Although the “dog days of summer” (referring to the alignment of Sirius, or the Dog Star, with the Sun) technically run from July 3 to August 11, can we go ahead and add another?
August 26 is International Dog Day, celebrating the bond between people and dogs as well as the vital roles dogs play in society—including as service animals—and encouraging adoption from shelters.
With that in mind, let’s jump into some of our pet-related statistics.
Pet food is cheaper
The cost of living is kind of like a dog and its favourite chew toy—it’s constantly taking bites out of our wallets! The good news is that pet food and supplies were slightly cheaper (-0.7%) in July 2026 than they were a year earlier, and 4.1% cheaper than three years earlier.
In comparison, overall grocery prices have increased 8.9% over the last three years, and the overall inflation rate has bumped up by 7.5%.
Any savings help for Canadians, who spent almost $2.2 billion on pet food, supplies and accessories in the first quarter of 2026, up from almost $2.1 billion in the same quarter a year earlier.
Book that vet appointment early
Veterinarians had 605 job vacancies in the first quarter of 2026, down from 750 a year earlier but up considerably from the first quarter of 2016 (185).
In the first quarter of 2026, there were 1,135 vacancies for animal health technologists and veterinary technicians, who support vets by caring for animals and assisting in diagnosis and treatment. A year earlier, there were 790 vacancies, and a decade earlier, there were 420.
So, depending on where you live, be sure to book that checkup well in advance!
Care and grooming
As of June 2026, there were almost 7,000 business locations across Canada in the veterinary services industry, including animal hospitals and clinics, surgery services, testing labs, and livestock veterinary services.
There were more than 7,400 business locations nationwide in the pet care industry, whose services include animal shelters, pet sitting, grooming, training and dog walking.
These numbers are a walk in the park
Speaking of dog-walking—we can throw a data bone on that.
Of the 9 in 10 (90%) Canadian households that said they had a park or green space close to home in 2023, 84% said they visited the park or public green space, and almost 1 in 4 of those households (23%) said they did so to walk the dog.
That rate was highest among households in Moncton, New Brunswick (38%), followed by nearby Fredericton (36%), as well as in Kitchener–Cambridge–Waterloo, Ontario (33%), and Victoria, British Columbia (32%).
Although households in single-detached, low-rise apartments and high-rise apartments all reported proximity to parks and public green spaces at similar levels (89%, 91% and 93%, respectively) and visited them with similar rates (85%, 83%, and 84%, respectively), households in single-detached homes (29%) were more than twice as likely to take their pooch to the park for a walk compared with those in low-rise (11%) and high-rise (12%) apartments.
Note to readers
Murray (top), Kenzie (middle), Frankie (bottom left), Banksy (bottom middle) and Giuseppe (bottom right) would like to wish everyone a very happy International Dog Day! 🐾 🐶
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Contact information
For more information, contact the Statistical Information Service (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).