Most Popular Dog Breeds in Canada: CKC 2025 Top 10

The Labrador Retriever is Canada's most popular dog breed for the 32nd year in a row, according to the Canadian Kennel Club's ranking of 2025 registrations, published in March 2026. The Golden Retriever and the German Shepherd Dog come second and third, the Poodle moved back ahead of the French Bulldog into fourth, and the Australian Shepherd, Havanese, Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Bernese Mountain Dog and Shetland Sheepdog complete the top 10.

Canada's top 10 dog breeds for 2025

What changed in 2025

The top three held their places, but the order below them moved. The Canadian Press reported that the Poodle took fourth place back from the French Bulldog, and the CKC's announcement, as published by e-know.ca, noted it was a spot the Poodle had held for many years.

• The Labrador's streak reached 32 years. It has been No. 1 every year since 1994.
• The Poodle returned to fourth, pushing the French Bulldog to fifth.
• The Labrador is the only original Canadian breed in the top 10. It descends from water dogs kept by fishermen and settlers in Newfoundland. Our guide to Canadian dog breeds covers the others.

The most popular breeds in each region

The CKC also published the top five breeds in each of its 12 zones for 2025. Retrievers dominate: the Labrador and the Golden each made the top five in 11 zones. The Poodle is No. 1 in Quebec, in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, and in southwestern B.C.

A few regional favourites stand out. The Beagle is second in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador, the Shetland Sheepdog is second in Saskatchewan, and the French Bulldog is second in Alberta and in southwestern B.C. Canada's own Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever makes the top five in the B.C. Interior and Yukon.

Canada vs the United States

The two countries' lists look alike, but the leaders differ. In the American Kennel Club's 2025 ranking, the French Bulldog was No. 1 for the fourth year in a row, followed by the Labrador Retriever, Golden Retriever, German Shepherd Dog, Dachshund and Poodle. The Frenchie overtook the Lab in the U.S. in 2022. In Canada, the Lab has kept the top spot throughout, and the Frenchie placed fifth in 2025.

What the ranking does and doesn't count

The CKC list counts purebred dogs registered with the club, which, according to its announcement, recognizes 193 breeds. It doesn't include mixed breeds, doodles or purebred dogs that were never registered, so it shows which breeds Canadians get from registered breeders rather than which dogs are most common overall. Crosses such as the Goldendoodle and the Cockapoo never appear, because they aren't CKC breeds.

Popularity isn't a match score either. The CKC encourages people to research a breed's exercise, grooming and training needs before choosing, and breed is a loose guide to any one dog: a 2022 study of more than 18,000 dogs found breed explains only about 9% of behavioural differences between individual dogs. Our guide to what a dog's breed means for daily care covers how to use breed information sensibly.

The genetics behind the top 10

Each of these breeds has a signature look with a known genetic story:

• Labrador Retriever: black, yellow and chocolate come from just two genes, explained in our guide to Labrador colours.
• Golden Retriever: every Golden carries two copies of a gene variant that limits its coat to red and yellow pigment.
• German Shepherd Dog: sable, black-and-tan and solid black are versions of a single pattern gene.
• Poodle: a curly, low-shedding coat from three coat genes, which is why the Poodle is a parent of nearly every doodle.
• French Bulldog: brindle, pied and a brown variant first described in the breed, called cocoa.
• Australian Shepherd and Shetland Sheepdog: both come in merle, the marbled pattern explained in our guide to merle dogs. Our guides to the Australian Shepherd and Shetland Sheepdog cover each breed.
• Havanese: a long, soft coat from the Bichon family, in colours from white and cream to black and chocolate, and the short-leg gene covered in our Havanese guide.
• Cavalier King Charles Spaniel: four colours built from red or tan-pointed black, with or without white markings.
• Bernese Mountain Dog: the classic tricolour of black, rust and white.

Mixed breeds and DNA tests

If your dog is a mix of some of these breeds, its looks are a weak guide to its ancestry. In a study of 919 shelter dogs in Phoenix and San Diego, only about 5% were purebred. Where staff guesses were compared with DNA, staff matched at least one breed in about two-thirds of dogs, but both main breeds in only about one in ten. The PuppyGenes breed ancestry section estimates a dog's breed mix as percentages, including any ancestry that couldn't be resolved. Our guide to identifying your dog's breed compares the options.