Opinion writer Chris Selley reports on a controversy surrounding eggs imported from the US being sold in Canadian supermarkets, including Maxi stores in Quebec. According to TVA network, several customers were disappointed to find that their $2.99 dozen large eggs came from the US, not Canada as they had assumed. Canadian egg producer Burnbrae Farms explains that it imports eggs from the US on rare occasions when supply cannot meet demand, such as during holidays. Selley suggests that this incident is likely related to the ongoing trade war between Canada and the US.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-09,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
A classic set-piece political controversy is playing out yet again in Quebec.
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controversy → play → Quebec
“Several Quebecers who were happy to have paid $2.99 for their dozen (large) eggs at Maxi last week were disappointed once they got home when they found that the eggs came from the United States,” we read.
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we → pay → States
TVA did not name or interview anyone who was thusly disappointed, though it did say the network had received several emails.
It all seems unbelievable, I know, especially in this day and age.
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I → name → day
But it’s true.
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it → ’ → ?
Just like it was true in 2025, and just like it was true in 2024 when similar stories about American egg imports surfaced in Quebec.
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stories → surface → Quebec
Canadian egg colossus Burnbrae Farms explains on its website: “On rare occasions, the available supply of eggs cannot meet the demand from our customers and on these occasions we will import eggs from the United States …
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we → explain → States
This (usually occurs) in high-demand times such as Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas.”
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This → occur → Easter
Eggs are protected by Canada’s supply-management system.
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Eggs → protect → system
And if you thought supply management was supposed to be “a system that balances supply and demand … through production setting (quota), price setting and import control as a means of avoiding overproduction and underproduction” (my italics), well, I can’t really blame you.
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I → think → you
That’s precisely what it says on the Farm Products Council of Canada’s website, after all.
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it → ’ → website
But as a well-to-do hip-replacement candidate might say, the U.S. is always there in a pinch.
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U.S. → say → pinch
No doubt there are at least a few hundred Canadians who care very deeply about the provenance of their eggs.
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who → be → eggs
I would expect such people to be quite knowledgeable egg shoppers.
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people → expect → ?
And I would have thought the first thing that would tip off a knowledgeable egg shopper that something was a bit special about these eggs — if it not the “USDA A Grade” stamp on the carton — would be the fact they only cost $2.99.
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they → think → 2.99
Alas, that’s not a Canadian price for a dozen eggs.
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that → ’ → eggs
Walmart in Montreal wants a minimum of $4.08 for a dozen large Canadian eggs.
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Walmart → want → eggs
Only if you buy 30 at a time you can match the Yankees’ per-egg cost.
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you → buy → cost
No, $2.99 is more like an American price for a dozen eggs, though you can find them considerably cheaper in the U.S., even once you convert to Canadian dollars.
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you → find → dollars
(For the record, you can buy a pack of large Canadian eggs at Maxi for $3 — but you only get six of them.)
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you → buy → them
Obviously eggs that cross the border, like all other agricultural products, must be certified safe according to Canadian standards.
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that → cross → standards
None of this angst makes any sense in any context except for the trade war with Washington.
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None → make → Washington
And a trade war with Washington necessarily makes less sense if you’re struggling to feed yourself or a family.
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you → make → yourself
Food bank usage has soared, as it has in many provinces.
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it → soar → provinces
Just how much are we willing to sacrifice?
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we → sacrifice → are
Build Canada, which describes itself as “a non-partisan civic movement (of) high-agency builders … who believe Canada can and should be the most prosperous country on earth,” released an in-house poll on Tuesday finding 75 per cent of respondents broadly preferred an elbows-up approach to Washington.
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cent → describe → Washington
That dropped to 37 per cent if it meant higher taxes, and 33 per cent if it meant a higher risk of jobs lost.
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it → drop → jobs
And you’ll never guess what: The older Canadians get, according to the Build Canada poll, the more willing they are to stick it out … although only 33 per cent of respondents were willing to stay the course if it meant any diminution in their retirement savings.
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it → guess → savings
Not that there’s really anyone to vote for, at any level, if you want unapologetically freer access to cheaper groceries.
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you → ’ → groceries
“We don’t need more American products,” Quebec Liberal leader Charles Milliard said in a video posted Sunday, ruling out any concessions whatsoever on supply management.
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Milliard → need → management
“We have all we need here to succeed.”
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we → have → all
Does he not read these articles about companies not having enough local eggs?
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companies → read → eggs
It is interesting that the offending brand of American eggs is Canadian: Burnbrae.
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brand → offend → eggs
The packages presumably meet all labelling requirements, but they certainly could be clearer in differentiating between American and Canadian.
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they → meet → American
And isn’t that what supply-managed Canadian producers presumably want?
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producers → manage → what
Burnbrae is one of the egg makers that regularly lobbies Ottawa to maintain the supply-management system.
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that → lobby → system
Yet it seems a bit off-message that when they can’t manage the demand, they slip American eggs into the same basic cartons in such a way that the casual egg shopper very likely would not notice.
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shopper → seem → way
(Luckily, anyone on a budget likely wouldn’t care.)
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anyone → care → budget
And this isn’t just a few emergency top-up eggs: 5.6 per cent of the eggs that showed up in Canada in 2024, whether for eating or for hatching, were imported from the U.S.
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that → top → U.S.
It’s hardly a leading example of the interconnectedness between the Canadian and American economies, and the fantasy of severing them, but it’s certainly an example.
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it → ’ → them
We’re not going to import fresh eggs from anywhere else.
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We → go → eggs
