Can I sell eggs in Alberta?

Do I need a license to sell eggs in Alberta?

Not a producer licence from Egg Farmers of Alberta, at 300 hens or fewer. The board's Plan Regulation defines an "exempt producer" as a person who does not possess more than 300 hens, or whose production facilities cannot hold more than 300, and says the Plan does not apply to one. The Marketing Regulation bars possessing more than 300 hens without a licence from the board or an exemption. The Alberta Agriculture and Irrigation overview says the same: a producer is not required to be licensed by the board at 300 hens or fewer.

The board's page adds that the count is per person and per place: its examples are a couple with up to 300 hens on their home quarter, and one farmer whose 300 hens are split between two hen houses, even when one is on a different section of land. It also says all egg production in Alberta, "whether you have one hen or a thousand hens", falls under the Marketing of Agricultural Products Act and its regulations, and that every egg farmer is required to apply for a Premise Identification number from Alberta Agriculture and Irrigation. The Plan Regulation says the Plan does not apply to an exempt producer, so the sources differ in how they put it, and we settle neither. We did not read the premises identification rule, so ask Alberta Agriculture and Irrigation.

The sale is a separate rule, in the Purchase and Sale of Eggs and Processed Egg Regulation (Alta. Reg. 23/2004): eggs must be graded unless a producer sells its own uninspected eggs directly to a consumer on five conditions, in the questions below. The board's page says it is the farmer's responsibility to consult the municipal bylaws about keeping laying hens, especially in a town or city.

Alberta's Food Regulation defines a food establishment as a place where food is handled. Its list of operations it does not apply to names a farm selling unprocessed horticultural products from the farm, and says nothing of eggs. We did not find a source that says whether an egg sale from a farm needs a food permit, so ask your Alberta Health Services office.

Source: Alta. Reg. 26/2022, Egg Farmers of Alberta Plan Regulation, ss. 1(g) and 5, Alta. Reg. 293/1997, Egg Farmers of Alberta Marketing Regulation, ss. 2 and 3, Alberta Agriculture: Overview of the Purchase and Sale of Eggs and Processed Egg Regulation, Egg Farmers of Alberta: Becoming an Egg Farmer and Alta. Reg. 31/2006, Food Regulation, ss. 1(r) and 2(2).

How many eggs can I sell without a license in Alberta?

The limit is in hens, not in eggs or dozens: 300 hens or fewer is an exempt producer with no producer licence, and more than 300 hens needs a licence from Egg Farmers of Alberta. The board's page says a licensed producer must also hold quota, one unit of quota being one laying hen, and the Marketing Regulation sets the smallest possession quota the board allots at 301 hens. Quota and a producer licence are the board's business and outside what this directory is built for.

No source we read puts a limit on dozens or eggs sold, and none states a licence fee for a farm of 300 hens or fewer. The board's page says an exempt farmer who sells to a grading station needs an exemption number from the board, free of charge, and that a levy comes off each dozen shipped there.

Source: Alta. Reg. 26/2022, Egg Farmers of Alberta Plan Regulation, s. 1(g), Alta. Reg. 293/1997, Egg Farmers of Alberta Marketing Regulation, ss. 3(2) and 10.3 and Egg Farmers of Alberta: Becoming an Egg Farmer.

Can I sell eggs at a farmers market in Alberta?

The Alberta egg regulation lets a producer sell uninspected eggs "directly to a consumer" on five conditions and names no place, and the board's page says such sales are typically at the farm gate or at a farmers market. The Food Regulation speaks to a market stall: a stallholder must not sell whole raw shell poultry eggs unless they are stored at 7°C or less. A stall at a farmers market needs no permit of its own under that regulation, which still asks its food handling to follow the rules, and the market operator holds the farmers market permit.

In the Food Regulation a "farmers' market" is one whose operation the Minister responsible for agriculture has approved. Ask the market's manager and Alberta Health Services what a stallholder selling eggs must do there.

Source: Alta. Reg. 23/2004, Purchase and Sale of Eggs and Processed Egg Regulation, s. 3(1), Egg Farmers of Alberta: Becoming an Egg Farmer and Alta. Reg. 31/2006, Food Regulation, ss. 1(n), 3(3), 3(4), 33 and 36(2).

Can I sell eggs to a restaurant, a store or someone who resells them in Alberta?

