Territory rules

Can you sell backyard eggs in Northwest Territories?

Only with approval. NWT rules say no one may market eggs without an egg-board quota, and selling food, even on a farm, needs a health permit. No small-flock exemption is published, so ask first.

Read from 9 official sources23 passages quotedChecked October 7, 2026

At a glance

Licence

Licence or permit

Small-flock line

No small-flock exemption

Farmers markets

Licence needed

Cartons

Not stated

In plain English

The Northwest Territories is part of the national egg supply-management system, run here by the Northwest Territories Egg Producers. Its regulations apply to all eggs of a hen produced in the NWT and say that no person who has not been allotted a quota may market eggs, with marketing defined to include selling and offering for sale; every producer and egg marketer must register with the board, and eggs marketed without quota carry a levy of $0.50 a dozen. The Act lets regulations exempt persons from the plan, but the egg regulations contain no small-flock exemption. Separately, the Food Establishment Safety Regulations apply to any farm where food is handled, and handling includes selling, so selling eggs needs a food establishment permit from the Environmental Health Unit, and food in a food establishment must come from a source liable to government inspection. Before selling, contact the Environmental Health Unit and the Northwest Territories Egg Producers.

A sourced reading of Northwest Territories's rules, not legal advice. Rules change; confirm with Government of the Northwest Territories, Department of Health and Social Services, Environmental Health Unit (867-767-9066 ext. 49262) before you sell.

Do you need a licence?

Licence or permit requiredNo small-flock exemption
  • No person who has not been allotted a quota for the marketing of eggs may market eggs; marketing includes buying, selling, offering for sale, advertising, packing, storing, shipping and transporting.NWT Egg Marketing Regulations, R-020-99, s. 16; Agricultural Products Marketing Act, s. 1
  • Every producer and every person engaged in the marketing of eggs must register with the Northwest Territories Egg Producers.Egg Marketing Plan Establishment Regulations, R-019-99, s. 6
  • A producer pays a levy of $0.50 for each dozen eggs marketed without a quota or over quota, plus administration fees and levies on every dozen marketed in the NWT.R-020-99, s. 5
  • The Food Establishment Safety Regulations apply to a farm where food is handled, and handling includes collecting, storing, displaying, transporting, offering for sale and selling food.R-097-2009, ss. 1, 2(2)
  • A person may not operate a food establishment without a valid food establishment permit (annual, seasonal or temporary) from the Chief Public Health Officer.R-097-2009, ss. 7, 8
  • All food in a food establishment must come from a source liable to inspection by the Government of Canada, a province or territory, or one of their agencies.R-097-2009, s. 30(1)
  • Potentially hazardous food must be stored, displayed and transported at 4ºC or less, and all food must be clearly and properly labelled.R-097-2009, ss. 31, 33(2)
The exact wording
“No person who has not been allotted a quota for the marketing of eggs shall market eggs.”

Where you can sell

From home or the farm

Licence needed

The food safety regulations say they apply to a farm where food is handled, including selling, so a food establishment permit is needed; the egg marketing regulations also bar marketing eggs without quota. Ask the Environmental Health Unit how it handles ungraded eggs from small flocks before you sell.

Farmers markets

Licence needed

A market vendor handling food needs a food establishment permit (temporary under three weeks, seasonal from three weeks to four months, or annual). The same quota rule applies. The 2019 permit changes were aimed at low-risk foods such as unprocessed fruits and vegetables, not eggs.

Stores and restaurants

Licence needed

Food in a food establishment must come from a source liable to government inspection, so stores and restaurants cannot use uninspected backyard eggs; eggs for them come through quota holders and a federally registered grading station.

Also check with: Environmental Health Unit, NWT Health and Social Services (environmental_health@gov.nt.ca, 867-767-9066 ext. 49262); Northwest Territories Egg Producers (quota and registration)

Cartons, labels and handling

Cartons

The sources we read don't set a carton rule.

Refrigeration

4°C or colder where the rule applies.

“potentially hazardous food is stored, displayed and transported at a temperature that is not greater than 4ºC”

The label must show

  • Food clearly and properly labelled (general food establishment rule; no egg-specific label rule found)

Grading

Not stated in the sources we read.

No NWT rule on grading small-flock eggs was found. Food establishments must use food from a source liable to government inspection (R-097-2009, s. 30(1)).

