Canadian households spent $8.23 billion in total on pets, pet food, veterinary and other services for pets in 2017, according to Statistics Canada.
Breaking down this overall figure, Canadian households spent about $4.79 billion on pets and their food, the rest on veterinary and other pet services.
Looking at the recent trajectory, Canadians have been spending more on pets. In 2013, Canadian households spent a total of $6.44 billion on pets. In 2015, that figure stood at $7.22 billion.
Fifty-seven per cent of Canadian households — about 7.5 million — own pets, with cats more popular than dogs. Thirty-seven per cent of Canadian households owned one or more cat, 32 per cent owned dogs. Overall Canada is home to roughly 5.9 million dogs and 7.9 million cats.
