Guides
Straight answers to the questions people actually ask. Every one cites the primary sources it comes from and shows when it was last reviewed.
- Do I need to register my service dog in Canada?No. Registration is not required anywhere in Canada. Three provinces run voluntary programmes (Alberta's card is free); everywhere else no registry exists.
- Does my service dog need a vest in Canada?In Ontario a vest or harness can meet the legal test by itself; in most provinces nothing requires one; in BC certified teams have a rule of their own.
- Flying with a service dog in CanadaThe federal regulation, the document an airline may require (from the trainer, not a registry), 48 hours' notice, floor space, and why a flight inside Canada…
- How to ask a landlord or condo for accommodationEvery province's landlord has a duty to accommodate a disability-related need for an animal, whether or not the lease allows pets.
- I was refused entry with my service dog. What now?In the moment, the same evening, then the three complaint routes — statutory (Alberta, BC, Nova Scotia), human rights (everywhere), municipal (Toronto).
- Is my ESA letter valid in Canada?Canada has no ESA letter system, so a letter is never "valid" in the abstract. Where it helps (applying for a rental) and where it does nothing.
- Is service dog registration a scam?Selling a card is not a scam; selling the idea that it grants rights is. The Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission's warning applies to every private registry.
- Service dog tasks: what counts and how to document themWhether a trained task is legally required depends on where you stand — yes for flights and in Alberta, BC and Nova Scotia; no in Ontario.
- Service dog, guide dog, ESA or therapy dog: which is which in CanadaRights attach to categories, not to how much your dog helps you. The five categories, what puts a dog in each, and which ones have public access, housing and…
- Taking your service dog to the United StatesFour sets of rules meet at the border and none asks for a card. The CDC import form and microchip, what a US business may ask, the airline's form, and what…
- Trainer attestation for air travel: a template your trainer can completeThe document an airline may require under s.51(2)(b) comes from the trainer, not a registry. What the CTA has said it must contain, as a template.
- What a service dog record is actually forA status is something the law gives you; a record is something you keep. Six reasons people keep one — a vet, a landlord, an assessor, a kennel — and what we…
- What can a business legally ask me in Canada?In most of Canada a business may ask whether the animal is trained to assist you with a disability, and no more.
- What is a "service dog team" — and am I one?Nova Scotia and BC define it in law; everywhere else "team" is just a word for you and your dog. Which one applies where you are, and what you can and cannot…
What ServDog is
ServDog is a private registry. It is not a government agency, is not affiliated with any provincial program, the Canadian Transportation Agency, or the ADA, and registration does not create or confer any legal rights.
- Registration is not required anywhere in Canada.
- Nothing we issue conveys rights.
- There is no national standard for service dogs in Canada.
- We do not sell clinician letters.