Canada Animal Welfare Scorecard

McDonald’s Canada, Boston Pizza, and Eggsmart fulfilled their cage-free egg policies one year ahead of their deadlines.

Aramark more than doubled their cage-free egg progress in Canada after the release of a cage-free roadmap last year.

But the only two major egg producers in Canada, Burnbrae Farms and Gray Ridge Eggs, still lack commitments and transparency in their use of and plans to phase out cage confinement systems.

After Maple Leaf Foods completed their transition to 100% controlled-atmosphere stunning, both the country’s largest retailer, Loblaws, and largest restaurant chain, Restaurant Brands International (parent company of Tim Hortons and Popeyes), for the first time reported progress toward transitioning their supply chain in Canada to the Better Chicken Commitment-aligned processing method.

While the industry advances in processing and reduced stocking densities for chickens raised for meat, it continues to use “Frankenchickens”—birds selectively bred to grow monstrously large unnaturally fast. Due to their rapid growth and unnaturally large bodies, Frankenchickens often suffer painful conditions and numerous health problems, including organ failure, muscular abnormalities, and heart disease.

Starbucks Canada tripled their progress toward group sow housing in North America, while Costco Wholesale Canada reported transitioning most of their private label pork to group sow housing.

Many companies have yet to report progress in this area, but those that are reporting now often outpace the industry’s own delayed transition timeline of 2029.

Every year, while leading companies show what is possible to reduce suffering for animals in their supply chains, a concerning number still lack transparency.

While 70% of companies featured have reported progress in Canada on at least one of the animal welfare policies evaluated, just 15% are reporting on all three animal welfare policies.