Not all expenses are deductible and not everyone is eligible. https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-age...-expenses.html

FWIW ............ the dogs are not in the baggage car for all the time, there are several stops where you can take them out of the car for a walk around. Plus you can go and visit with them in the car. YOU are responsible for feeding and watering them.

As to why Canadian trains are so slow ................ think of the flippin' distances they travel!!! It's often the distance from London to Turkey or beyond!


Make sure your car has proper winter tires ...... with a mountain and snowflake symbol. Rental cars often do not have them. Also it is often a good idea to have chains for the wheels when winter driving over the Prairies

Train is slow as for most part Via shares track with the freight lines who run very long trains at slow speeds, and Via is not high priority for the freight rail roads.

The rail system in Canada (and most of the US) is not built for speed, its built for carrying freight and not people, passenger trains are secondary.

.............. and b***** cold!

You might well need heater cables for the car to make sure it will start after standing outside all night in below freezing temperatures.


Why are you flying into Calgary???

You have to drive across from the western side of Alberta, all the way across Saskatchewan which is almost as flat as a pancake, and then across a large part of Manitoba as well!

Your excitement might watching the sunsets and looking for sun dogs

Toronto is closer to Winnipeg although it could also be a boring drive.

It is?

Google has Toronto to Winnipeg driving all in Canada, 2,082km and 22 hours drive time

Dipping down into the US 2,055km

Calgary to Winnipeg is 1,326km according to google and 13 hours and some change drive time.

Ah ............. I didn't do that check .....

....... I was thinking in terms of having to basically cross most of Alberta, all of Saskatchewan and about half of Manitoba to reach Winnipeg from Calgary!

I love the Prairies, the big sky, the long views ........... but I wouldn't like to drive it in winter, dependent on finding places to stay that are open and will take pets, let alone "huge dogs"

The prairies are the easy part, no treacherous steep mountain passes, no hairpin curves, and well maintained highways. Winnipeg is within a couple of hours of the start of the Canadian Shield and the Ontario border. The Shield is all rocks, lakes, and trees and next passing lane 20km, unless it's changed (and I don't think so). I've probably driven the Ontario trip 6 times or so, once to Montreal and a bit further, and through BC either to Vancouver or the Okanagan many times. I used to drive from Regina to Vancouver non-stop if I began well rested in winter or summer when I was younger but now I want a night's rest on the way and I don't want to drive through the mountains in winter unless I have to. When I have to go in winter I monitor the DriveBC cameras and time it so I cross the high passes in broad daylight. This spring when I drove out there was snow and low visibility in Kootenay Pass each night, but a 4 hour window each day when the road was bare, so I left in the wee hours to cross when it was best. Blizzards can hit at those elevations right up until the end of May.

I hate driving BC mountain highways in winter. I did once in 2016 right before Christmas to Kelowna and back same day in between storms so luckily the highway was okay not great but okay.

Commuted the S2S Squamish to Whistler wasnt too bad, the company who is hired to clear that portion doesnt do a terrific job though.

We've driven the Fraser Canyon (Highway 1) many times at all times of the year, but end of November-end of December are horrible, with avalanches regularly closing the road. Then the Highway cuts east to Kamloops and eventually has to go through the Rogers Pass in Glacier National Park near Revelstoke. The Canadian Army has a squad stationed in that area to conduct regular avalanche control ........... which means closing the highway while they fire artillery to cause a minor avalanche before the danger becomes too great.

The Coquihalla (Highway 5) can be awful in winter, with sudden blizzards, spin outs of other traffic, and poor to bad road maintenance.

Highway 3 in southern BC means having to travel through Manning Park, 3 mountain passes, and then the Three Valley Gap and Crowsnest Pass.

Moving from Dubai - need an airline that accommodates dogs (including one larger one) - no-one can fly them internally (crate too big / holds not heated / limit of number of dogs) so have to drive from somewhere. Calgary is closest & easiest drive plus we have friends in Regina.

Have driven Vancouver - Big White via Kelowna in January in a snowstorm so I'm not too worried about 1300kms of prairies. In no rush, so can delay if the weather is too bad.

Makes some sort of sense!!

But do be warned that many hotels and motels are NOT pet-friendly, especially with more than 1 pet. Plus many of those that will accept pets, have a surcharge on the room rate.

What size vehicle do you have booked.. and do they know you will have 3 dogs (in crates .. oh will the largest crate fit in the vehicle?)? Just a thought on your journey across country, if you need to let them out for a wee.. do make sure to keep them on a leash - no off leash here except for in dog parks - plus there's bears, coyotes and cougars in the countryside! Presumably none of your dogs are on the banned breeds list (do check Provincially too as some Provinces are stricter than others). https://travel.meetpaws.com/banned-breed/#2

When planning your trip, you might find this site useful - you can put in the max mileage you want to do per day, what time of day to leave, where you need to stop / or overnight etc., and it will calculate your trip and plan your route.. and give you suggestions for motels and restaurants, gas usage, mileage etc., https://trips.furkot.com/

Going along with what Scilly mentioned, you may indeed have issues booking a room anywhere with 3 dogs (it might mean booking 2 rooms even!) - and do be aware that they won't normally permit you to leave them unattended in the room. There's a map of pet friendly motels etc., on this page for Alberta,click on the red mark to identify them. https://www.petfriendly.ca/alberta.php