Egg prices in the United States continue to crack under pressure while in Canada they remain relatively stable — and even late-night TV is taking notice.
On The Late Show with Stephen Colbert Tuesday night, the host couldn’t resist a jab at the price gap, joking that while Americans face egg rations, Canadians are “yolking it up” with their cheaper cartons.
“F— it, I’m with Trump — let’s bomb Saskatchewan,” Colbert joked.
But behind the joke is a serious issue driving up costs in the U.S. — a relentless outbreak of bird flu that is devastating poultry farms, forcing farmers to kill millions of chickens and sending egg prices soaring.
The average cost of a dozen large eggs was USD$4.15 in December, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This marks a 37 per cent increase from the previous year. Egg prices could go even higher, with the United States Department of Agriculture predicting costs to rise 20 per cent in 2025.
With bird flu also impacting poultry farms here and forcing farmers to cull millions of birds, could Canadian egg prices soon follow suit?
Canada’s supply management system — which regulates egg production, imports, and prices — has helped keep egg prices relatively stable, explained Sylvain Charlebois, director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab and a professor at Dalhousie University.
“In Canada, we had to slaughter about 14.5 million birds so far. But because of supply management, farmers talk to each other. So from a biosecurity perspective, I would say that typically we go through this more efficiently because we share information, so outbreaks don’t necessarily get out of control … it’s a huge advantage” he said.
The U.S. egg industry operates in a more market-driven system, Charlebois explained, which leads to volatile prices when events like avian flu disrupt supply.
However, he cautioned that while prices have not been impacted in Canada yet, there’s no guarantee they won’t rise this year, especially during peak demand periods like Easter.
Why are egg prices soaring in the U.S.?
The bird flu outbreak that started in 2022 is the main reason egg prices have surged, driving up costs and leading to stockpiling in the U.S.
The U.S. egg system is highly industrial, with millions of chickens in each barn and a free-market structure that fosters intense competition. While this keeps egg prices low when times are good, it also means that when challenges arise — like a bird flu outbreak — prices can skyrocket.
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That’s according to Bruce Muirhead, a professor at the University of Waterloo and the Egg Farmers of Canada chair in public policy.
“The U.S. system had an advantage and a problem in terms of egg production,” Muirhead said.
“They go for what economists would call ‘economies of scale.’ It’s their huge egg farms, with millions of egg-laying hens, that are almost inconceivable for a Canadian to contemplate.”
These large farms can produce millions of eggs at low prices, but when “things go off the rails,” Muirhead explained, they shift into overdrive, driving up prices instead of egg production.
Anytime the virus is detected on a poultry farm, the entire flock is slaughtered to help limit its spread.
With large commercial egg farms often housing over a million chickens, just a few infections can lead to a supply crunch. Farmers must then dispose of the carcasses, disinfect the barns and bring in new birds to resume production.
As a result, consumers are feeling the pinch at the grocery store, facing higher prices, limited egg availability and even empty shelves.
A sign asks customers to consider limiting their purchases of eggs at a PCC Community Markets grocery store due to shortages caused by avian flu on Jan. 27, 2025, in Seattle.
AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson
“Bird flu used to be the exception and now it seems to be the rule. We have wild birds that carry it, they land in a farmer’s field or close to a hen house and stop there to eat. They pass the H5n1 on to the domestic birds. And all of a sudden you have eight-million hens in a barn that suddenly have to be euthanized,” Muirhead said.
“So if that’s the new norm, what’s going to happen to these massive farms? You can’t euthanize eight-million hens once a year and expect to survive as an entity,” he added.
How has Canada avoided egg price hikes?
Canada’s supply management system may not be perfect, Charlebois said, but with climate change and other threats like bird flu impacting global food supplies, its benefits become clear.
“It’s really a matter of how we manage risks in Canada versus the U.S. I know a lot of people are against supply management, but supply gets farmers to talk to each other and limit risks as much as possible,” he explained.
“Prices may be higher during other periods, but prices are much more predictable as a result.”
Of course, the price of eggs in Canada varies depending on where you live.
For example, with the avian flu severely impacting provinces like British Columbia, Charlebois expects egg prices to be highest in the West.
However, Muirhead explained that when one part of the country is hit by the bird flu, Canada’s supply management system steps in, ensuring that areas facing shortages can still be supplied. So, if H5N1 hits Saskatchewan, he said eggs can be sourced from Ontario and shipped to meet the demand.
Another way Canada’s system has helped avoid volatile price hikes, he said, is that Canadian farms are much smaller, with an average of 25,000 laying hens.
“We have much smaller farms, and many are family operations. If we have one, two or even 10 farms that are hit by H5n1 … in the U.S., I would say that would be a crippling blow to their industry. In Canada, because they are much smaller, we’d be much more secure,” he said.
The system does mean Canadians pay more for eggs during the “good times,” he said. However, he added that in tough times, “I think our system is much more resilient and sustainable.”
Statistics Canada data shows that the average retail price for eggs in Canada was $4.74 in July 2024 and gradually increased to an average of $4.85 by November 2024.
Canada’s Food Price Report 2025, published by Charlebois’ Agri-Food Analytics Lab, also predicts that, on average, egg prices will increase by six per cent this year.
“The avian flu is going to be a factor for animal protein,” Charlebois said. “Consumers are impacted by the bird flu. But it’s not like the fluctuations we’re seeing in the U.S.”