The short answer
Calgary requires a City licence for both dogs and cats once they reach three months old. Most cities do not license cats, so the cat rule surprises nearly every new adopter. For 2026 a spayed or neutered pet costs $45 a year for a dog and $22 for a cat. You can license online, by phone through 311, or in person. The whole thing takes about five minutes, and it is the single fastest way to get a lost pet back home.
Licensing your pet is the one piece of Calgary admin that genuinely pays you back. It funds the shelter system, it is the law, and it is the reason Calgary returns more lost pets to their families than just about anywhere in North America. Here is everything you need, with the current numbers and links so you can do it in one sitting.
Who Needs a Calgary Pet Licence
Calgary's rule is simple and broad: “Cats and dogs three months or older are required to have a City of Calgary licence.” That comes from the Responsible Pet Ownership Bylaw (47M2021), which has been in effect since January 1, 2022.
The part that trips people up is cats. Calgary is one of the few Canadian cities that licenses cats the same way it licenses dogs, and the bylaw makes no exception for indoor-only cats. If you have a cat three months or older, it needs a licence whether or not it ever sets a paw outside. There is no separate rule for barn cats, foster cats, or “just visiting” cats either: three months old, living in Calgary, means licensed.
Quick gut check: If you have a dog or cat over three months old and you cannot remember ever buying a licence for it, you are almost certainly out of compliance. The good news is that fixing it takes five minutes online.
Calgary Pet Licence Fees (2026)
These are the City's 2026 annual rates. Spaying or neutering your pet roughly halves the fee, which is deliberate: the cheaper rate is the City's nudge toward fixing your pet.
- Puppies and kittens under six months: pay the lower spayed/neutered rate ($45 dog, $22 cat) even before they are fixed.
- Replacement tag: $6 if the original is lost or damaged. The underlying licence stays valid; you just need a new physical tag.
Fees are verified against calgary.ca as of June 2026. The City updates its schedule annually, so confirm the current number on the official licences page before you pay.
The spay/neuter discount is real money. Over a cat's life the intact rate adds up to hundreds of dollars more than the fixed rate. If cost is the barrier, the City runs a No Cost Spay and Neuter Program for cats belonging to eligible lower-income Calgarians, administered through the City's Fair Entry program. Once your cat is fixed it drops to the cheaper licence rate at renewal.
How to License Your Pet
There are three ways to do it. Online is the fastest.
Online (recommended): Sign in to your myID account at pets.calgary.ca and buy or renew the licence there. If you do not have a myID account yet, you create one in a couple of minutes. This is the fastest route and works any time of day.
By phone: Call 311 from within Calgary and ask to be transferred to Animal Services. From outside the city, call 403-268-2489. They take VISA, MasterCard, and Amex over the phone.
In person: New licences are issued at the Animal Services Centre at 2201 Portland Street S.E. Renewals, replacement tags, and a printed copy of your invoice can also be handled at City Cashiers in the Municipal Building at 800 Macleod Trail S.E.
To license a pet you'll need your contact details, the animal's name, breed, age, gender and colour, its microchip number if it has one, and proof of spay or neuter if you want the lower rate. Pay the fee and the City mails you a numbered metal tag.
Just Adopted? Do This First
If you just brought home a rescue, licensing belongs on your first-week checklist alongside a vet visit and updating the microchip registration. Any dog or cat three months or older needs a licence now, not eventually. A young puppy or kitten gets licensed the moment it hits three months.
One detail worth knowing: most rescue adoptions do not include the City licence (that is on you), while pets adopted directly from Calgary Animal Services often do. Check your adoption paperwork. Either way, settling the licence in the first week means that if your newly adopted pet bolts during the nervous early days, the City already has your contact information on file. Our guides on the first week with a rescue dog and the first week with a rescue cat cover the rest of the settling-in window.
Why It Actually Matters
It is easy to read “mandatory pet licence” as a cash grab. Calgary's system is the opposite, and it is worth understanding why, because it is the reason the rule exists.
The Pet Drive Home Program
This is the part most owners do not know about. As the City puts it, “through the Pet Drive Home Program, peace officers are able to return lost pets directly to their owner's home when found.” If your licensed pet gets picked up, an officer can read the tag, pull your address, and drive your animal straight home, often before you even realize it was gone. No trip to the shelter, no impound fee, no anxious overnight. That benefit only exists because the licence ties the tag to your address, and it is the single best argument for licensing a cat that occasionally slips out.
Licence fees fund the shelter
Calgary's animal services are largely funded by licence revenue rather than general taxes. In the City's words, “licensing fees pay for all sorts of animal welfare programs,” including care for adoptable pets, health and education programs, and lost-pet family reunions. The City credits this self-funded model, often called the “Calgary Model” and studied by other cities, with giving Calgary what it describes as “the highest return-to-owner and lowest euthanization rates in North America.”
For an adoption-minded city, that loop is the whole point: your $22 cat licence helps fund the same system that takes in, vets, and rehomes the next stray. It is the cheapest donation to local animal welfare you will ever make, and it happens to be the law.
What It Costs to Skip It
These are the specified fines from the Responsible Pet Ownership Bylaw (47M2021) penalty schedule:
Put next to a $22 or $45 licence, a $250 fine makes the math obvious. And the false-declaration fine is worth taking seriously: the City specifically calls out claiming a pet is spayed or neutered when it is intact in order to get the cheaper rate.
Adopting before you license?
Browse adoptable rescue dogs and cats across Calgary, then sort out the licence in your first week home.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to license my cat in Calgary?
Yes. Calgary requires both cats and dogs three months and older to be licensed under the Responsible Pet Ownership Bylaw (47M2021). This surprises a lot of people, because most cities do not license cats, but Calgary does. A spayed or neutered cat licence is $22 a year for 2026, or $44 for an intact cat. There is no exception for indoor-only cats.
How much is a pet licence in Calgary in 2026?
For 2026, a spayed/neutered dog licence is $45 a year and an intact dog is $71. A spayed/neutered cat is $22 and an intact cat is $44. Puppies and kittens under six months pay the lower spayed/neutered rate. A replacement tag is $6. Always confirm the current rate at calgary.ca, since the City updates the fee schedule each year.
Do indoor cats need a licence in Calgary?
Yes. The Responsible Pet Ownership Bylaw makes no exception for indoor-only cats. Every cat three months and older needs a City of Calgary licence regardless of whether it ever goes outside. The licence is also what lets a peace officer return your cat through the Pet Drive Home Program if it ever does slip out and get lost.
What happens if I don't license my pet in Calgary?
The specified fine for an unlicensed dog or an unlicensed cat is $250 each under the bylaw penalty schedule. There is also a separate $500 fine for making a false declaration on a licence application, such as claiming a pet is spayed or neutered to get the cheaper rate. Beyond the fines, an unlicensed lost pet loses the fast Pet Drive Home route home.
Does my pet still need a licence if it's microchipped?
Yes. A microchip and a City licence are separate things. A microchip is permanent ID; a licence is the City record that ties your pet to your contact details. A microchipped or tattooed dog does not have to wear the physical tag, and a cat with a legible tattoo or microchip is also exempt from wearing the tag, but you still owe the annual licence fee either way.
How do I license my pet in Calgary?
Three ways. Online through your myID account at pets.calgary.ca; by phone by calling 311 within Calgary (or 403-268-2489 from outside the city); or in person. New licences are issued at the Animal Services Centre at 2201 Portland Street S.E. Renewals and replacement tags can also be handled at City Cashiers in the Municipal Building at 800 Macleod Trail S.E.