Petme · Canada
How much does a pet sitter cost in Canada?
Real rates by service and by city size, plus the checkout fee most platforms add that Petme does not.
Pet sitter pricing in Canada depends on the service, the city, the time of year, and your pet. This is the plain-language breakdown of what owners actually pay across Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Calgary, Ottawa, and every Canadian city in between, with the numbers Petme sitters charge today.
Find a pet sitterRates by service
What each service costs per booking
Overnight boarding: CAD 40 to 90 a night
A sitter hosts your dog in their home overnight. Most Canadian cities run CAD 45 to 75 a night; larger metros like Toronto and Vancouver run higher (CAD 50 to 90), smaller cities lower (CAD 40 to 65).
House sitting: CAD 40 to 90 a night
A sitter stays in your home overnight so pets keep their own routine. Priced similarly to boarding, with a small premium in big metros where overnight availability is tighter.
Dog walking: CAD 18 to 40 a walk
A single walk, usually 30 to 60 minutes. Metro rates run CAD 22 to 40; smaller cities CAD 18 to 30. Recurring weekday walks are often discounted versus one-off bookings.
Doggy daycare: CAD 28 to 65 a day
Daytime care while you work. CAD 35 to 65 a day in larger cities, CAD 28 to 48 in smaller ones.
Drop-in visits: CAD 18 to 38 a visit
A short visit to feed, refresh water, and check on a pet at home. The cheapest service, and the most common choice for cats.
Cat sitting: CAD 20 to 45 a visit
In-home visits or overnight house sitting for cats. Most cats do best at home, so drop-in visits twice a day are the usual booking.
What moves the price
Five things that change what you pay
City size is the biggest factor. Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal sit at the top of every range; Halifax, Winnipeg, and smaller cities sit at the bottom. The gap between a metro and a small city is roughly CAD 5 to 15 per booking on most services.
Holidays and peak travel windows push rates up. December, March break, and the summer holiday weeks are the busiest, and the best sitters book out first. Reserve two to four weeks ahead for those dates.
More pets, more cost. A second dog usually adds a per-pet amount rather than doubling the rate. Medication, insulin, reactive dogs, or senior-pet needs can add a small premium because they take more of the sitter's time and skill.
Length matters too. Longer bookings sometimes carry a lower nightly rate, and recurring weekly walks are usually cheaper per walk than one-off requests.
The part owners miss
The checkout fee, the cashback, and the vet cover
On most booking platforms the sitter's rate is not the final number. A service fee is added at checkout, on top of the rate, every time. On Petme that owner fee is 0%. You pay the rate the sitter set, nothing more.
Petme also returns up to 5% of the booking value to your in-app balance as cashback once the booking completes, which you put toward the next one. Over a year of recurring walks and a few boarding stays, that adds up.
Every Petme booking includes up to CAD 20,000 in vet expenses if something happens during the stay, with no deductible, at any licensed Canadian clinic. That is real money you would otherwise carry as risk, folded into the price.
A worked example
Budgeting for a one-week trip
Say you travel for seven nights and board a single dog in a mid-range Canadian city at CAD 60 a night. That is CAD 420 for the stay. On a platform that adds a checkout fee, you would pay roughly CAD 20 to 45 more on top. On Petme you pay CAD 420, get up to about CAD 21 back as cashback, and carry CAD 20,000 of vet cover for the week.
For a cat, the same week as twice-daily drop-in visits at CAD 25 a visit works out to CAD 350, often less than boarding a dog, and your cat never leaves home.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
How much does a dog sitter cost per night in Canada?
How much is a dog walker per walk?
Is a pet sitter cheaper than a kennel or boarding facility?
Does Petme add a booking fee on top of the sitter's rate?
Why do prices go up around holidays?
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