Shipping policy

Last Updated: 9 November 2026

ORDER PROCESSING

All orders are dispatched from Canada. We are committed to getting your order on its way quickly. Orders are processed and shipped within 1-2 business days of receiving payment. (Business days are Monday to Friday and exclude statutory holidays in British Columbia.)

Where an item has a longer lead time, the dispatch time is stated on the product page and confirmed in your order confirmation email.

If we cannot dispatch your order, or any parcel of it, within the time stated above, we will email you before that time ends with a new dispatch date, or tell you that we cannot yet give one and why, and give you the choice to accept the delay or cancel for a full refund, either for the items concerned or for your whole order, as you prefer. In any case, if we cannot dispatch an item within 30 days of receiving your order, you may cancel that item or your whole order for a full refund. Customers in the United States: the United States section of our Refund Policy also sets out what happens if you do not reply to our email about a delay.

DELIVERY

We ship to the address you provide at checkout. Your order confirmation email records the delivery address and the shipping option you chose, and repeats the carriers and the mode of transport set out under Carrier And Mode Of Transport below. Tracking details are sent in your shipping confirmation email.

Delivery timeframes given at checkout are estimates. They depend on the carrier and the destination, and we cannot guarantee an exact delivery date.

Consumers in Québec: we deliver your order within 30 business days of the date you place it. Where the product page states a longer lead time, we deliver within 30 business days after the dispatch date stated there. That is the delivery time stated in your contract.

ORDERS SENT IN MORE THAN ONE PARCEL

This section and the next one, Carrier And Mode Of Transport, do not apply to local delivery, or to orders shipped to Germany and the Netherlands, which are sold through Shopify Managed Markets as described under International Shipping below.

By placing an order, you agree that we may send it in more than one parcel. We do this when your order is too large or too heavy for one of our boxes or for the carrier's limits for the service, or when an item has a longer lead time stated on its product page. Items sold together as one set travel in the same parcel.

Each parcel is dispatched within the time set out under Order Processing above, and the rest of that section applies to each parcel. Within that time, the parcels of one order may leave on different days, for example because of the opening hours of the carrier's counter or drop-off point, and they may leave from different locations of ours in Canada. Every parcel is tracked, and we email you its tracking details when it ships.

The shipping charge shown at checkout is paid once and covers every parcel of your order. If your order is shipped outside Canada and a carrier or customs authority charges you a duty, tax or fee on delivery that you would not have paid had your order arrived in one parcel, send us the receipt and we will refund that extra amount.

The delivery estimate shown at checkout refers to the arrival of the last parcel. For consumers in Québec, the delivery time stated under Delivery above applies to the last parcel.

Your rights for each parcel, including returns and remedies for late, missing or damaged items, are the same as if your order had arrived in one parcel. Where our Refund Policy says a period runs from the day you receive the last item, it runs from the day you receive the last parcel. If the law where you live gives you a wider right to cancel because part of your order is late, that right is not affected.

CARRIER AND MODE OF TRANSPORT

Within Canada, your order travels with the carrier and service shown in the shipping option you choose at checkout. If that service is unavailable, as set out below, your order may travel instead with one of these carriers, in this order of preference: Canada Post; UPS; ICS Courier, Canpar Express or Loomis Express; and Purolator only as a last resort. Outside Canada, it travels with Canada Post and is delivered by the postal service of the destination country. Each parcel is handed to the carrier in Canada and travels in the carrier's own network by road, and by ferry, rail or air where the carrier routes it that way.

Each shipping option at checkout shows a carrier, a service and a price. For orders within Canada, other than orders delivered to an address in Québec (see the next paragraph), we always ship with the service you chose. We use another service only when the service you chose is unavailable for your parcel because of one of these events outside our control: a strike or lockout at that carrier; a natural disaster, severe weather or a government order that stops that service; that carrier suspending or closing, for your parcel's route, the service or the drop-off point we use; or that carrier having no capacity to accept your parcel when we take it to the drop-off point. In that case, we first try the other drop-off points and the other similar tracked services of the carrier you chose. Only if none of them can take your parcel within the dispatch time set out under Order Processing do we use a similar tracked service of another carrier named above. In this section, a "similar tracked service" is a tracked service whose delivery time to your address, as published by the carrier, is the same as or shorter than that of the service you chose, and that offers a signature or a delivery photo if the service you chose offered either of them. We never send your parcel by a slower service without asking you first. If no similar tracked service can take it within the dispatch time, we email you before it ships, and you may choose to wait until the service you chose is available again, accept the fastest tracked service of the carriers named above that can take it, or cancel your order, in which case we refund everything you paid within 15 days. If you choose to wait, we confirm the new expected delivery date to you by email. Whichever service we use, we email you the name of the carrier and the tracking number when your parcel ships.

