Fees Explained

What Each Fee on Your Quote Actually Covers

Our Pricing page lists every line item up front. This page explains, in plain language, what each one pays for — so nothing on your invoice is a surprise.

International Airport Cargo Drop Off — $199

Covers getting your pet safely to the cargo/check-in area for their flight — coordinating with the airline's cargo counter timing, completing airline paperwork at the counter, and staying until your pet is officially accepted for the flight. This is a flat fee regardless of which international airport is used on either side of the border. It does not include the ground transport fare that gets your pet to the airport in the first place, or the airline's own pet fare — see Airport Pickup & Drop-off for the full picture.

Customs Documentation Fee — $110 per crossing

Covers staff time preparing and verifying the paperwork every cross-border trip needs: the CFIA export declaration on the Canadian side, USDA/APHIS import paperwork on the U.S. side, and the CDC Dog Import Form where it applies. This is our own documentation work — it's separate from the third-party customs broker fee below.

Border Crossing Fee — $130 per crossing

Covers the driver's extra time, paperwork verification, and wait at the physical port of entry when the vehicle crosses from Canada into the U.S. or back. This is about the ground crossing itself — it's unrelated to airport drop-off, and it's separate from the third-party customs broker's clearance charge, which is billed as a pass-through and never marked up.

Out-of-Business-Hours Pickup/Drop-off Fee — $95

Applies to any pickup or drop-off before 7:00 a.m. or after 7:00 p.m. on weekdays, or at any time on a weekend or holiday. Covers the premium for scheduling a driver outside normal working hours.

Pet Boarding Overnight Fee — $85 per pet, per night

Only charged when a multi-day route requires your pet to stay overnight partway through the trip (typical on long-haul routes over 700 km). Covers safe, supervised overnight housing before the trip continues the next day.

Smoking Household Surcharge — $75 per pickup

Applies when a pickup location is a smoking household. Covers the extra vehicle cleaning needed between trips to keep the vehicle odor-free and comfortable for the next pet.

Driver Per Diem — $69 per day

A meal allowance for the driver on long-haul or overnight trips, set at the CRA's non-taxable ceiling. It's a pass-through cost, not a markup — kept at this level so it stays a clean reimbursement rather than taxable income for the driver.

What we don't charge

Some pet transport pricing includes variable extras that only show up after you book. We don't do that:

[CANCELLATION & REFUND POLICY — add detail once finalized; the $200 deposit is currently non-refundable]

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