Are Roof Rats Legal in Quebec? Keeping, Breeding & Selling

• Quebec’s wildlife authority (Ministere de l’Environnement, de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques, de la Faune et des Parcs) confirmed in writing (June 2026) that no import notice is required under section 13 of the Reglement sur les animaux en captivite when a roof rat (Rattus rattus) is imported by a private individual for personal purposes and is kept in Canada. An import notice is otherwise normally required for R. rattus (for example a commercial import, or if the animal will not be kept in Canada), while the Norway rat (Rattus norvegicus) and the house mouse (Mus musculus) are exempt from the notice in all cases.

Keeping / owning   Legal

Confidence: High · Last verified 2026-06-06

Neither Rattus rattus nor Rattus norvegicus is listed in Schedule 1 (prohibited/restricted species) of the Règlement sur les animaux en captivité, so keeping a roof rat as a pet needs no provincial captivity permit for normal hobbyist numbers.

Sources: Gouvernement du Québec, Gouvernement du Québec

Breeding   Legal

Confidence: High · Last verified 2026-06-06

Breeding is legal without a wildlife permit, but facilities must meet the regulation’s housing standards (enclosures free of injury hazards, allowing the animal to avoid its own waste, kept dry and clean). Commercial operations also need ordinary business licensing.

Sources: Gouvernement du Québec, Gouvernement du Québec

Selling or giving away   Legal

Confidence: High · Last verified 2026-06-06

Selling or giving roof rats is legal at the provincial level; commercial sale requires ordinary business licensing and compliance with the captive-animal housing standards. No species-specific dealer permit is required.

Sources: Gouvernement du Québec

Transport & import   Legal

Confidence: High · Last verified 2026-06-18

Quebec’s wildlife authority (MELCCFP) confirmed in writing (2026-06-18) that NO import notice is required under section 13 of the Reglement sur les animaux en captivite (C-61.1, r.5.1) when a roof rat (Rattus rattus) is imported by a private individual for personal purposes AND is kept in Canada, the typical pet-keeper case. An import notice (stating the scientific name, origin, planned import date, and place of captivity) is otherwise normally required for R. rattus, that is, if it is not a private personal import or will not be kept in Canada (for example a commercial import or onward export). The Norway rat (Rattus norvegicus) and the house mouse (Mus musculus) are exempt from the notice in all situations. Internal transport of a lawfully kept pet within Quebec is unrestricted. Never release a roof rat.

Sources: Gouvernement du Québec, Gouvernement du Québec

• Private personal import, kept in Canada: no section 13 notice required
• Commercial or non-personal import, or animal not kept in Canada: file the section 13 written notice (binomial name, origin, planned date, place of captivity) with MELCCFP before arrival

Where: Ministère de l’Environnement, de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques, de la Faune et des Parcs (MELCCFP)

Source: Gouvernement du Québec, Gouvernement du Québec

Source: Gouvernement du Québec

In Quebec, keeping, breeding, and giving or selling a pet roof rat (Rattus rattus, the “rat noir” / “rat des toits”) is legal and needs no provincial captivity permit. The species is not on the prohibited list (Annexe I) of the Règlement sur les animaux en captivité (C-61.1, r. 5.1). There is one narrow snag. Section 13 of that regulation requires a person to file a prior written import notice with the Ministry (MELCCFP) before bringing certain captive animals into Quebec. The regulation explicitly exempts the fancy/Norway rat (Rattus norvegicus, “rat surmulot”) and the house mouse (Mus musculus) from that notice when an individual imports them for personal purposes, but it does not name Rattus rattus. On the face of the text, a tame domestic roof rat is treated more strictly than the near-identical fancy rat. This appears to be a drafting oversight, since roof rats are rarer in the pet trade, not a deliberate choice to single them out.

The ask: Ask the Ministry (MELCCFP) to do one of two things: (1) confirm in writing that the section 13 import-notice exemption already granted to the fancy rat (Rattus norvegicus) and house mouse extends in practice to the domestic roof rat (Rattus rattus) kept as a pet; or (2) add Rattus rattus to the same section 13 exemption so the regulation treats the two domestic rat species the same. Both are domestic, captive-bred companion rats. Domestication, not which wild relative an animal descends from, is what the law recognises elsewhere: the dog descends from the wolf and the cat from a wild felid, yet both are domestic animals. The already-exempt fancy rat is itself the wild brown rat, domesticated only in the 19th century, so a captive-bred roof rat is the same case one species over and reasonably warrants the same paperwork treatment (see https://blonderoofrat.com/how-the-sewer-rat-became-the-fancy-rat/). This is a one-line fix that closes a paperwork gap. It does not ask Quebec to legalize anything new, because keeping roof rats is already legal.

