Can you sell your backyard eggs in Canada?

• Safe Food for Canadians Act, S.C. 2012, c. 24, ss. 10-11 · Food sent or conveyed from one province to another, imported or exported must meet the regulations and be authorized by a licence or registration where the regulations require (current to 2026-09-21)
• Safe Food for Canadians Regulations, SOR/2018-108, ss. 5, 7, 27, 99, 186, 306, 314-316, 333 · Interprovincial trade; licences for grading, packaging and labelling; ungraded eggs; new cartons for graded eggs; mandatory grading; grade-name labels (current to 2026-09-21, last amended 2025-09-19)
• SFCR s. 23.1, added by SOR/2024-216 · Exception for food moving between the Alberta and Saskatchewan parts of the city of Lloydminster (in force November 8, 2024)

• “Regulations are current to 2026-09-21 and last amended on 2025-09-19.”

  laws-lois.justice.gc.ca · read 2026-10-07

• “It is prohibited for a person to send or convey from one province to another — or to import or export — a prescribed food commodity unless the person does so in accordance with the regulations.”

  laws-lois.justice.gc.ca · read 2026-10-07

• “Act current to 2026-09-21 and last amended on 2023-01-14.”

  laws-lois.justice.gc.ca · read 2026-10-07

• “egg means an egg of a domestic chicken of the species Gallus domesticus or, in respect of a processed egg product, means that egg or an egg of a domestic turkey of the species Meleagris gallopavo.”

  laws-lois.justice.gc.ca · read 2026-10-07

• “The requirements specific to eggs in Part 6, Division 3 of the SFCR apply to eggs that have been imported are to be sent or conveyed from one province or territory to another are to be exported”

  inspection.canada.ca · read 2026-10-07

• “Any eggs, fish, fresh fruits or vegetables, processed fruit or vegetable products, honey, maple syrup or beef carcass in respect of which grades are prescribed by these Regulations that are sent or conveyed from one province to another or that are imported or exported must (a) be graded;”

  laws-lois.justice.gc.ca · read 2026-10-07

• “All shell eggs that are interprovincially traded, imported or exported must be graded, must meet grade requirements set out in the Compendium and must also be labelled with the applicable grade name [306(1), SFCR].”

  inspection.canada.ca · read 2026-10-07

• “any of the following activities is a prescribed activity that a person is prohibited to conduct in respect of that prescribed food commodity unless the person is authorized to conduct that activity by a licence: (a) in the case of a food, (i) manufacturing, processing, treating, preserving, grading, packaging and labelling”

  laws-lois.justice.gc.ca · read 2026-10-07

• “Despite subsection 306(1), any person may send or convey from one province to another ungraded eggs, … if the person (a) packages them in a container that is labelled with the expression “Ungraded Eggs” or “oeufs non classifiés”; and (b) delivers them to an establishment where either eggs are graded or eggs are processed and treated by a licence holder.”

  laws-lois.justice.gc.ca · read 2026-10-07

• “Ungraded eggs that are received at an establishment where eggs are graded by a licence holder must be graded and labelled with the applicable grade name that is set out in the Compendium or, if they do not meet the requirements in respect of any grade that are set out in these Regulations, they must be rejected.”

  laws-lois.justice.gc.ca · read 2026-10-07

• “A prepackaged food that is sent or conveyed from one province to another or that is imported or exported must meet the following requirements: (a) its package … must be new, in the case of … an egg carton of eggs that are graded in accordance with these Regulations”

  laws-lois.justice.gc.ca · read 2026-10-07

• “in the case of eggs that are graded Canada A or Canada B, its package must not have previously been used to package ungraded eggs or eggs that are graded Canada Nest Run.”

  laws-lois.justice.gc.ca · read 2026-10-07

• “The grade name on prepackaged eggs must be shown (a) in the case of a tray with an overwrap or an egg carton, on the top of the tray or egg carton”

  laws-lois.justice.gc.ca · read 2026-10-07

• “Eggs that are graded Canada A must be labelled with any applicable size designation that is set out in the Compendium.”

  laws-lois.justice.gc.ca · read 2026-10-07

• “When sold intraprovincially, shell eggs are subject to the labelling requirements under the FDA and FDR, as well as specific requirements of the SFCA and SFCR that apply to prepackaged foods sold in Canada, regardless of the level of trade. Provincial regulations may also have labelling requirements that apply when these are sold within that province.”

  inspection.canada.ca · read 2026-10-07

• “do not apply if that food commodity is sent or conveyed from Alberta to the part of the city of Lloydminster that is in Saskatchewan or from Saskatchewan to the part of the city of Lloydminster that is in Alberta.”

  laws-lois.justice.gc.ca · read 2026-10-07

• “SOR/2024-216 November 8, 2024 … These Regulations come into force on the day on which they are registered.”

  gazette.gc.ca · read 2026-10-07

What we couldn't confirm

• No federal flock-size exemption exists in the SFCR egg provisions read; small-flock quota exemptions are set by provincial egg marketing boards. The federal supply-management instruments (Farm Products Agencies Act; Egg Farmers of Canada quota orders) were not read.
• Direct-sales verdicts are 'unknown' because no federal rule decides farm-gate, market or retail sales inside a province; the federal grading and licence rules apply only once eggs cross a provincial line.
• CFIA says shell eggs sold within a province are still subject to Food and Drugs Act/Regulations labelling and the SFCR's general prepackaged-food rules 'regardless of the level of trade'. Which of these core label items (common name, net quantity, dealer name and address) a backyard seller's carton must carry, and any small-seller exemptions, were not researched.
• No shell-egg storage temperature was found in the SFCR egg sections read (ss. 95-101, 306-333); the Canadian Grade Compendium Volume 5 (Eggs) was not read. No federal washing rule was read.
• The SFCR was last amended 2025-09-19 (SOR/2025-192). Search results describe that amendment as covering hatcheries, fresh fruits and vegetables and import reference documents; the egg sections (ss. 95-101, 314-316, 332-333) show no 2023-2026 amendment notes on the consolidation. The amendment's own text was not read.
• The CFIA egg regulatory-requirements page is dated 2018-06-13 (Date modified) and cites the original 2019 SFCR provisions; it agrees with the current consolidated text read on 2026-10-07.