Can I sell eggs in Manitoba?

Do I need a license to sell eggs in Manitoba?

Not registration, a licence or quota from Manitoba Egg Farmers, at 300 hens or fewer. Four texts say 300. The board's Egg and Pullet Producer Registration Order exempts from registration "a person who, in any year, raises or keeps 300 or fewer laying hens at all times during the year". The Egg Producer Registration and Licence Fee Regulation exempts the same person from its registration and licence sections. The Laying Hen Quota Order says its prohibitions, which include keeping hens without a quota or permit, do not apply to that person. The Laying Hen Penalty Levies Regulation sets its levy on a producer without quota at $4.00 for each laying hen kept in any week above 300. The board's page adds that as of 2015 anyone can raise up to 300 laying hens without quota or a non-registered certificate, "providing municipal laws allow the raising of poultry".

Above 300 hens the texts turn the other way. A person who keeps laying hens must not market eggs unless registered with the board, and is not entitled to registration without a laying hen quota. No one may keep laying hens unless licensed by the board, or without a quota or permit, a certified facility and a Laying Hen Certificate.

The Marketing Plan Regulation has a lower line of its own: its provisions on raising and keeping laying hens and marketing eggs "do not apply to a person who raises or keeps less than 100 laying hens", apart from its sections 13 to 15 (orders for information, for transport and for exemptions) and section 26 (persons who produce together). The orders made under that plan state their line at 300, and the plan states its own at 100. We print both and do not say how they fit. Ask Manitoba Egg Farmers what applies to a flock of 100 to 300 hens. The plan also treats two or more persons who produce together as one person when it counts what each produces, and the regulations name designated small and multi-family non-registered producers, with limits of their own. Ask the board if you hold such a designation.

The sale is a separate rule, in the Poultry Products Regulation s. 7.1, in the questions below. The Food and Food Handling Establishments Regulation says a food handling permit is not required in respect of a sale of ungraded eggs made in accordance with that section, and also says the director may require a permit anyway if the exemption would create, or be likely to create, a risk to public health. The department's factsheet says a farmer selling ungraded eggs direct to consumers must also get a Premises ID under the Animal Premises Identification Regulation, which we did not read, and follow animal welfare and biosecurity protocols.

Source: M.R. 290/2014, Egg and Pullet Producer Registration Order, ss. 1, 2 and 5(e), M.R. 15/2004, Egg Producer Registration and Licence Fee Regulation, ss. 1, 2, 3 and 9, M.R. 128/98, Laying Hen Quota Order, ss. 21 and 58(2), M.R. 44/97, Laying Hen Penalty Levies Regulation, s. 2(1), M.R. 70/2005, Manitoba Egg and Pullet Producers Marketing Plan Regulation, ss. 26 and 27(2), Manitoba Egg Farmers: Unregulated Egg Farmer, M.R. 339/88 R, Food and Food Handling Establishments Regulation, ss. 3(4.1) and 3(5) and Manitoba Agriculture: Ungraded Eggs: From Farm to Table, Information for Farmers.

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

The limit is in hens, not in eggs or dozens: 300 hens or fewer is exempt from registration, a licence and quota, and more than 300 needs the board's registration, licence and a laying hen quota. The department's factsheet puts it as staying within the limits of the Laying Hen Quota Order, "with no more than 300 laying chickens". The Marketing Plan Regulation's own line is under 100 hens, and we do not say how the two fit.

No source we read puts a limit on dozens or eggs sold. The registration fee is "in the amount determined by the board", and the licence fee is worked out by a formula in the licence regulation from the farm's quota, so no fixed fee is printed. Quota and registration are the board's business and outside what this directory is built for.

Source: M.R. 290/2014, Egg and Pullet Producer Registration Order, ss. 4 and 5(e), M.R. 15/2004, Egg Producer Registration and Licence Fee Regulation, ss. 5 and 9, M.R. 128/98, Laying Hen Quota Order, s. 58(2), M.R. 70/2005, Manitoba Egg and Pullet Producers Marketing Plan Regulation, s. 27(2) and Manitoba Agriculture: Ungraded Eggs: From Farm to Table, Information for Farmers.

Can I sell eggs at a farmers market in Manitoba?

The Poultry Products Regulation says a producer of eggs "may sell ungraded eggs directly to consumers at a public market or on the premises on which the eggs were produced", on the conditions in the questions below. It defines a public market as a place where more than two persons sell agricultural products that they produced or raised. The department's page says the regulation allows the sale of ungraded eggs at public markets, such as farmers markets, and its factsheet lists the farm gate, temporary food markets and community supported agriculture as places to sell them. The regulation also lets the producer arrange delivery to the consumer at a later time.

