Territory rules

Can you sell backyard eggs in Nunavut?

Only with a health permit. Nunavut's food rules list eggs as a high-risk food, and any place that handles high-risk food for sale to the public needs a food premises permit. There is no egg board.

Read from 5 official sources20 passages quotedChecked October 7, 2026

At a glance

Licence

Licence or permit

Small-flock line

None: health permit to sell

Farmers markets

Licence needed

Cartons

Not stated

In plain English

Nunavut has no egg-specific law, no egg marketing board and no quota: the territory repealed its copy of the Agriculture Products Marketing Act in 2011, and the federal egg quota regulations do not list Nunavut. Eggs fall under the general Food Safety Regulations, in force since May 1, 2024. Those regulations list eggs as a high-risk food and treat any place where high-risk food is handled for sale to the public, temporary or permanent, as a food premises that must hold a permit. A permit cannot be issued for producing food for public consumption in a dwelling, and the Department of Health says high-risk food may not be prepared in a home for sale to the public, so selling eggs from home may not be possible at all. Stores and restaurants may only use food from a permitted food premises or a government-inspected source. Talk to your Regional Environmental Health Officer before selling eggs.

A sourced reading of Nunavut's rules, not legal advice. Rules change; confirm with Government of Nunavut, Department of Health (Environmental Health) before you sell.

Do you need a licence?

Licence or permit requiredNone: health permit to sell
  • Eggs are a high-risk food.Food Safety Regulations, R-032-2023, Code Appendix A; Department of Health factsheet, 2025
  • Any place, temporary or permanent, where high-risk food is handled is a food premises; handling includes the storage, display, transport, distribution or sale of food intended for the public.R-032-2023, s. 1(1)
  • A person must not operate a food premises without a permit.R-032-2023, s. 7(1)
  • A permit cannot be issued for producing food for public consumption in a dwelling, and a dwelling is exempt only if it handles low-risk food, food for donation or country food.R-032-2023, ss. 3(1)(a), 7(2)
  • At a farmers' market, food must be protected from contamination at all times, and mechanical refrigeration must keep potentially hazardous foods at 4°C (40°F) or less.R-032-2023, Code s. 2.19.1
  • A food premises may only use food from a food premises with a permit or from a government-inspected source.R-032-2023, s. 22(1)
The exact wording
“"food premises" means any following places whether they operate on a temporary or permanent basis: … (i) any other place where high-risk food or medium-risk food as described in Appendix A of the Code is handled;”

Where you can sell

From home or the farm

Licence needed

Selling eggs to the public makes the place a food premises that needs a permit, because eggs are a high-risk food. A permit cannot be issued for producing food for the public in a dwelling, so ask a Regional Environmental Health Officer whether, and where, you could sell.

Farmers markets

Licence needed

Temporary food services and farmers' markets are food premises when they handle high-risk food, so an egg stall needs a permit and must meet the Code's conditions, including mechanical refrigeration at 4°C (40°F) or less.

Stores and restaurants

Licence needed

Stores and restaurants may only use food from a food premises that has a permit or from a source inspected by a federal, provincial or territorial government, so they cannot buy eggs from an unpermitted flock.

Also check with: Your Regional Environmental Health Officer, Nunavut Department of Health

Cartons, labels and handling

Cartons

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

Refrigeration

4°C or colder where the rule applies.

“Mechanical refrigeration of adequate size for the storage of potentially hazardous foods must be provided and be capable of maintaining the potentially hazardous foods at, 4°C (40°F) or less”

The label must show

The sources we read don't list label items for small producers.

Grading

Not stated in the sources we read.

Nunavut has no egg grading rule of its own. Food premises must use food from a permitted food premises or a government-inspected source (R-032-2023, s. 22(1)); nothing says whether a permitted egg seller may sell ungraded eggs.

Washing

Not stated in the sources we read.

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

What changed recently

  1. 2024-05-01 · New Food Safety Regulations (R-032-2023, with the Nunavut Food Retail and Food Services Code) took effect, replacing the older food premises rules. They require a permit for any place handling high-risk food, such as eggs, for the public. Source

Common questions

Do I need a licence to sell eggs from my backyard chickens in Nunavut?
Only with a health permit. Nunavut's food rules list eggs as a high-risk food, and any place that handles high-risk food for sale to the public needs a food premises permit. There is no egg board. Small-flock line: none: health permit to sell. The conditions, and the law they come from, are on this page.
Can I sell eggs at a farmers market in Nunavut?
Needs a license or isn't exempt. Temporary food services and farmers' markets are food premises when they handle high-risk food, so an egg stall needs a permit and must meet the Code's conditions, including mechanical refrigeration at 4°C (40°F) or less. Also check with your Regional Environmental Health Officer, Nunavut Department of Health.
Can I reuse egg cartons in Nunavut?
The sources we read do not say; ask Government of Nunavut, Department of Health (Environmental Health) before reusing cartons for eggs you sell.
What has to be on the carton label in Nunavut?
The sources we read do not list label items for small producers.
Do eggs I sell in Nunavut have to be kept cold?
Yes, at 4°C or colder. The rule reads: "Mechanical refrigeration of adequate size for the storage of potentially hazardous foods must be provided and be capable of maintaining the potentially hazardous foods at, 4°C (40°F) or less"
Sources
Read the 20 passages this page is built on
  • “New Food Safety Regulations went into effect in Nunavut on May 1st, 2024.”

    Government of Nunavut, Department of Health (Environmental Health) · read 2026-10-07

  • “In general, the Food Safety Regulations apply to a food premise that is distributing, serving, or selling food to the public or in an institution or camp.”