Where the lever really is: This is branch (a): the bureaucracy or drafting gap, and the correct lever is the agency (MELCCFP), either a written clarification or a one-species addition to the existing section 13 exemption. It is not a “law as written” prohibition. Keeping, breeding, and selling roof rats is already legal because Rattus rattus is absent from the prohibited-species schedule. The only friction is that section 13’s import-notice exemption names Rattus norvegicus and Mus musculus but omits Rattus rattus. An agency can fix or interpret that omission; it is not the legislature having deliberately banned or listed the species. The Ministry administers C-61.1, r. 5.1 and can issue a written interpretation of the exemption’s scope, and regulation amendments here are made by government or ministerial rulemaking rather than by a statute of the National Assembly. The productive move is to write the agency, not to lobby an MNA. If the Ministry responds that the omission is deliberate and it must apply the notice as written, the fallback would be a rulemaking or prepublication window. There is no open window now, and there is no statutory list of the National Assembly to repeal, so the legislature is not the lever.

Where to send it (more than one channel helps):

• Ministère de l’Environnement, de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques, de la Faune et des Parcs (MELCCFP), official information-request form (Secteur de la faune et des parcs) (executive / agency), official contact page
  Official online intake for written questions to the Ministry; has a wildlife-and-parks routing category, so it lands the section 13 exemption question with the unit that administers the captive-animals regulation. Best first channel because it creates a tracked written record.
• MELCCFP, Wildlife customer service (Service à la clientèle, secteur de la faune) (executive / agency), renseignements.faune@environnement.gouv.qc.ca
  Verified official wildlife inquiry inbox (also listed on the quebec.ca general-contact page, phone 1-877-346-6763). Use it to email the same clarification/exemption request directly to the faune team.

A starting-point message, please put it in your own words; a short personal note carries far more weight than an identical form letter:

Subject: Section 13 import notice: exemption for the domestic roof rat (Rattus rattus)

To the Wildlife sector, MELCCFP,

I am writing about an inconsistency in the Regulation respecting animals in captivity (C-61.1, r. 5.1). Keeping a domestic roof rat (Rattus rattus) as a pet is legal in Quebec; the species is not on the prohibited schedule. However, section 13's exemption from the prior import notice names the fancy rat (Rattus norvegicus) and the house mouse, but does not name Rattus rattus, even though the two are kept identically as pets.

These are captive-bred, tame animals, kept indoors as companions, never taken from or released into the wild. The roof rat is the less common of two domesticated rat species. Domestication, not wild ancestry, is what the law recognises elsewhere: the dog descends from the wolf and the cat from a wild felid, yet both are treated as domestic. The fancy rat is itself the wild brown rat, domesticated only in the 19th century, so a captive-bred roof rat is the same case one species over and reasonably deserves the same treatment.

Could you please (1) confirm in writing whether the section 13 exemption applies in practice to a domestic Rattus rattus imported by an individual for personal purposes, or (2) add Rattus rattus to that same exemption? This is a one-line fix that treats the two domestic rat species consistently.

Thank you for your time.

[Your name]
[Your municipality / region]
[Your email]

Objet : Avis d'importation de l'article 13 : dispense pour le rat noir domestique (Rattus rattus)

Au secteur de la faune, MELCCFP,

Je vous écris au sujet d'une incohérence dans le Règlement sur les animaux en captivité (C-61.1, r. 5.1). Garder un rat noir domestique (Rattus rattus) comme animal de compagnie est légal au Québec ; l'espèce ne figure pas à l'annexe des espèces prohibées. Or, la dispense d'avis d'importation prévue à l'article 13 nomme le rat surmulot (Rattus norvegicus) et la souris commune, mais ne nomme pas le Rattus rattus, alors que les deux sont gardés de façon identique comme animaux de compagnie.

Il s'agit d'animaux nés en captivité, apprivoisés, gardés à l'intérieur comme compagnons, jamais prélevés dans la nature ni relâchés. Le rat noir est la moins répandue de deux espèces de rats domestiqués. C'est la domestication, et non l'ascendance sauvage, que la loi reconnaît ailleurs : le chien descend du loup et le chat d'un félin sauvage, et pourtant tous deux sont considérés comme domestiques. Le rat surmulot est lui-même le rat brun sauvage, domestiqué seulement au XIXe siècle, de sorte qu'un rat noir né en captivité est le même cas, à une espèce près, et mérite raisonnablement le même traitement.

Pourriez-vous (1) confirmer par écrit si la dispense de l'article 13 s'applique en pratique au Rattus rattus domestique importé par un particulier à des fins personnelles, ou (2) ajouter le Rattus rattus à cette même dispense ? Il s'agit d'une correction d'une seule ligne qui traiterait de façon cohérente les deux espèces de rats domestiques.

Je vous remercie de votre attention.

[Votre nom]
[Votre municipalité / région]
[Votre courriel]

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