Washing

Not stated in the sources we read.

Federal rules apply on top of Northwest Territories's: Canada's federal egg rules. Pricing your dozen? The egg price calculator works it out from your feed bill.

What changed recently

  1. 2025-04-01 · R-019-2025 amended the Food Establishment Safety Regulations, in force April 1, 2025: it re-enacted the permit requirement (s. 7) and rewrote permit applications, durations, renewals and the fee schedule. Source

Common questions

Do I need a licence to sell eggs from my backyard chickens in Northwest Territories?
Only with approval. NWT rules say no one may market eggs without an egg-board quota, and selling food, even on a farm, needs a health permit. No small-flock exemption is published, so ask first. Small-flock line: no small-flock exemption. The conditions, and the law they come from, are on this page.
Can I sell eggs at a farmers market in Northwest Territories?
Needs a license or isn't exempt. A market vendor handling food needs a food establishment permit (temporary under three weeks, seasonal from three weeks to four months, or annual). The same quota rule applies. The 2019 permit changes were aimed at low-risk foods such as unprocessed fruits and vegetables, not eggs. Also check with Environmental Health Unit, NWT Health and Social Services (environmental_health@gov.nt.ca, 867-767-9066 ext. 49262); Northwest Territories Egg Producers (quota and registration).
Can I reuse egg cartons in Northwest Territories?
The sources we read do not say; ask Government of the Northwest Territories, Department of Health and Social Services, Environmental Health Unit before reusing cartons for eggs you sell.
What has to be on the carton label in Northwest Territories?
Food clearly and properly labelled (general food establishment rule; no egg-specific label rule found). The rule reads: "An operator shall ensure that all food in a food establishment is (a) protected from contamination; (b) handled in a safe and sanitary manner; and (c) clearly and properly labelled."
Do eggs I sell in Northwest Territories have to be kept cold?
Yes, at 4°C or colder. The rule reads: "potentially hazardous food is stored, displayed and transported at a temperature that is not greater than 4ºC"
Sources
Read the 23 passages this page is built on
What we couldn't confirm
  • Cabin Radio (news, July 13, 2022) reported that the Department of Health and Social Services granted an exception letting anyone with laying hens sell ungraded, uninspected eggs directly to consumers if they tell buyers the eggs are from an uninspected source, label cartons clearly, sell eggs whole and not for resale, and follow the food establishment rules. The NWT Territorial Agrifood Association (not an official source) lists similar conditions: 4°C, clean uncracked shells, clean cartons, farm name, contact and packing date, and an "ungraded eggs" label with signage. No official HSS page or document stating this exception was found on hss.gov.nt.ca (site search for eggs, ungraded and farmers market on 2026-10-07). If it exists, farm-gate and market sales of ungraded eggs are likely allowed with a permit; we could not confirm it.
  • Conflict: the egg marketing regulations (R-020-99, s. 16) bar anyone without quota from marketing NWT eggs and contain no small-flock exemption, while the reported 2022 health exception lets anyone with hens sell ungraded eggs. Whether the Northwest Territories Egg Producers enforce quota against backyard sellers, or have a written exemption, was not found; the board has no website we could find.
  • The justice.gov.nt.ca texts are office consolidations, not official statements of the law. R-020-99 was last amended by R-001-2018; R-019-99 shows no amendments.
  • The Food Establishment Safety Regulations do not name eggs; we treat raw shell eggs as potentially hazardous food (as most Canadian food codes do), which is why the 4ºC rule and the permit apply. Not confirmed with HSS.
  • The August 2019 permit user guide lists permit fees of $108 (annual), $54 (seasonal) and $25 (temporary) for for-profit sellers; R-019-2025 replaced the fee schedule and the new amounts could not be read from the consolidation, so fees are not shown.
  • No NWT rule on cartons, egg labels, grading or washing for small flocks was found.
  • hss.gov.nt.ca returned server errors (503/504) to some scripted requests on 2026-10-07; pages used were saved when they loaded.
  • Eggs taken out of the NWT into a province or another territory fall under the federal rules; see the Canada (federal) page.

Elsewhere in Canada

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No licence for small salesDepends how you sellRegistration or licenceNot stated or not checked

All of Canada

Coloured by the small-flock licence rule, with the rules that apply everywhere in Canada.

Canada overview →

Legal where you live? Then keep the books.

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