training or breeding are on the list in the Temporary Importation (Excise Levies and Additional Duties) Regulations, the GST is relieved too under the Non-Taxable Imported Goods Regulations. The entry is documented on Form BSF865 through CBSA's CARM Client Portal (it replaced the paper E29B). The officer sets how long the horse may stay, up to a maximum of 18 months, and may ask for security unless there is evidence the horse will be exported. The horse has to be exported, or the entry converted to a permanent import with GST paid, before the time runs out. CBSA's own guidance uses the example of a horse running at racetracks in Ontario and Quebec and then returning home.

A Canadian horse coming home

A horse that left Canada and is returning to the same owner can come back as Canadian goods returned (tariff items 9813.00.00 or 9814.00.00) without GST, but only with proof that it was exported: the original Canadian entry, the U.S. entry documents, or the certificate stamped when it crossed south. Without proof of export it is treated as a new import and GST is charged on its value. The health certificate is still required, and if the horse was in Texas or New Mexico on its trip, the permit and piroplasmosis rules apply on the way back.

Duties and Taxes on Horses

Every line under heading 01.01 of the Customs Tariff is duty-free: pure-bred breeding horses (0101.21.00) and all other horses (0101.29.00, with separate statistical codes for slaughter, racing and other). There is no customs duty on a horse from any country, so the tariff treatment it qualifies for does not change the cost.

GST is different. Live horses are taxable for GST/HST (the zero-rating for farm livestock only covers animals raised for food or wool), so a purchased horse pays 5% GST on its value for duty at the border. CBSA collects the federal 5%; a business registered for GST/HST recovers it as an input tax credit in the normal way. Temporary entries for competition, training, breeding or pasturage are non-taxable, as explained above.

Brokerage fees are separate from duty and tax; see customs brokerage fees in Canada for how they work.

What to Have Ready at the Border

The original USDA-endorsed health certificate for each horse, with the EIA test chart attached
The negative Coggins or ELISA result, dated within six months
A bill of sale or Canada Customs Invoice showing the price (or the value, for a horse that is not being sold) and the country of birth
The CFIA import permit, if the horse has been in Texas or New Mexico
A description that matches the horse: name, breed, sex, age, colour and markings, microchip or tattoo where it has one
A list of everything else in the trailer: tack, feed, equipment, a second horse's gear
The importer's Business Number and, for temporary entries, the Form BSF865 details your broker prepared
For a returning Canadian horse, the proof of export

Common Problems That Hold Horses Up at the Border

An EIA test that expired while the horse was waiting to ship, or a certificate issued more than 30 days before the crossing
A certificate that is complete but was never endorsed by USDA
A horse that was in Texas or New Mexico inside the 21-day window with no CFIA permit and no inspection booked
A certificate description that does not match the animal in the trailer
Tack, saddles, feed or equipment that nobody declared
The importer has no Business Number, or has one but is not set up in CARM, so the entry cannot be transmitted
A "temporary" horse that has been sold in Canada, with no one converting the entry before the time ran out
Arriving at a crossing that cannot provide the CFIA inspection the horse needs

Almost all of these are avoidable by sending the documents to your broker before the trailer leaves, not when it is at the booth.

How Garden City Handles Horse Imports

Horse and equine imports are one of our specialties. Two brokers on our team handle only equine entries, from checking the U.S. certificate and test dates against the current CFIA conditions to preparing the declaration and coordinating release at the crossing. Our horse import service page describes the account setup (Business Number, CARM registration and delegation, RPP if you want release before payment) and has a short request form that goes straight to the equine team; a call to 888-481-2048 works just as well.

Send us the horse details
We check the CFIA conditions and your documents
We prepare the customs declaration
We coordinate the crossing with your transporter
Release into Canada

Official Sources

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a customs broker to import a horse into Canada?

Not by law. A business can file its own entries through CARM and an individual can declare at the border. In practice most commercial horse imports use a broker because the entry has to be transmitted before the trailer arrives, the health documents have to be checked against conditions that change, and a mistake means a horse standing in a trailer at the border. Our equine brokers do this every week.

How long is a Coggins test valid for entry into Canada?

The negative EIA test (Coggins or ELISA) must be within six months before export. The veterinary inspection and certificate must be within 30 days before export.

Is there duty on horses imported into Canada?

No. Every horse line in heading 01.01 of the Customs Tariff is duty-free. A purchased horse pays 5% GST on its value; a horse entering temporarily for competition, training, breeding or pasturage pays no GST either.

Can I bring a horse to Canada for a show or race without paying GST?

Yes. Horses entering temporarily for competition, training, breeding or pasturage qualify under tariff item 9993.00.00 with duty and GST relieved. The entry is documented on Form BSF865 through CBSA's CARM portal, the officer sets the time allowed (up to 18 months), and the horse must leave Canada, or be entered permanently with GST paid, before it runs out. Security may be requested unless there is evidence the horse will be exported.

Do horses from Texas or New Mexico need a permit?

Yes, if the horse has been in either state in the 21 days before export. It needs a CFIA import permit applied for in advance, a veterinary inspection within 15 days of export, a tick inspection, a negative equine piroplasmosis cELISA test within 15 days, and a CFIA inspection at the border arranged beforehand. The same applies to Canadian horses returning from those states.

Does a foal need its own Coggins test?

A nursing foal under five months old travelling with its dam is exempt from the EIA test. It must be listed on the dam's certificate or have its own certificate.

Can my hauler clear the horse for me?

The driver presents the horse and the documents, but the customs entry is made in the importer's name and, for commercial imports, is transmitted by the importer or its broker before arrival. A for-hire carrier also has its own eManifest reporting to CBSA. Sort out who the importer of record is before the horse ships.

What happens if my temporary horse is sold while it is in Canada?

The temporary entry has to be converted to a permanent import before the time allowed expires, with GST paid on the value. Tell your broker as soon as a sale is likely; a temporary entry that simply lapses is treated as a failure to export.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Requirements depend on your specific goods and circumstances, so please confirm details with a licensed customs broker before you ship.

How to Import a Horse From the U.S. to Canada

The short answer

Who This Guide Is For

What Canada Requires: The Health Paperwork

Horses from Texas or New Mexico

Count Back From the Crossing Date

EIA test (Coggins or ELISA)

Veterinary inspection and health certificate

Movement check

Texas and New Mexico horses only

Endorsement

Customs declaration prepared

At the border