The board's page says something else: "Ungraded eggs can be sold to the public directly from your farm, but they cannot be sold to grocery stores, restaurants or caterers. Nor can ungraded eggs be sold door-to-door or at Farmers' Markets." The current regulation has been in effect since May 15, 2025, and the board's page carries no date. The two differ, and we settle neither. Ask Manitoba Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Branch, and the market's manager, before you sell at a market.

A sale made in accordance with the regulation needs no food handling permit, though the director may require one where the sale would risk public health.

Source: M.R. 211/87 R, Poultry Products Regulation, ss. 1 and 7.1, Manitoba Agriculture: Ungraded Eggs Food Safety, Manitoba Agriculture: Ungraded Eggs: From Farm to Table, Information for Farmers, Manitoba Egg Farmers: Unregulated Egg Farmer and M.R. 339/88 R, Food and Food Handling Establishments Regulation, ss. 3(4.1) and 3(5).

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

Not ungraded. The Poultry Products Regulation says a person must not sell, or keep for sale, a poultry product that has not been inspected or graded under the federal regulations, subject to its exceptions. The exception for eggs is a sale directly to consumers, and a consumer is a person who uses the eggs as food for himself and his household and not for resale. The department's factsheet says you cannot sell or donate ungraded eggs to retail stores, restaurants or catering companies, hospitals or personal care homes, food banks, community organizations, or businesses making and selling foods made from eggs. The board's page says the same of grocery stores, restaurants and caterers.

The regulation lets a producer send ungraded eggs to an egg grading station or an egg processing station, which are establishments run by a federal licence holder. The factsheet says the Canadian Food Inspection Agency oversees grading and that only eggs meeting its standards are labelled "Canada Grade A" and sold in retail stores or used in food service. We found nothing in the sources on whether a station will buy from a small farm, or on what the farm needs to ship there. Ask Manitoba Egg Farmers and the station. Selling to a store or restaurant means grading first, which is beyond what this directory is built for.

Source: M.R. 211/87 R, Poultry Products Regulation, ss. 1, 7, 7.1 and 7.2, Manitoba Agriculture: Ungraded Eggs: From Farm to Table, Information for Farmers and Manitoba Egg Farmers: Unregulated Egg Farmer.

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

The regulation says the eggs are packed in clean cartons marked "ungraded eggs" (or "œufs non classés") in letters of a size and prominence that are easily readable, and labelled with the producer's name and contact information and the date the eggs were packed. It also says the producer must not mark eggs as graded, or show in any way that they have been graded, except under the federal regulations.

The department's factsheet speaks to reuse: use new or clean cartons, and take the business name or brand, the grading station information, the size, the lot code and the grade off any reused carton. It adds a label with the farm's name, contact information and packing date.

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

Source: M.R. 211/87 R, Poultry Products Regulation, ss. 7.1(2)(b) and 7.6(1), Manitoba Agriculture: Ungraded Eggs: From Farm to Table, Information for Farmers and CFIA: regulatory requirements for eggs, section 4.0.

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

Yes, at 4°C or lower. The regulation says the producer must keep the eggs at 4°C or lower until they are sold, "including during transportation, display and storage". The department's factsheet says the same, tells the farmer to cool eggs quickly in a refrigerator at 4°C, and suggests a mini fridge or portable plug-in cooler at a market booth, since temperatures rise quickly outdoors.

Source: M.R. 211/87 R, Poultry Products Regulation, s. 7.1(2)(c) and Manitoba Agriculture: Ungraded Eggs: From Farm to Table, Information for Farmers.

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

The sources we read speak of the hen's egg. The Poultry Products Regulation defines an "egg" as an egg of a domestic hen, not a hatching egg, and its rule for selling ungraded eggs is for eggs. The quota and registration texts speak of laying hens. None says anything about duck or quail eggs, so we print no rule. Ask Manitoba Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Branch before you sell them.

Source: M.R. 211/87 R, Poultry Products Regulation, ss. 1 and 7.1 and M.R. 70/2005, Manitoba Egg and Pullet Producers Marketing Plan Regulation, s. 1(1).

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

The regulation asks only that the eggs be clean, have no visible cracks and not leak. It names no washing method and does not ask for candling. The department's factsheet gives guidance: inspect eggs for cleanliness as soon as they are collected, discard eggs with dirt spots larger than a quarter, remove light filth with a brush with short fine bristles or fine sandpaper rather than a cloth, and wash heavier filth with clean water 10°C warmer than the egg and a mild food grade detergent suitable for egg washing, never letting eggs sit in water, then dry them. It also says to inspect the eggs and discard those with cracks and other defects, using an egg candler or a bright flashlight.

Source: M.R. 211/87 R, Poultry Products Regulation, s. 7.1(2)(a) and Manitoba Agriculture: Ungraded Eggs: From Farm to Table, Information for Farmers.