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Brochure - Be Aware and Declare!

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Do your part to protect Canada.
Declare all food, plants, animals and related products.

PROTECTING our Food, Plants and Animals

What are the risks to Canada?

Food, plants, animals and related products from other countries can bring diseases, pests and viruses into Canada. These can threaten Canadian animals, plants and natural habitats.

Items you may think are harmless (such as wood carvings or fruits) may carry insects that can cause significant damage to Canadian forests and agriculture.

Meat and other animal products can spread avian influenza ("bird flu") or other animal diseases, which may affect agriculture, food safety and even human health.

Because of these risks, there are restrictions on the types of products that you can bring into Canada.

Your role

Before you leave Canada

  • Know what products you can bring back from the country you will be visiting.
  • Visit the "Be Aware and Declare!" website at www.BeAware.gc.ca.
  • Request an import permit from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) if you want to bring restricted items into Canada.

When you enter Canada

  • Declare all food, plants, animals and related products. It's the law.
  • Complete the Canada Border Services Agency's declaration card. Be sure to fill out the sections on the card about any farm you visited while you were abroad.
  • If you visited a farm or had contact with wild birds while abroad, do not visit Canadian farms, zoos or wildlife parks for 14 days. Disinfect the footwear you wore to the farm or when you had contact with wild birds. Also wash your clothing thoroughly and dry it at a high temperature.

You are required by law to declare

The law requires that you declare all food, plants, animals and related products when you enter Canada.

If you do not declare, you could

  • have your products confiscated
  • be fined up to $1300 for each undeclared item
  • be prosecuted

Canada uses specially trained detector dogs and a variety of other tools to detect specific products that travellers may bring into the country.

At some airports there are bins available for throwing away restricted items without penalty before you report to the Canada Border Services Agency.

items commonly carried by travellers must be declared:
The following items commonly carried by travellers must be declared

Examples of restricted items you may be carrying:

  • Meat and meat products
  • Cream, milk, cheese and other dairy products
  • Plants, trees and cut flowers
  • Wood and wood products
  • Fruits and vegetables
  • Animal products
  • Pets, birds and other live animals
  • All items carrying loose soil

What products can you bring into Canada?

It is your responsibility to find out about the most current restrictions before you travel.

For information about restrictions on a food, plant, animal or related product you want to bring to Canada, visit www.BeAware.gc.ca or contact the Border Information Service (BIS) line:

  • Within Canada, you can access BIS free of charge by calling 1-800-461-9999 (TTY: 1-866-335-3237).
  • From outside Canada, call 204-983-3500 or 506-636-5064 (long-distance charges will apply).

To order Be Aware and Declare! publications, please contact 1 800 O-Canada

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