Can I sell eggs in the Northwest Territories?

Do I need a license to sell eggs in the Northwest Territories?

The Egg Marketing Regulations ask for a quota and state no flock size. They say "No person who has not been allotted a quota for the marketing of eggs shall market eggs" and that the producer board "shall require that the marketing of eggs be conducted in accordance with a quota". The Agricultural Products Marketing Act says "marketing" includes buying, selling, offering for sale, advertising, packing, storing, shipping and transporting. The regulations define "eggs" as "eggs of a hen, excluding hatching eggs, produced in the Northwest Territories" and a "producer" as "a person who produces or has demonstrated an intention to produce eggs". The Egg Marketing Plan Establishment Regulations add that "Every producer and every person engaged in the marketing of eggs shall register" with the Northwest Territories Egg Producers.

We could not find a flock size, a sale to a consumer or any other class the regulations exempt, though the Act lets regulations exempt a person or class of person from "the regulation of the plan", and a proposal for a plan must say which persons are "to be exempted from the plan". The Egg Marketing Regulations also set "a levy of $0.50 for each dozen eggs marketed by that producer without a quota or in excess of that producer’s quota", which reads as if some marketing without a quota happens. The board's own orders were not found. We settle none of this (#958). Ask the Northwest Territories Egg Producers, in Hay River, whether a small flock selling to consumers needs registration or a quota before you rely on any line.

A quota is "a privilege to market eggs in accordance with the Act and the regulations made under the Act, and is not a right". The board may refuse to allot one, and a person affected by a board decision may appeal it to the Northwest Territories Agricultural Products Marketing Council. Before a quota is allotted the producer must register, file an undertaking, post a letter of credit with the Minister "in an amount, not exceeding $100,000", and post a security instrument. A food establishment permit is a separate question, in the answers below.

Source: The Egg Marketing Regulations, ss. 1, 9, 10, 13, 16, 17, 22, The Agricultural Products Marketing Act, ss. 1, 2, 7 and 8, The Egg Marketing Plan Establishment Regulations, ss. 1 and 6 and Northwest Territories Egg Producers Board, Executive and Indigenous Affairs.

How many eggs can I sell without a license in the Northwest Territories?

The regulations state no flock size and no limit for a small seller. What they state is a quota, "the number of dozens of eggs that a producer is entitled to market in a given period of time", and that "The quantity of eggs that may be marketed by a producer at any time or place in the Northwest Territories shall be in accordance with the quota". No producer may market "any eggs in excess of that quota".

The money the regulations state is per dozen marketed: an administration fee of $0.034, a levy of $0.169, and a levy of $0.50 for each dozen "marketed by that producer without a quota or in excess of that producer’s quota". A producer must also send the board a weekly report of the eggs it produced and marketed, with the fees due, and must not "sell or offer to sell eggs at less than the minimum prices" the board sets. Whether any of this reaches a small flock, we did not find (#958). Ask the board.

Source: The Egg Marketing Regulations, ss. 1, 3, 4, 5, 9 and 17.

Can I sell eggs at a farmers market in the Northwest Territories?

The quota answer above is the same at a market: the regulations name no place. A food establishment permit is a separate question. The Public Health Act calls a food establishment "premises where food is manufactured, processed, prepared, packaged, stored, handled, displayed, transported, distributed, served, offered for sale or sold", and the Food Establishment Safety Regulations say "A person shall not operate a food establishment unless the person holds a valid food establishment permit" and apply "in respect of a farm where food is handled". They do not name eggs. One exception could reach an egg seller: they do not apply to premises that only serve, offer for sale or sell food that "is not potentially hazardous", was individually prepackaged, and is sold in its original unopened container, and they do not say whether an egg is potentially hazardous, a form "capable of supporting the growth of disease causing micro-organisms or the production of toxins" (#959).