Not ungraded. Alberta's egg regulation says chicken eggs may be sold only if they are graded, stored, inspected, packed, marked and labelled to the federal rules. Its one exception is a producer selling its own uninspected eggs directly to a consumer, who buys for the consumer's own or household use and not for resale. A producer may also send uninspected eggs to a first receiver, an egg station or a processed egg station, in containers marked UNINSPECTED.

The board's page says it plainly: ungraded eggs cannot be sold to grocery or retail stores, restaurants, bakeries or hospitals, and eggs sold for commercial use must be graded under the federal rules. It says an exempt farmer may sell to a registered grading station with an exemption number from the board, that the station decides whether it will buy, and that any farmer may apply for a federal grading licence to grade eggs. Selling to a store or restaurant means grading first, which is beyond what this directory is built for.

Source: Alta. Reg. 23/2004, Purchase and Sale of Eggs and Processed Egg Regulation, ss. 1, 2 and 3, Egg Farmers of Alberta: Becoming an Egg Farmer and Alberta Agriculture: Overview of the Purchase and Sale of Eggs and Processed Egg Regulation.

Do I need to grade or label my eggs in Alberta?

The regulation says the eggs are packed under sanitary conditions in "clean containers" that are conspicuously and legibly marked with the word UNINSPECTED in letters at least 2 centimetres high. The board's page says "clear cartons" marked UNINSPECTED in letters at least 2 centimetres tall. The two differ by a word, and we settle neither.

Neither the regulation nor the board's or the department's page asks for the farm's name or a packing date on the carton, and none speaks of reusing a carton. Ask Alberta Agriculture and Irrigation about reuse.

The federal egg rules the CFIA lists cover eggs sent from one province or territory to another, not a sale within Alberta. Ungraded eggs may cross a provincial line only to an establishment that grades or processes them, in a container labelled "Ungraded Eggs".

Source: Alta. Reg. 23/2004, Purchase and Sale of Eggs and Processed Egg Regulation, s. 3(1)(e), Egg Farmers of Alberta: Becoming an Egg Farmer and CFIA: regulatory requirements for eggs, section 4.0.

Do eggs have to be refrigerated to sell in Alberta, and at what temperature?

The sources read agree on 7°C. The egg regulation says the eggs are kept at an ambient temperature that does not exceed 7°C until they leave the producer's possession. The Food Regulation sets whole raw shell eggs at no more than 7°C in storage, display, packaging and transport, "or such other temperature" as an executive officer stipulates, and says a market stallholder must not sell them unless they are stored at 7°C or less.

The department's overview says to hold eggs for sale in a cooler that keeps that temperature, and that eggs in an open refrigeration unit can be displayed if the air temperature does not exceed 7°C.

Source: Alta. Reg. 23/2004, Purchase and Sale of Eggs and Processed Egg Regulation, s. 3(1)(d), Alta. Reg. 31/2006, Food Regulation, ss. 25(3) and 36(2) and Alberta Agriculture: Overview of the Purchase and Sale of Eggs and Processed Egg Regulation.

Can I sell duck, quail or other eggs in Alberta?

The sources we read speak of the chicken egg. The sale regulation defines a "chicken egg" as an egg laid by a domestic chicken, and its exception for selling uninspected eggs to a consumer is for chicken eggs. The Plan Regulation's "eggs" are those laid by a hen. None says anything about duck or quail eggs, so we print no rule. Ask Alberta Agriculture and Irrigation and Alberta Health Services before you sell them.

Source: Alta. Reg. 23/2004, Purchase and Sale of Eggs and Processed Egg Regulation, ss. 1(a) and 3(1) and Alta. Reg. 26/2022, Egg Farmers of Alberta Plan Regulation, s. 1(f).

Do I have to wash or candle eggs to sell them in Alberta?

The regulation's text asks that the eggs be clean, with no visible cracks and not leaking. It does not say how to clean them, and it asks no washing or candling for a sale straight to a consumer. The department's overview says candling and grading are parts of inspecting an egg, and that grading happens only at a federally registered egg station. We found nothing in the sources about a washing method, so ask Alberta Agriculture and Irrigation.

Source: Alta. Reg. 23/2004, Purchase and Sale of Eggs and Processed Egg Regulation, s. 3(1)(c) and Alberta Agriculture: Overview of the Purchase and Sale of Eggs and Processed Egg Regulation.