Quick History

While chickens have been grown in New Brunswick for a long time, the industry developed and expanded in the mid 1960s with production located mainly in the Moncton, Sussex and Saint-Francois-de-Madawaska areas. At that time, wild swings in production and prices created financial difficulties for chicken producers. After receiving payment from the processor, many producers were not even able to cover their costs.

Thanks to a system called supply management, which was developed in the late 1970s, Canada’s chicken producers are now able to make a fair profit on their products and also guarantee a steady supply of chicken for Canadian consumers.

See a short video about the Canadian chicken industry and supply management here.

Supply management allows chicken production in every province in Canada and assures a fresh supply of product is available to consumers in every province. When demand increases, as it has been doing for the last 20 years, farmers are able to raise more chickens. A stable and strong system is essential to providing producers with a reasonable price and a fair return on their investment, which ensures the viability of the farm in the future.