I know that the rules/regulations/guidelines established in The Americans With Disabilities Act and in Alberta's (and other provinces') "equivalent" are very similar. The one big difference is that Canada seems to have "accredited" training facilities where a dog must be trained in order to be considered "certified" and thus protected by said laws. This is not a requirement in the US -- in fact, it's impossible as there is no such thing as any sort of national accreditation.
I'll be driving from Denver, CO up through BC and Alberta this summer with my (legit) service dog, with her vest identifying her as such. I'm wondering if I will run into trouble at any hotels or restaurants asking for her "certification". Are they ("they" meaning anyone) allowed to do that? That's not allowed in the US... not for a dog just doing its job and not breaking the Service Dog rules or being otherwise disruptive (which I guess is covered in those rules).
I suppose I could try to dig up the papers I got when I received her from the facility that did her training, but I'm pretty sure they're packed away in boxes from 2 or 3 moves ago and to say it would be inconvenient to do so would be putting it extremely lightly... and it has recently come to my attention that the facility is no longer operational.
How much of an issue is this likely to be?
I feel it's important to point out that there are numerous online services that claim to register your service dog and imply that doing so will give you some sort of "official" certification. In reality, this so-called registration does not make your dog any more of a legally recognized/protected service animal (as recognized by the US or Canada) than NOT registering with them at all. There is NO official certification in the US and only the government can grant such certification in Canada. Scam-alert - be aware!!
