Logistics
The visa gets the attention. The container, the dog and the airport pickup are what actually keep families awake at night. This is the part we handle with you — through established international shippers and pet-relocation partners, coordinated so things arrive when they should.
Household goods
Door-to-door from your house in South Africa to your address in Canada.
- Full container or shared groupage
- Air freight for what you need first
- Collection, customs clearance, delivery
- Insurance and inventory guidance
- Honest advice on what not to ship
Pets, properly handled
The part most families worry about most. State vet clearance in SA, through to a bed on the other side.
- State vet clearance and export paperwork
- Canada’s CFIA import requirements
- Flights, crates and airline rules
- Travel before you, with you, or after you
- Boarding on arrival — kennel or pet hotel
Arrival & first days
So the day you land is organised instead of improvised.
- Airport pickup coordination
- Temporary accommodation sorted
- Delivery days lined up with your arrival
- SIM cards, transport, first shop
- Rolls into 90-day settling support
Sea or air? The honest comparison
| Sea freight | Air freight | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Far cheaper per cubic metre — the default for a household | Priced by weight and volume; expensive for furniture |
| Speed | Typically months door to door, plus clearance | Days to a few weeks |
| Best for | Furniture, appliances, books, the garage, anything you can live without for a while | Documents, tools of your trade, the children’s essentials, week-one comforts |
| Watch out for | Timing it against your travel date — and paying to ship things worth less than the freight | Volume creep; a “few boxes” becomes expensive quickly |
| Most families | Use both: a sea shipment for the household, and a small curated air shipment that lands with them. | |
Quotes depend on volume, route and season, so we scope yours properly rather than guessing — and we will tell you when shipping something is not worth what it costs.
How the timing usually works
Straight talk about logistics
- We are coordinators, not the shipping line. We work with established international shippers and pet specialists, and we manage them for you.
- Rules change and we do not own them. Animal import requirements are set by the CFIA and the airlines; we work to whatever is current.
- Shipping everything is often the wrong call. Sometimes selling up and rebuying is genuinely cheaper. We will say so.
- Nothing is quoted blind. Volume, route and season decide the number, so we scope it before you commit.
Boarding: from a practical kennel to a pet hotel
If your animals land before your rental is ready — or you want them settled while you sort out the first weeks — we book the boarding.
- Practical, clean kennels for a short stay
- Or the luxury end: daily pool swims, swimming lessons, cameras in the room so you can look in from anywhere, and treat menus where you buy the snack and watch it delivered
- Collection and drop-off arranged around your move-in date
Logistics questions
Can our dog fly before we do?
Yes — animals can travel before you, with you, or after you have found a pet-friendly rental. Each option has cost and welfare trade-offs, and boarding on the Canadian side is what makes the “before” option workable. We plan it around your dates.
How far ahead should we start?
Earlier than feels necessary. Vet paperwork, export clearance and airline crate bookings all have lead times, and the sea container needs to leave long before you do if you want it soon after landing.
Do you handle the customs paperwork?
We coordinate it with the shipper and prepare what you need on your side. Canadian customs will want an inventory of what you are importing as a newcomer — getting that right the first time is most of the job.
What does it cost?
Quoted per request, depending on volume, route, season and how much you want us to run. You get a written number before anything is booked. See how our pricing works →