Orders delivered to an address in Québec: the carrier named in the shipping option you choose at checkout is part of your contract, and we ship with that carrier and service. If that service becomes unavailable for your parcel, for example because of a strike, we do not change the carrier or the service without your agreement. Before your parcel ships, we email you and ask you to choose: you may agree to the replacement service we propose, at no extra cost; wait until the service you chose is available again; or cancel your order, in which case we refund everything you paid within 15 days. The previous paragraph does not apply to these orders.

Outside Canada, your order ships with the service you chose at checkout. If that service becomes unavailable, for example because of a strike or a suspension of service to your country, we email you before your parcel ships. We ship it by another service only if you reply to agree to it, at no extra cost; otherwise you may wait until the service you chose is available again, or cancel your order, in which case we refund everything you paid within 15 days, or sooner where our Refund Policy or the law where you live requires it.

Your shipping charge is the price of the option you chose at checkout. If we send your parcel by another service under this section, we never charge you more, and if that service costs us less than the shipping charge you paid, we refund the difference. Your order confirmation email repeats the carriers and the mode of transport set out in this section, and your shipping confirmation email names the carrier and the tracking number for each parcel.

Nothing in this section limits your rights under the consumer protection law where you live, including your right to cancel an order that is late and receive a full refund, as set out under Order Processing and Customs Holds and in our Refund Policy.

Whichever carrier we use, the goods remain at our risk until you, or a person you have named to receive them, take physical possession of them, as set out under Risk of Loss below.

RISK OF LOSS

Risk of loss and damage passes to you when you, or a person you have named to receive the goods, take physical possession of them. A "delivered" status from the carrier does not on its own move that risk to you. Nothing in this section limits any right you have under the consumer law where you live.

If your parcel is lost, or arrives damaged, contact us at hello@kittycathabitat.ca and you choose a replacement or a full refund of the items concerned and the shipping you paid for them, at our cost, as our quality promise in the Refund Policy sets out. Replacing or refunding your order never depends on a claim with the carrier or insurer. We deal with the carrier ourselves.

If your tracking shows your parcel as delivered but you have not received it, please email us at hello@kittycathabitat.ca as soon as you can, so that we can trace it quickly. The times for telling us are set out in our Refund Policy.

If your parcel arrives visibly damaged, please take photos right away, before or while you open it. Photograph the outside of the box, the shipping label, the packing inside and the item or items. If you find damage only after opening, please photograph the item and the packing as soon as you notice it. Send the photos to hello@kittycathabitat.ca. After that, you do not need to keep the box or the packing.

Customers in the United Kingdom, Norway and Iceland: your parcel stays at our risk until it is physically in your hands or the hands of someone you have named to receive it.

Consumers in Québec: this section is in addition to your rights under the Consumer Protection Act (Québec), which no agreement can reduce.

Customers in Australia: our quality promise, including the promise in this section for an order that arrives damaged, does not apply to you. Our goods come with guarantees that cannot be excluded under the Australian Consumer Law, and nothing in this section limits them. Those guarantees, and your other rights under that law, cover goods that arrive damaged. Under our Terms of Service, the goods stay at our risk until you, or a person you have named to receive them, take physical possession of them, so if your parcel is lost before then, you choose a replacement or a full refund of the lost items and the shipping you paid for them, and that never depends on a claim with the carrier or insurer. Your rights are set out in the Australia section of our Refund Policy.

Customers in New Zealand: our goods come with guarantees that cannot be excluded under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993, and nothing in this section limits them.

LOCAL DELIVERY

Free local delivery is available within 10km of our location in Nanaimo, BC, on orders of CA$20 or more. Please indicate at checkout when someone will be home to receive the delivery, or email hello@kittycathabitat.ca to arrange a time.

Delivery note: Please make sure your address is correct and that packages are accepted or picked up promptly.

INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING (DUTIES, TAXES & FEES)

Where We Ship

We ship to Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. If your country is not listed, we cannot ship to you at present.

