OP-ED: Sky-high egg prices prompt questions about supply management

“Supply management was designed to deliver price stability—not regional chaos and $5 eggs. If this is what control looks like, consumers have every right to question who's really being protected.”

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Dr. Sylvain Charlebois

Many food items are significantly more expensive at the grocery store today than they were a year ago in Canada. Leading the pack is rice, with a year-over-year increase of 48.9%, according to Statistics Canada. The spike is largely driven by export restrictions in key producing countries such as India and Thailand. Grapes come second with a 34.1% jump, likely the result of Canadian grocers pivoting away from U.S. suppliers this past winter—many stores carried grapes from South Africa, Peru, and Chile instead.

Other notable price increases are linked to Ottawa’s retaliatory tariffs, especially on U.S. goods like coffee and oranges. These items have risen well over 25% in the past year—an outcome that was both foreseeable and politically driven.

But what stands out in the data is the rise in prices for supply-managed commodities, especially eggs. Canada’s egg sector is governed by supply management, which theoretically ensures price stability by matching domestic production to demand through quotas and tariff protections. In practice, however, external shocks can still ripple through the system.

The most significant of these shocks has been the avian influenza outbreak, which has led to the culling of over 14 million birds in Canada in recent months. This has put immense pressure on egg supply across the country, even within a regulated framework.

In the U.S., the same virus made headlines when egg prices surged earlier this year, increasing by as much as 53% in some states. Even now, in June 2025, the average retail price of eggs in the U.S. remains 27.3% higher than a year earlier.

Canada hasn’t escaped the impact. Despite supply management, egg prices are up 12% nationally over the past year. In 2017, it wasn’t uncommon to find a dozen eggs for under $3. Today, anything under $4.50 is seen as a deal. The national average now hovers just below $5.

This begs the question: If we have supply management, why the price hikes?

Egg prices in Canada are being driven by a combination of biological and structural factors. The avian flu’s impact on domestic flocks has reduced supply, while the market's rigidity—designed to avoid surplus—offers little flexibility to respond to rapid shifts in production. While the system can dampen extreme volatility, it cannot fully shield consumers from inflationary shocks.

What's particularly telling is the variation in prices across provinces, despite the existence of a national quota system. In British Columbia, where the avian flu hit hardest, prices have barely budged—up just 0.4% over the past year. In Alberta, they rose by 1.2%. Ontario saw a 7% increase. But in Quebec, prices jumped an eye-watering 28%, rivaling the U.S. spike—even though Quebec’s egg sector is also supply-managed. Nova Scotia saw a more moderate rise of 6.2%.

That level of disparity—more than a dollar a dozen between provinces—raises questions about the consistency and fairness of price transmission under supply management. Unlike dairy boards, which often act independently and defensively, egg boards across provinces have historically worked more collaboratively. That makes the interprovincial variation even more puzzling—and concerning.

Another trend this summer is the decline in promotional pricing. Eggs, once a staple of grocery flyers, are rarely discounted today. When they are, the discounts are modest. This week, the lowest advertised price is $3.89 for a dozen Grade A large eggs—offered not by a grocer, but by a pharmacy chain. Most retailers are charging well above $4.50, despite summer usually being a low-demand period when sales are common.

Clearly, affordability is slipping, even for staples like eggs, often regarded as one of the most accessible forms of animal protein. While supply management provides critical support to producers and helps ensure domestic food sovereignty, it must not lose sight of the consumer.

The egg sector’s strength lies in its ability to coordinate across provinces—a feature not shared with other supply-managed commodities. If there’s one system capable of improving affordability and transparency, it’s this one. Now is the time for egg producers and boards to demonstrate leadership—not just in ensuring supply, but in addressing regional inequities and restoring consumer trust.

Dr. Sylvain Charlebois is Director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University, co-host of The Food Professor Podcast and Visiting Scholar at McGill University.

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