In the last decade, over 100 food companies operating in Canada committed to phasing out cages for egg laying hens. In 2021, Mercy For Animals launched the Canada Animal Welfare Scorecard, the first  Canadian report to rank food companies on their animal welfare performance.

The report revealed two significant findings for cage-free implementation: 
1) fewer than half of the 40 companies featured were reporting regional progress toward cage-free egg commitments in Canada, and
2) companies are struggling to increase cage-free egg sourcing when the publicly funded National Farm Animal Care Council has codified a transition to “enriched” cages in the absence of cage-free legislation.

The second edition of the report, launched in Fall 2022, provides an in-depth analysis of 55 prominent food companies and insight into Canada’s progress on banning caged confinement for laying hens. This presentation will share the results of the largest comprehensive assessment of corporate animal welfare progress in Canada and highlight how the country is performing on key farmed animal welfare issues relative to the United States and Europe. It will provide an overview of failed transitions to “enriched” cages in these regions, and demonstrate the importance of renewed public awareness and collaboration among advocates to intervene to shift Canada’s uniquely powerful egg industry that even the country’s largest egg purchasers are struggling to change.

Educational Topic
Animal Welfare & Human Behavioural Intersections