The invention relates to the field of water vapor shift reactions, and discloses a sulfur-tolerant shift catalyst and a preparation method thereof. The preparation method comprises the following steps: performing mixing kneading on a cobalt molybdate, a carrier raw material and water; and performing extrusion molding on the product obtained by the mixing kneading, performing drying, and performingcalcination to obtain the sulfur-tolerant shift catalyst. The preparation method provided by the invention has a high metal utilization rate, and the catalyst disclosed by the invention has better stability and higher activity, and can eliminate environmental pollution problems caused by nitrate radical decomposition.