There has been a lot of media attention in Canada this spring and summer about the price of chicken. To help Canadian chicken farmers address misperceptions about chicken prices when they speak to people in person or engage online, Canadian Poultry dug into the broader context. Here’s a full look at Canada’s chicken situation, starting with demand.

Why demand is high

People may prefer chicken for many reasons – its taste, versatility, eating experience, family habits and more – but there’s no question chicken is popular.

“Canadians are eating tremendously more chicken compared to years ago,” notes Graeme Crosbie, senior economist at Farm Credit Canada. “In fact, we set a record in 2025. According to Statistics Canada, the average Canadian ate 35.6 kg of chicken last year. That’s increased over the years. It’s now over double what it was over 55 years ago in 1970, when it was about 14 kg.”

There has also been a long-term trend toward eating more protein. GLP-1 medications may be adding to that demand as users tend to eat less and place greater emphasis on protein-rich foods.

A 2026 Leger survey found eight per cent of Canadian adults reported currently taking a prescription GLP-1 medication, with users reporting reduced appetite and increased consumption of protein-rich foods.

Chicken, other meats, eggs, Greek yogurt, whey, nuts and other high-quality protein sources may, therefore, benefit from the trend.

The price of beef is another factor. When one product in a category such as meat or cereal becomes expensive, consumers will often substitute other, more affordable options.

Crosbie notes that the current price of ground beef, a traditional Canadian family staple, is now “astronomical.”

“A pound of ground beef is now more expensive than a pound of chicken breast,” he says, “so people are looking to chicken instead.

However, people are also switching to different cuts of beef, pork and chicken that aren’t as expensive as others.”

Dr. Sylvain Charlebois, director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University, also notes this trend, particularly among consumers looking to stretch their food budgets. “Consumers looking for value are increasingly turning to whole chickens, thighs and drumsticks,” he says, “while breasts remain a higher-priced convenience product.”

Canada’s population has also increased by millions over the last few years, but it’s unclear how much this has affected chicken consumption.

To summarize, demand for chicken is strong, and increased demand for any product will increase its price if supply does not keep up. Let’s, therefore, move on to production.

Canadian chicken production is increasing in 2026 as the industry responds to strong consumer demand.
Photo: ALLTECH Stock

Production levels

The volume of chicken on the market is currently rising in Canada to meet demand.

“Production, chick placements, slaughter volumes, quota allocations and imports are all increasing,” says Charlebois.

Crosbie echoes this, noting that broiler slaughters are up about six per cent through the first six months of 2026, chick placements are at record levels, more birds are being marketed at heavier weights and domestic quota allocations have increased by about 5.4 per cent year over year in recent years.

For an allocation period in fall 2025, Chicken Farmers of Canada (CFC) increased allocation by eight per cent, the largest hike in Canadian history to date.

CFC director of public affairs and communications Lauren Kennedy adds that, going forward, “the planned production increase for August to December 2026 is set at 5.9 per cent above the same timeframe last year, which should fully supply the market. We have grown more chicken in 2026 than ever before.”

This current production boom follows a few years when a couple of key factors hampered industry growth.

One major factor was a limited supply of broiler chicks, or on-farm broiler hatching eggs for chicken farmers with these systems. There were fewer chicks and eggs being produced simply because there were fewer broiler breeder hens, with many flocks in Canada being wiped out by outbreaks of several strains of highly pathogenic avian influenza that started in 2021 and continue around the world.

U.S. broiler breeder flocks were also affected by outbreaks. This matters, says Crosbie, because under the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), signed in 2018, more than 20 per cent of Canada’s required broiler chicks and eggs may enter from the U.S. tariff-free.

The rather large complication is that “we have to make allowance for that 20 per cent to enter Canada, to have that transaction occur,” says Crosbie, “but that doesn’t mean it occurs.”

It has, therefore, been challenging for the Canadian broiler industry to match Canadian broiler chick and egg production with the needs of farmers, not knowing how many chicks and eggs are coming from the U.S. on a continual basis.

The other factor is chicken imports from Chile. In 2018, Canada signed the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), allowing some chicken from member countries to enter Canada tariff-free.

No member did that until Chile entered the CPTPP in 2023. Crosbie says it now almost single-handedly fills the entire import allotment.

CFC considers expected tariff rate quota imports when setting national chicken allocations every eight weeks, since imports contribute to total available supply. Kennedy stresses, however, that domestic production was not held back to accommodate CPTPP access.

Canadian chicken production increased in 2025, but fell short of allocation largely because avian influenza and other chick supply issues limited the number of birds available. She adds that CPTPP market access represented only 1.6 per cent of total chicken production in 2025.

Kevin Grier, a livestock and meat market analyst in Guelph, Ont., notes that in March 2026, chicken from Chile was not permitted to be exported to Canada due to avian influenza outbreaks, but exports resumed shortly after.

Chicken prices in 2026

Crosbie notes that, according to Statistics Canada, the price of fresh and frozen chicken increased by 0.3 per cent overall for all cuts from July 2025 to July 2026.

Prices paid to Canadian chicken farmers have also remained relatively stable.

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada data show the national average broiler live price at about $2.19/kg in 2026 to date, compared with $2.15/kg in 2025, an increase of about 1.7 per cent.

Looking at the cost per kg of specific cuts each month in early 2026, Statistics Canada data released in August shows the whole chicken price was highest in February at $8.57 per kg, came down in April and was up a little in June at $7.06 per kg. Drumsticks increased in price over those months, from $6.62 to $8.03 per kg, while breasts stayed relatively steady and thighs increased slightly.

However, looking at the past 12 months, Crosbie explains that retail chicken prices did not increase from December 2025 to July 2026 on the whole, but actually decreased by 2.4 per cent, according to Statistics Canada.

Imports, whether from Chile or the U.S., are not a factor in retail chicken prices. Crosbie notes that under CUSMA, which came into effect in July 2020, the U.S. tariff-free chicken import allotment has increased substantially each year.

These allotments have largely been filled, except for some periods when avian influenza outbreaks affected U.S. chicken production.

For the first six years of CUSMA, from July 2020 to July 2026, the U.S. was allowed to increase exports of chicken to Canada by 2,000 tonnes each year over the base amount it was importing at the time. The U.S. import allotment, thus, reached about 56,000 tonnes, or 56 million kg, in 2025.

After that, CUSMA enables U.S. chicken imports to Canada to increase by one per cent each year. Kennedy says these increases are planned until 2035, when a cap of almost 63 million kg is specified in CUSMA.

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