Best Kennel Software in Canada (2026)

If you run a boarding kennel, a daycare or a grooming salon in Canada, the useful question is not which platform has the longest feature list. It is which one bills you in Canadian dollars, knows the difference between GST and HST, and lets you record the e-Transfer a client just sent you. Most kennel software is built in the United States, priced in USD, and leaves you to sort the rest out. BooknBuddy is $39.99 CAD a month, flat, with tax codes and payouts that already assume you are here.

What "built for Canada" actually has to mean

Plenty of platforms will happily take a Canadian customer. Fewer are actually set up for one. This is the list worth putting to any vendor before you commit:

Priced in Canadian dollars, including the add-ons

The subscription is $39.99 CAD a month. That is the whole plan: every service type, every staff member, unlimited bookings. There is no tier you get pushed into when you grow, and no fee attached to each reservation.

The optional text-message packages are quoted in Canadian dollars too, and this is where the difference shows up plainly. A Canadian shop pays $29.99 for the starter package where a US shop pays $39.99, because the pricing is set in CAD and converted outward rather than the other way round. Two-way texting is a paid add-on on top of your plan rather than part of the base price, because it needs a dedicated number and that is what costs money.

Card payments carry a 1.5% platform fee when money is paid out to you, on either payout schedule. Cash, cheque and e-Transfer carry nothing, because nothing is being processed.

GST, HST, and not annoying your bookkeeper

Canadian sales tax is not one rate, and a pet business invoice is rarely one line. A five night stay, a bag of food off the shelf, a nail trim and a tip are four different things, and two of them may be taxed differently from the others.

Tax is applied per line item rather than to the invoice total, which is the only way that arithmetic comes out right. When the invoice syncs to Xero or QuickBooks it arrives with the tax code already attached, so nobody re-codes anything at month end.

Payments the way Canadians actually pay

The checkout takes Square Terminal, Clover, Stripe card-not-present, cash, cheque and e-Transfer, plus any method you name yourself. It is one screen: the stay, anything scanned off the retail shelf, the tip and the tax together, so there is no separate point-of-sale to reconcile at the end of the day.

Payouts run weekly, every Friday, from your first day. Daily payouts unlock automatically once you have had two months at $1,000 or more. The platform fee is the same either way, so it is something you grow into rather than something you pay extra for.

One platform instead of three

Most Canadian pet businesses do not do only one thing. A kennel takes daycare through the week, adds a bath before pickup, and someone is walking dogs on the side. Running that on three systems is how double-bookings happen.

Boarding, daycare, grooming, training, board and train, dog walking, pet visits, in-home sitting, dental and facility rental all sit on the same plan, each with its own booking rules. Kennel capacity for boarding, coat-group pricing and slot durations for grooming, route and window logic for walking. If you are weighing this up more broadly, the six features that actually matter in pet boarding software is the wider version of this argument.

Who is already running on it here

Pet businesses across six provinces — British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and New Brunswick — and five Canadian time zones, from Vancouver through to Halifax. Kennels, daycares, grooming salons and dog walkers, every one of them billed in Canadian dollars.

Frequently asked questions

Is there kennel software made for Canada?

Yes. Most kennel and boarding platforms are built in the United States and bill in US dollars. BooknBuddy is billed in Canadian dollars, applies GST and HST per line item, and pushes invoices to Xero or QuickBooks with Canadian tax codes already attached.

How much does kennel software cost in Canada?

BooknBuddy is $39.99 CAD a month, flat. There are no per-booking fees, no per-pet fees and no upgrade tiers - every service type is on the one plan. Card payments carry a 1.5% platform fee on payouts, and text-message packages are a separate optional add-on.

Does BooknBuddy handle GST and HST?

Yes. Tax is applied per line item rather than to the invoice total, so a stay, a retail item and a grooming add-on can each carry the correct rate. Invoices sync to Xero or QuickBooks with the tax code already set.

Can I take an e-Transfer for a boarding stay?

Yes. e-Transfer is a built-in payment method alongside Square Terminal, Clover, Stripe card-not-present, cash and cheque - and you can name your own methods. It is recorded against the invoice like any other payment, so the books still reconcile.

Does it work for daycare, grooming and walking, or only boarding?

All of them, on the same plan. Boarding, daycare, grooming, training, board and train, dog walking, pet visits, in-home sitting, dental and facility rental each have their own booking logic.

Is there a free trial?

Thirty days, with no credit card required to start.

The bottom line

If you are in Canada, the shortlist gets shorter fast once you ask about currency, tax codes and e-Transfer. A platform that answers those three well will save you more administration than any feature comparison will. Thirty days free is enough to run a real week through it.

Related reading

• Best pet boarding software in 2026 — the six features that actually matter
• How to start a dog boarding business — planning, licensing and your first customers
• Best dog grooming software in 2026 — coat-based pricing and groomer scheduling
• BooknBuddy pet boarding and kennel management software — the full product