Canada is not a country most people associate with tarantulas, and for good reason. The image of a large hairy spider ambling across a desert floor belongs to the American Southwest, Mexico, and the tropics of South America in most people’s mental geography. But the question of whether Canada has any tarantulas at all is more interesting than a simple no, and the answer involves some genuine taxonomic nuance that even experienced hobbyists might find surprising.
The Honest Answer on Wild Tarantulas
Canada has no wild tarantulas in the sense that most keepers mean when they ask the question. There are no Theraphosa, no Brachypelma, no Grammostola roaming the Canadian wilderness. The climate simply does not allow for it. True tarantulas as kept in the hobby are overwhelmingly tropical and subtropical animals, and even the most cold-hardy North American species like the desert-dwelling Aphonopelma genus of the American Southwest do not extend their range into Canada. The winters across virtually the entire country are too cold and too prolonged for any member of Theraphosidae to survive.
What Canada does have, technically, are two species that Canadian authorities classify under the broad umbrella of mygalomorphs, and which the Canadian Encyclopedia lists as tarantulas among the approximately 1,400 spider species known from the country. These are Antrodiaetus pacificus and Sphodros niger, and understanding what they actually are helps clarify why the word tarantula in their common names requires significant qualification.
Antrodiaetus pacificus: The Pacific Folding Door Spider
Antrodiaetus pacificus, commonly called the Pacific folding door spider or Pacific trapdoor spider, is a mygalomorph found along the Pacific coast of North America from San Francisco Bay all the way up through British Columbia and into Alaska, making it the northernmost mygalomorph spider in North America. In Canada, it is found in coastal British Columbia, including around Vancouver and Vancouver Island, where it inhabits damp, cool forested areas with sandy substrates.
The spider builds a burrow lined with silk in sand, moss, and decaying wood. It is active primarily between late July and early September, keeps the burrow entrance closed during daylight, and stands at the entrance at night waiting for prey to pass within reach. Males have been encountered wandering in the open during mating season and have surprised hikers near places like the University of British Columbia campus, prompting comparisons to small tarantulas due to their dark colouring and mygalomorph body shape. In terms of size, females reach around 13 mm in body length and males around 11 mm, making them a fraction of the size of any hobby tarantula.
It belongs to the family Antrodiaetidae, not Theraphosidae, which means it is not a tarantula in the sense that the hobby uses the word. It is a mygalomorph, a member of the same broad infraorder as tarantulas, but it is no more a tarantula than a trapdoor spider or a funnel web spider is. The classification as a tarantula by the Canadian Encyclopedia reflects an older or broader usage of the term that encompasses all mygalomorphs rather than the specific family Theraphosidae.
Sphodros niger: The Black Purse Web Spider
Sphodros niger, the black purse web spider, is a mygalomorph from the eastern United States whose range extends just into southern Ontario. Canada’s Wild Species database officially lists it as “May Be At Risk” and refers to it as the Black Purseweb Tarantula in English, since Canadian nomenclature applies the word tarantula to all mygalomorphs. It is listed as a species of special concern in Connecticut and has been found at sites like the Hazel Bird Nature Reserve in Ontario’s Rice Lake Plains, making it the only mygalomorph in Ontario. Research published in PLOS ONE modelling its distribution found that climate change has been shifting suitable habitat northward into Ontario compared to historical records, suggesting its presence at the northern edge of its range may be recent.
Like Antrodiaetus pacificus, this species is a mygalomorph rather than a true Theraphosidae tarantula. It belongs to the family Atypidae, the purse web spiders, which are distinctive for building a silk tube extending from an underground burrow across the ground surface, through which they ambush prey from below. Females are rarely encountered since they live their lives inside the tube. Males are sometimes found wandering in search of mates.
Tarantulas as Pets in Canada
While wild tarantulas of the hobby variety are absent from Canada, the country has a healthy community of tarantula keepers and a reasonably accessible pet trade. There is no federal law prohibiting the keeping of tarantulas as pets in Canada. Regulation operates at the provincial and municipal level, and the situation varies by location.
Saskatchewan explicitly states in its captive wildlife regulations that invertebrates including spiders and tarantulas are not covered by wildlife regulations, effectively leaving them unregulated at the provincial level there. In Ontario, the situation is more complex at the municipal level. Ottawa’s animal by-laws, for example, prohibit all venomous spiders except specifically named tarantula species including the Chilean Rose, Mexican Red Knee, and Pink Toe, meaning keepers of less common or Old World species may technically be operating in a grey area depending on their municipality. Some Ontario cities like Oshawa have specifically updated their exotic pet by-laws to include tarantulas on the permitted list following advocacy from keepers and pet stores.
For import, Canada requires all living creatures to be declared at the border, and CITES-listed species require appropriate permits. In 2023, the Canada Border Services Agency seized two Phlogiellus xinping tarantulas hidden in packages arriving at Edmonton International Airport. They were confiscated not because the species required a permit but because they had not been declared and were transported inhumanely. Both spiders ended up at the Royal Alberta Museum. The case illustrates that smuggling tarantulas into Canada without declaring them carries real consequences even when the species is not CITES listed. Our article on are tarantulas true spiders has useful background on how the broader mygalomorph family tree connects the species found in Canada to the ones kept in the hobby.
What Canadian Keepers Should Know
For Canadians who want to keep tarantulas, the most important first step is checking the by-laws of their specific city, since provincial rules may be permissive while municipal rules in the same area are more restrictive. Species commonly listed as permitted in more regulated municipalities tend to be the well-known New World species like the Chilean Rose Hair tarantula, Mexican Red Knee tarantula, and Amazon Pink Toe tarantula. For rarer or Old World species, checking local by-laws before acquiring the animal is the responsible approach.
Canadian winters also mean that any tarantula purchased or shipped through the colder months needs careful attention to packaging and temperature during transit, as cold exposure during shipping can be fatal. This is something reputable Canadian sellers and importers manage carefully, and buying from established domestic sources is always preferable to importing personally unless you are certain of the regulations and conditions involved.
Whether you are a Canadian keeper looking to set up your first enclosure or an experienced hobbyist expanding a collection, our best tarantula products page covers everything you need to get the right setup in place regardless of where you are keeping your spiders.
