How to License Your Pet in Saskatoon

Yes. This is where Saskatoon differs from cities like Vancouver, which licenses dogs only. Saskatoon's Animal Control Bylaw No. 7860 creates a licensing requirement for both cats and dogs, and the City lists licence fees for each.

There is no indoor-cat exemption. An indoor-only cat over four months old needs a licence the same as a dog or an outdoor cat. So if you have adopted a Saskatoon cat, you are not done after you bring it home; you still need to license it, and the rest of this guide applies to your cat just as much as it does to a dog.

Every owner of a cat or dog over four months old must hold a current City of Saskatoon licence under the Animal Control Bylaw. There is no exception for indoor cats.

The timing rule is specific: you have 30 days from becoming the owner to get the licence. If you just adopted an adult pet, the clock is already running. A kitten or puppy gets licensed once it reaches four months. After that, the licence renews every 12 months.

Online (fastest): apply or renew at saskatoon.ca/petlicensing.

In person: licences are sold at vendors across the city, including City Hall and the Saskatoon SPCA.

To license you provide your contact details and your pet's information, such as its name, breed, age, and whether it is spayed or neutered. You receive a numbered tag for the pet's collar.

For licensing questions, Saskatoon Animal Services can be reached at 306-975-8478.

It is easy to read “mandatory pet licence” as a cash grab. The benefit attached to it is the reason to do it gladly.

If your pet is ever impounded and it is wearing a valid licence tag, the pound must notify you right away. The licence is the record that says the pet is yours, and the tag is how staff find your number in the first place. A licence provides identification, shelter, and a direct route home rather than a stay in the pound.

A microchip helps too, but it does not replace the licence. A microchip is not a licence, and you still need to buy the licence. What the microchip changes is the tag: if your pet is microchipped and you have given that ID information to the City, the pet does not have to physically wear its tag. Otherwise the tag must be worn whenever the pet is off your property. For an adoption-minded city, the licence fee also helps fund the animal services system that takes in and rehomes the next stray, the same pipeline that put your adopted pet on this site.

Because the sterilized rate is about half the intact rate, spaying or neutering your pet pays you back every year at renewal. A fixed dog drops from $77 to $38, and a fixed cat drops from $52.50 to $23.50. Most rescue pets are already spayed or neutered as part of adoption, so an adopted pet usually qualifies for the lower rate from day one.

The City also runs a Subsidized Spay & Neuter Program aimed at low-income owners. The specific eligibility and amounts vary, so check the City's pet pages for current details if cost is a barrier to getting your pet fixed.