In 2023, over 780 million chickens were raised for meat in Canada. They represent 91% of the land animals farmed for food every year in the country.
It is a pervasive myth, supported by misleading industry advertising, that Canada does not have factory farms. Canada does, in fact, have factory farms, with the average chicken farm housing as many as 36,000 chickens.
With no federal legislation protecting animals in Canadian farms, companies across the food industry play a critical role in adopting and implementing standards that reflect the ongoing concern for animal welfare among Canadian consumers.
Since 2016, many major grocery stores, restaurants, foodservice providers, and manufacturers have adopted policies that address the cruelest chicken-farming practices in Canada. Mercy For Animals has been tracking companies’ progress toward fulfilling their welfare commitments since 2021 through the Canada Animal Welfare Scorecard.
While some companies and suppliers have made progress, most have significant work ahead in implementing their policies and helping fill the gaps in Canada’s poor management and oversight of farmed animal treatment.
The meat industry has selectively bred chickens for decades to grow extremely large and unnaturally fast.
On average, chickens in Canada grow four times as fast as they did in 1950. They reach 2.4 kilograms, as babies, in about 38 days.
These chickens are commonly called “broilers” in the industry and are also known as “Frankenchickens.” The skeletal frames and organs of these ultrafast-growing chickens are not strong enough to support their rapid growth and heaviness, often causing the birds to collapse and their immature bones to break.
Ultrafast-growing chickens suffer immensely as a result of their growth rates. Birds just a few weeks old suffer organ failure, heart disease, and muscle abnormalities. Stuck in filthy, overcrowded environments, they often cannot perch, nest, or engage in other behaviors essential to their welfare.
Over 600 companies around the world—including 50 in Canada—have adopted the Better Chicken Commitment (BCC), a set of science-based standards that address the most critical welfare issues impacting chickens raised for meat.
BCC standards include transitioning to higher-welfare breeds, improving the birds’ living environments, and replacing live-shackle slaughter with a less cruel method.
Eliminating the use of ultrafast-growing chickens has the most potential to reduce suffering. The benefit of having more space or better litter or lighting is limited when birds’ health and mobility are compromised by abnormally large bodies that often interfere with standing up or even reaching food or water.
How Canadian Standards Compare to the BCC’s
The country’s only national farmed-animal-welfare standards are created by the National Farm Animal Care Council (NFACC), an organization made up mostly of industry groups.
NFACC’s Poultry Code of Practice falls short of addressing the worst suffering endured by factory-farmed chickens. The BCC represents the minimum needed to reduce suffering for chickens raised for meat.
Better Chicken Commitment
Minimum Standards
✅ Enrichments
✅ Controlled-atmosphere stunning prior to slaughter
✅ Higher-welfare breeds
✅ Reduced stocking density
✅ Measurable litter standards
✅ Measurable standards for lighting intensity and duration
✅ Third-party auditing
National Farm Animal Care Council
Insufficient Standards
❌ No requirements for enrichments
❌ No requirements for slaughter
❌ No breed requirement
🟡 Reduced stocking density with provisions for increased stocking density
🟡 Litter monitoring without measurable standards
🟡 No measurable lighting-intensity standard and minimal light-duration standard
🟡 Internal auditing program by industry association
The History of Chicken Welfare Commitments in Canada
Foodservice providers—Compass Group, Sodexo, and Aramark—were among the first to adopt the BCC for their U.S. and Canadian businesses, followed by popular global restaurant chains, such as Subway, Starbucks, Burger King, and Tim Hortons. These companies were soon joined by others across the food industry.
While many large retailers in the United States and Europe—including Giant Eagle, Kroger, and Carrefour—have BCC-aligned policies and are even reporting progress toward their commitments, no major retailer in Canada has a public chicken welfare policy in place.
Table 1. Number of retailers with public broiler welfare policies aligned with the BCC (or equivalent European Chicken Commitment) in the European Union, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada in 2024
| Number of retailers with broiler welfare policies in 2024 | |
|---|---|
| European Union | 56 |
| United States | 20 |
| United Kingdom | 4 |
| Canada | 1 |
Promisingly, Canada’s largest chicken producers, Maple Leaf and Cargill, have reported progress on reduced stocking densities and use of enrichments, and they have fully transitioned to controlled-atmosphere stunning (CAS), a less cruel slaughter method that aligns with the BCC.
These producers are well positioned to begin a similar long-term transition from using ultrafast-growing chicken breeds.
How Canadian Companies Are Progressing Toward BCC Standards in 2024
First Companies to Publish a BCC Roadmap in Canada
Foodservice providers Compass Group and Sodexo are among the first to publish time-bound plans for implementing their policies in the United States, but they have yet to extend these roadmaps to their Canadian operations.
In contrast, Aramark has published clear milestones and plans that include Canada, making Aramark the first company in Canada to do so.
Largest Brands to Report on CAS for the First Time
As producers have largely transitioned to CAS processing, several Canadian companies have begun reporting annual progress on this BCC component.
[Loblaws logo] [Restaurant Brands International logo] [A&W Canada logo]
In 2022, Metro, McDonald’s, and Panago Pizza became the first companies operating in Canada to report on the transition to CAS. This year, the number of companies more than doubled when the country’s largest retailer, Loblaws; largest restaurant company, Restaurant Brands International (parent company of Burger King, Popeyes, and Tim Hortons); highest-grossing pizza chain, Boston Pizza; and fourth-highest-grossing restaurant chain, A&W, reported on CAS for the first time.
Most Companies Lack Transparency
While these are important strides, even companies leading in transparency have yet to publish progress or roadmaps toward other BCC components, including their transitions to higher-welfare breeds.
Starbucks has failed to publish a roadmap for eliminating Frankenchickens or meeting any other BCC standards. In their latest impact report, the company even weakened their chicken welfare policy.
Subway has withdrawn their public BCC policy, weakened their chicken welfare language, and never published progress or plans for eliminating Frankenchickens or meeting any other BCC standards.
Demand Transparency
As a watchdog organization, Mercy For Animals is committed to holding companies accountable to their public commitments to improving the lives of animals.
Urge companies to keep their promises: mercyforanimals.org/FrankenchickensReport
