Canadian egg prices safe from skyrocketing seen in U.S., experts say

Eggs are seen for sale at a Safeway, Monday, Jan. 27, 2025, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Soaring egg prices in the United States aren’t expected to stop any time soon, but Canadians likely won’t feel the same sting, according to industry experts.

A relentless avian influenza outbreak has forced U.S. farmers to kill more than 150 million birds in the last three years. The devastating losses have put cracks in American egg production, resulting in a shortage and subsequent egg price hikes at U.S. grocery stores.

A dozen eggs cost Americans US$4.15 (C$6) on average in the month of December, the most recent data available, according to The Associated Press.

But many are paying significantly more, including in California where prices climbed to nearly US$10 in some stores this month.

Canada is not immune to avian influenza outbreaks, but experts say the country is relatively safe from the circumstances that led to these skyrocketing prices.

“(Bird flu) is not going to cripple national egg production the same way it does in the United States,” said Bruce Muirhead, the chair of public policy for Egg Farmers of Canada and a professor at the University of Waterloo, in an interview with CTV National News on Wednesday.

One reason is that Canada’s egg farming operations are much smaller than those in the United States, and dispersed throughout the country, which has helped mitigate avian influenza’s impact on production.

In Canada, the average egg-laying farm has about 25,000 hens, according to Muirhead. In a state like Iowa, the average farm has about 2 million birds.

“We don’t have that kind of scale, which means we don’t suffer the same sorts of issues in these bouts of disease that they do in the U.S.,” he said.

Canada also has a supply management system that regulates dairy, poultry and eggs to ensure supply meets demand. The system allows for greater collaboration among farmers, explained the national organization that represents these farmers.

“Farmers work together to uphold the national supply of eggs. For example, if one region of the country is significantly impacted by an outbreak, eggs from other provinces that are not experiencing avian influenza outbreaks can be shipped to help bolster the local egg supply,” Egg Farmers of Canada said in a statement.

As a result, Canadian egg prices are more stable than those in the U.S., the group said.

Tyler McCann, managing director of the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute, further explained in an interview with CTV News: “Supply management is all about balancing off that that supply and demand equation so that producers get a reasonable return for their goods and consumers get a safe, reliable supply of foods.”

The latest government data suggests 47 premises are currently dealing with avian influenza outbreaks across Canada.

If enough farms get infected, supply could be impacted, but “the chances of that happening in Canada are remote,” Muirhead said.

“Prices could go up, yes. But I very much doubt that’s going to happen in any sort of sustained way as we see in the U.S. today,” he said.

And Muirhead said if that happens, it’s not going to happen any time soon.

Statistics Canada shows the average price for a dozen eggs in December was $4.75, down slightly from $4.85 the previous month.

That relatively minor change is in contrast to prices south of the border, where eggs are classified as the “most volatile category” tracked by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Officials predict prices will continue rising this year as supply remains an issue.

Egg shortages have also forced some U.S. grocers to limit the number of cartons shoppers can purchase and some restaurants are passing down the increased cost onto consumers with what they’re calling an egg surcharge.