    Government of Nunavut, Department of Health (Environmental Health) · read 2026-10-07

  • “any other place where high-risk food or medium-risk food is handled”

    Government of Nunavut, Department of Health (Environmental Health) · read 2026-10-07

  • “These foods include meat and meat products, milk and milk products, eggs, poultry, fish and shellfish, tofu products, and sprouts,”

    Government of Nunavut, Department of Health (Environmental Health) · read 2026-10-07

  • “Medium-risk or high-risk food is not allowed to be prepared in a home for distribution, service, or sale to the public or in an institution or camp.”

    Government of Nunavut, Department of Health (Environmental Health) · read 2026-10-07

  • “a place where only low risk foods are handled such as fresh fruits and vegetables”

    Government of Nunavut, Department of Health (Environmental Health) · read 2026-10-07

  • “"food premises" means any following places whether they operate on a temporary or permanent basis: … (i) any other place where high-risk food or medium-risk food as described in Appendix A of the Code is handled;”

    nunavutlegislation.ca · read 2026-10-07

  • “"handle" means, in relation to food, (a) the manufacture, importation, processing, preparation, packaging, storage, display, movement, transport, distribution or sale of any food that is intended to be distributed, served or sold to the public or in an institution or camp, and (b) the distribution, service or sale of food to the public or in an institution or camp;”

    nunavutlegislation.ca · read 2026-10-07

  • “A person must not operate a food premises (a) without a permit;”

    nunavutlegislation.ca · read 2026-10-07

  • “For greater certainty, (a) a person cannot obtain a permit for producing food for public consumption in a dwelling; and (b) a person must not produce food for public consumption in a dwelling unless they are exempt from the application of these regulations under section 3.”

    nunavutlegislation.ca · read 2026-10-07

  • “The following places are exempt from the application of these regulations: (a) a dwelling in which only the following foods are handled: … (i) low-risk foods as described in Appendix A of the Code,”

    nunavutlegislation.ca · read 2026-10-07

  • “The operator of a food premises must ensure that all food in the food premises is (a) obtained from a food premises that has a permit; (b) obtained from a source that is subject to inspection by (i) the Government of Canada, (ii) the Government of Nunavut under another enactment, (iii) the government of a province or another territory,”

    nunavutlegislation.ca · read 2026-10-07

  • “High-risk foods are non-acidic or slightly acidic, moist, and protein foods. … These foods include meat and meat products, milk and milk products, eggs, poultry, fish and shellfish, tofu products, and sprouts,”

    nunavutlegislation.ca · read 2026-10-07

  • “Farmers' markets may be time-limited or permanent concessions. The following conditions must be met for both: a) Food must be protected from contamination at all times.”

    nunavutlegislation.ca · read 2026-10-07

  • “Mechanical refrigeration of adequate size for the storage of potentially hazardous foods must be provided and be capable of maintaining the potentially hazardous foods at, 4°C (40°F) or less”

    nunavutlegislation.ca · read 2026-10-07

  • “R-032-2023 Registered with the Chief Legislative Counsel 2023-10-18”

    nunavutlegislation.ca · read 2026-10-07

  • “Note: This consolidation is not up to date. See subsequent amendments: R-028-2023 (CIF).”

    Food Safety Regulations, R-032-2023 (in force May 1, 2024), ss. 1, 3, 7, 22 and the Nunavut Food Retail and Food Services Code (Schedule), s. 2.19.1 and Appendix A · read 2026-10-07

  • “The Agriculture Products Marketing Act, R.S.N.W.T. 1988,c.115 (Supp.), as duplicated for Nunavut by section 29 of the Nunavut Act (Canada), is repealed by this Act.”

    Agriculture Products Marketing Act, repeal, S.Nu. 2011, c. 4 · read 2026-10-07

  • “AGRICULTURE PRODUCTS MARKETING ACT, repeal (Assented to February 25, 2011)”

    Agriculture Products Marketing Act, repeal, S.Nu. 2011, c. 4 · read 2026-10-07

  • “Newfoundland, the Newfoundland Egg Marketing Board, and (k) the Northwest Territories, the Northwest Territories Egg Producers;”

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

What we couldn't confirm
  • nunavutlegislation.ca refuses scripted downloads (bot challenge); the Food Safety Regulations and the 2011 repeal act were read in a browser on 2026-10-07 and their quotes are in nunavut.blocked.json. The Department of Health factsheet and Q&A PDFs on gov.nu.ca were saved normally; gov.nu.ca web pages themselves also block scripts.
  • No Nunavut guidance specifically about selling eggs from a small flock was found. That a backyard egg sale makes the seller a food premises needing a permit is our reading of the definitions (eggs are high-risk food; handling includes sale to the public); not confirmed with Environmental Health.
  • Section 7(2) bars permits for 'producing food for public consumption in a dwelling'. Whether eggs laid in a backyard coop and stored or sold from a home count as food produced in a dwelling is not addressed; ask a Regional Environmental Health Officer.
  • The nunavutlegislation.ca consolidation of R-032-2023 is marked not up to date (subsequent amendment R-028-2023, a coming-into-force order). The May 1, 2024 in-force date comes from the Department of Health factsheet; R-028-2023 itself was not read.
  • The Public Health Act (Nunavut) was not read. No rules on egg cartons, labels, grading or washing for small flocks were found.
  • No 2025 or 2026 amendment to the Food Safety Regulations was found on the consolidation page; the Nunavut Gazette was not searched.
  • Eggs taken out of Nunavut 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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