Around 27 million hens are used in the Canadian egg industry, and 83% of them are still confined to cages.
Canada Lags Far Behind Other Countries
Canada has no government regulations setting standards to protect animals on farms. Instead, a farmer-dominated group called the National Farm Animal Care Council (NFACC) develops voluntary “codes of practice” with unenforceable “standards” for animals on farms. These standards prioritize industry profits, not animal well-being.
Europe and a number of states in the United States have already banned battery or “enriched” battery cages. The European Food Safety Authority just came out strongly against cages.
In 2023, the US Supreme Court upheld Proposition 12—one of the world’s strongest farmed animal protection laws, which outlaws keeping egg-laying hens in cages throughout the state of California.
Meanwhile, a shocking 83% of hens in Canada are still imprisoned in cages, with most of them stuffed into tiny, wire battery cages—stacked on top of each other in filthy factory farms.
These birds don’t even have enough room to spread their wings, and they never get to scratch in dirt, bathe in dust, or perform other natural behaviours. Unlike in the US and EU, not a single Canadian province has banned cages, or introduced space requirements.
Conditions on Canadian egg farms are so bad that they would be illegal in many other countries.
Problems With Cages
