Dog Friendly City Guide: Victoria, Canada

Victoria sits on southern Vancouver Island, and for a dog the waterfront does most of the work. A long stretch along Dallas Road, above the Strait of Juan de Fuca, is set aside for dogs to run off the lead, and Beacon Hill Park comes down to meet it. A regional trail carries walkers out of the city, and further out there are lakes, forest and a river where the salmon come home each autumn.

Getting There With a Dog

Canada's entry rules come from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, whose travelling with your pet tool gives the answer for your own case. A personal pet dog aged eight months or older arriving with its owner from the United States needs a valid rabies vaccination certificate, and the dog must appear healthy and meet humane transport requirements. From a country Canada recognises as free of rabies, such as the United Kingdom, Ireland or Japan, a rabies country-freedom certificate from that country's official veterinary authority can take its place. Younger dogs and dogs travelling alone have rules of their own.

Most visitors arrive by sea. BC Ferries welcomes pets, but every animal except a guide or service dog must stay in your vehicle or in a designated pet area, on a leash no longer than a metre, two pets per person at most, and dogs are kept out of the indoor lounges, cafeterias and terminals. From Port Angeles in Washington, the M.V. Coho lets your dog ride with you on the main passenger deck on a leash. In town, plan on walking: BC Transit buses take only small pets in a secure cage that fits on your lap.

Where to Stay

Every hotel here has been assessed and ranked, and you can compare them all on our ranked dog friendly hotels in Victoria.

The Oswego Hotel holds a B, the joint highest rank in the city, and suits a big dog or a pair, with no weight limit and no cap on dogs per room. Your dog is welcome in the lounge, on the terrace and in the garden, the hotel provides a dog bed and bowls and leaves free treats in the suite, and the staff will point you to local walking routes. Only a limited number of rooms take dogs, so book ahead. The fee is $29 CAD per stay, with no damage deposit.

The Fairmont Empress also holds a B, the grand hotel on the harbour where your dog stays free. Most rooms take dogs, there is no weight or size limit, and two can share a room. Dogs are welcome on the terrace and in the garden, with a dog bed, proper bowls and a treat on arrival. There is no pet fee, though our listing notes a damage deposit of $100 a day may apply.

The Magnolia Hotel & Spa holds a C, with most rooms open to dogs, no weight limit, a bed and bowls, and a welcome on the terrace and in the lounge, for $60 per stay and no deposit. Hotel Rialto, also a C, suits a smaller dog, with a 40 lb limit and ten dog friendly rooms. Dogs are welcome in the lounge, a bed, bowls and treats are laid on, the hotel can arrange dog walking and sitting, and Centennial Square is across the street. The fee is $50 per stay, with no deposit.

Eat and Drink

British Columbia's Food Premises Regulation bars live animals from food premises, apart from guide and service dogs and any animal a health officer judges to pose no risk. So eating out with a dog in Victoria means a patio, and each place below says on its own page that dogs are welcome out there.

Whistle Buoy Brewing makes small batch, experimental beers, with its taproom and patio on the courtyard level of historic Market Square downtown. Its kitchen, Grub, serves fresh and grilled sandwiches, salads and sharing boards, and the brewery's Big Patio Days page puts the house policy plainly: as always, you can bring your own food, dogs, kids, whatever, and just come hang out.

Heron Rock Bistro has served the people of James Bay since 2005, from Simcoe Street. It is open seven days a week for brunch, happy hour and dinner, and its own page introduces the floor manager as the man who makes sure there is always water for the dogs on the patio.

The Penny Farthing is an English pub in the heart of Oak Bay Village, open since 2001, with four fireplaces, dark wood and Victorian etched glass. Its home page says dogs are welcome on the patio, on the street side of its extended patio only. It opens at eight in the morning, so it works for breakfast as well as a pint.

Pirate Pizza Co. serves New York style thin crust pizza on a dockside patio at Fisherman's Wharf, the floating village of brightly coloured float homes round the corner from the Inner Harbour. The harbour authority's page for the wharf invites you to bring your friends, family and fido for a slice, with dogs leashed and attended at all times.

Walks and Parks

Dallas Road Waterfront runs along the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and its leash optional area lies between the multi use path and the seaside path. Dogs must be on a lead on the path, anywhere south of it and on the beach, because the waterfront sits within a federal migratory bird sanctuary.

In Beacon Hill Park dogs must be on a lead throughout, apart from the leash optional area south of Dallas Road, nearer the ocean, and they are kept out of the playgrounds and the heron nesting area south of Goodacre Lake.

The Galloping Goose Regional Trail carries walkers out of the city on a long regional path, so you can walk as much or as little of it as you like. The Capital Regional District lists it among the trails where dogs must stay on a lead, and horse riders share it from kilometre 18 to 55, so hold your dog close when one comes by.

Thetis Lake and Elk/Beaver Lake are the regional parks for a lakeside walk, where dogs must be under control and in sight. From June 1 to September 15 they may only pass through the designated beaches and picnic areas on a lead: Thetis Lake's main beach and Prior Lake, and Beaver Lake, Hamsterly, Eagle and Water Ski beaches.

PKOLS (Mount Douglas Park) in Saanich covers about 184 hectares, with trails under Douglas fir and cedar and a lookout at the summit. Saanich asks for dogs on a lead except on the leash optional trails, which include Glendenning and parts of the Whittaker and Maddock trails, and keeps dogs off the beach, the playground and the lower beach car park.

Windsor Park in Oak Bay has an off leash area with a Tiny Paws section for small dogs, open off lead from sunrise to 11 a.m. from September to June and to 9 a.m. in July and August, and on lead at any time. Further out, Goldstream Provincial Park has trails among massive trees and a climb up Mount Finlayson, with dogs on a lead and out of the river.

A Day Out

Start on Dallas Road while the light is on the strait, letting your dog run in the leash optional area, then turn up through Beacon Hill Park on the lead. Take brunch on the patio at Heron Rock Bistro, then make for Fisherman's Wharf for pizza on the dock. In the afternoon head to Whistle Buoy in Market Square for a beer on the patio. On a second day, walk a stretch of the Galloping Goose or circle Thetis Lake, and finish at the Penny Farthing in Oak Bay.

Good to Know

In the City of Victoria dogs must be on a lead except in the designated leash optional areas, owners must keep control and pick up after them, and breaking the off leash rules can bring fines of $100 to $300. Dogs must be on a lead on Gonzales Beach and are not allowed on it at all from June 1 to August 31. Only certified assistance dogs may enter Ross Bay Cemetery, Pioneer Square, the Beacon Hill heron rookery and playgrounds with sand, rubber or wood chips. The regional district warns of poisonous mushrooms, ticks, fast water and blue-green algae on its lakes. At Goldstream, dogs are not allowed in the beach areas or park buildings, and must be kept out of the river during the salmon run, best seen from late October through November.