The Department of Health and Social Services' page, read on 2026-10-08, says "If you are handling food, you must apply for a food establishment permit", lists selling, and says "It is illegal to sell or provide food to the public without a permit", with fines of $285 for an individual and $855 for a business. Its 2019 questions and answers say the regulations apply to "farmer/community market vendors". The Schedule sets the for-profit fee at $200 for an annual permit, $70 seasonal (three weeks to four months) and $40 temporary (under three weeks), with a $120 renewal and a $54 late fee. The Chief Public Health Officer may exempt an operator "from payment of a fee". A permit takes a food safety training certificate, a menu, a floor plan and hours of operation, and is for one location only. Ask the Environmental Health Unit what applies to your eggs.

Source: The Public Health Act, s. 1, The Food Establishment Safety Regulations, ss. 1, 2, 4, 7, 13.1 and the Schedule, Health and Social Services: Apply for a Food Establishment Permit, Health and Social Services: Food Safety and Health and Social Services: Permit Amendments FAQ, 2019.

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

The quota answer above is the same: the regulations name no exempt seller. They do name buyers. "No person shall buy eggs from a producer at less than the minimum prices" the board sets, and "A person who receives or grades eggs from a producer shall, on notice from the producer board", deduct the fees and levies from what it pays the producer and remit them, and the board may require "any person marketing eggs" to report the quantity and prices.

For the food side, a food establishment must keep to the Food Establishment Safety Regulations' s. 30(1): "all food in a food establishment is obtained from a source that is liable to inspection by the Government of Canada, a government of a province or territory, or an agency of one of them", "Subject to subsection (2) and any federal legislation". How that reaches a producer's own eggs is not stated (#959).

The CFIA's egg rules are for eggs "sent or conveyed from one province or territory to another", imported or exported, not for a sale inside the Northwest Territories.

Source: The Egg Marketing Regulations, ss. 3, 4 and 5, The Food Establishment Safety Regulations, s. 30 and CFIA: regulatory requirements for eggs, sections 2.0 and 4.0.

Do I need to grade or label my eggs in the Northwest Territories?

No Northwest Territories instrument we read sets a label, a grade or a carton rule for eggs sold inside the territory (#959). The Food Establishment Safety Regulations say food in a food establishment must be "clearly and properly labelled", and name no wording for eggs. The Egg Marketing Regulations deem eggs "sold by the producer when the eggs are transported from the place of production or graded, whichever comes first", and name no container.

The federal rules the CFIA lists cover eggs sent from one province or territory to another. Ungraded eggs may cross a line only if they are "packaged in a container that is labelled with the words "Ungraded Eggs"" and delivered directly to an establishment where they will be graded or processed and treated by a licence holder.

Source: The Food Establishment Safety Regulations, s. 31, The Egg Marketing Regulations, s. 2 and CFIA: regulatory requirements for eggs, section 4.0.

Do eggs have to be refrigerated to sell in the Northwest Territories, and at what temperature?

The Food Establishment Safety Regulations say an operator must ensure that "potentially hazardous food is stored, displayed and transported at a temperature that is not greater than 4ºC", or at 60ºC or hotter. They do not say whether an egg is potentially hazardous, and name no temperature for eggs. No regulation we read sets a temperature for a producer's eggs sold at the farm (#959). Ask the Environmental Health Unit.

Source: The Food Establishment Safety Regulations, ss. 1 and 33.

Can I sell duck, quail or other eggs in the Northwest Territories?

The Egg Marketing Regulations are about hens: "eggs" means "eggs of a hen, excluding hatching eggs", and a "hen" is "an egg laying female of the subspecies Gallus gallus domesticus". On those words a duck or quail egg is not one of the "eggs" the quota rule covers. The food establishment permit is a different matter: the Food Establishment Safety Regulations say "food", not "eggs". Ask the board and the Environmental Health Unit before you sell them.

Source: The Egg Marketing Regulations, s. 1 and The Food Establishment Safety Regulations, s. 1.