Orders shipped to Germany and the Netherlands are sold through Shopify Managed Markets, with Global-e as merchant of record and seller. The Global-e company that sells your order is named at checkout. Our Refund Policy explains what this means for you.

For orders shipped outside Canada, other than orders to Germany and the Netherlands, you are the Importer of Record and are responsible for complying with the laws and regulations of the destination country. Except where they are collected at checkout, you are responsible for all import duties, taxes, brokerage fees, and customs-related charges imposed by your country.

Where Duties And Taxes Are Collected At Checkout

For orders shipped to the United States with a goods value of US$2,500 or less, estimated duties and taxes are calculated and collected at checkout. They are shown separately before you pay. Nothing further should normally be owed on delivery, although trade rules change and local authorities can still apply charges in some cases. Orders to the United States with a goods value over US$2,500 cannot be placed at checkout. Please contact us at hello@kittycathabitat.ca and we will send you a quote by invoice that states the shipping service, its cost, and how US duties will be handled for that order.

For orders shipped to Germany and the Netherlands, the prices you see include import duties and VAT, and the shipping cost is shown at checkout before you pay. Nothing further should normally be owed on delivery.

Where They Are Payable On Delivery

For orders shipped to Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, duties, taxes and any customs brokerage fees are payable by you to the carrier or customs authority when your order arrives. We cannot determine these amounts in advance.

We do not refund duties, taxes, brokerage, or customs fees, except where required by law, where you are entitled to a refund under our Refund Policy, or as set out under Customs Holds below.

CUSTOMS HOLDS

While tracking shows your parcel held by customs, it is not treated as lost. Please answer any request from customs or the carrier promptly, and pay any import duties, taxes or fees that are payable by you under Where They Are Payable On Delivery above. We supply any invoice, product description or other document that customs asks us for.

If customs releases your parcel, it is delivered in the normal way. If it is returned to us for a reason that does not lie with you, we refund you in full: the price of the goods, the shipping and any duties and taxes you paid at checkout for that parcel. If it is returned because a customs request was not answered or charges payable by you were not paid, it is treated as a refused parcel under the Package Refusals section below.

If the carrier declares your parcel lost, or customs refuses entry to it, seizes it or destroys it, we treat it as lost in transit and, as you choose, refund you in full or send a replacement at our cost.

If your parcel stays held by customs, you may cancel the order and receive a full refund when the law where you live allows it. In British Columbia, that is when your order has not been delivered within 30 days of the delivery date given at checkout, or within 30 days of your order if no delivery date was given; elsewhere in Canada, your provincial law may allow it too. In Québec, that is when your order has not been delivered within 30 days after the delivery date stated in your contract, or within 30 days after your order if no date was stated. In the European Union, Iceland, Norway and the United Kingdom, it is when your order has not been delivered on time and you have given us a further reasonable period that has also passed, or at once if we have refused to deliver or delivery on time was essential. In any case, we treat a parcel still held by customs 30 days after we shipped it, and not released or returned, as lost in transit.

Nothing in this section limits any right the law gives you, or any duty the law places on us, when your order is delayed or cannot be delivered, including the rights set out in our Refund Policy. In South Korea, for example, if we learn that your order cannot be supplied, we tell you without delay and refund you as Korean law requires.

PACKAGE REFUSALS & UNDELIVERABLE ITEMS

Please accept or collect your delivery promptly. Carriers hold parcels for a limited time and return them to us afterwards.

If a package is refused or not collected and comes back to us, contact us at hello@kittycathabitat.ca and we will work out the best resolution with you. Any return shipping cost that arises may be deducted from a refund, except where the law requires otherwise, where the delivery failed through carrier error, or where you are exercising a statutory right to cancel or withdraw.

Refusing or not collecting a delivery does not remove any statutory right you have to cancel or withdraw from your order. If you have that right, our Refund Policy applies and we will treat the refusal as notice of your decision.

If the delivery failed because of carrier error, contact us and we will resolve it at our cost.

For local purchases, at our discretion, we may collect the item directly from you, but this is not guaranteed.

CONTACT US

Kitty Cat Habitat
Sean Langwith
2000 Island Hwy. N. Suite 1013, Nanaimo, BC V9S 5W3, Canada
hello@kittycathabitat.ca
1-672-879-2000