An egg tour across Canada, part 3: Western Canada
By Egg Farmers of CanadaHere we are: the final stop on our cross-country tour of Canada’s egg industry, from coast to coast to coast. We started with Ontario and Quebec, then flew east to Atlantic Canada. Now, there’s only one direction left to head—west! Today we’re taking a deep dive into the Western Canadian egg industry.
Like their eastern counterparts, egg farmers in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia and the Northwest Territories national programs that ensure eggs are fresh, and safe, and protect and promote the welfare of hens. Like its eastern counterparts, egg farming in Western Canada is also a job creator—adding over 2,400 jobs in British Columbia and nearly 5,000 across the Prairies.1 And like its eastern counterparts it’s a big economic booster for the region in every way, adding nearly half a billion dollars to Canada’s GDP and hundreds of millions in tax revenues.2
But the impact of Western Canadian egg farming goes way beyond dollars and cents. It’s the kind of impact felt in neighbourhoods and soup kitchens across the Prairies and the Rocky Mountains. In Western Canada, our egg farmers are working every day to build a better country.
Take for instance BC Egg. They teamed up with the BC Lions to support local, amateur football across the province.3 Egg Farmers of Alberta are proud partners of Taste Alberta, an organization working hard to encourage Albertans to eat locally produced Albertan food.4 In 2016 alone, the Saskatchewan Egg Producers donated over 35,000 eggs to Saskatoon and Regina food banks.5 Manitoba Egg Farmers supports dozens of different groups and organizations, like the Boys and Girls Clubs of Winnipeg, Habitat for Humanity, and Lace Up For Diabetes.6 In the Northwest Territories, egg farmers are donating locally produced eggs to school breakfast programs and community organizations.7 This is only a taste of the ways egg farmers are building better communities across the west.
We’ve come to the end of our egg tour, and in every part of our country, you’ll find egg farmers building a better Canada. So be proud every time you enjoy fresh, local, Canadian-made eggs—you’re helping our farmers build stronger communities around them!
1 The 2015 Economic Impact of the Poultry and Egg Industries in Canada, October 2016, Kevin Grier Market Analysis and Consulting Inc.
2 The 2015 Economic Impact of the Poultry and Egg Industries in Canada, October 2016, Kevin Grier Market Analysis and Consulting Inc.
3 BC Egg
4 Egg Farmers of Alberta
5 Saskatchewan Egg Producers
6 Manitoba Egg Farmers
7 Polar Egg