Canada’s chicken market is sending a signal Ottawa can no longer afford to ignore: supply is not keeping pace with demand.

Chicken Farmers of Canada reported this week that production during the first four months of 2026 was 5.6 per cent higher than during the same period last year. That sounds reassuring. But the same organization also acknowledged that underproduction remained a challenge, while wholesale prices for whole birds and legs reached record levels.

Unless Ottawa moves quickly, chicken prices could soar even higher by September — just as children return to school and families resume routines built around convenient, affordable proteins. For households already struggling with sharply higher beef prices, another increase at the chicken counter would be especially painful.

Production can rise and still fail to meet the market. That is precisely the problem.

Supply management was created to balance domestic production with Canadian demand while providing farmers with stable and predictable returns. It was never intended to ration the market, protect inefficiency or allow persistent scarcity to become normal.

Chicken production is established in eight-week allocation periods. The system forecasts determine how much chicken farmers may produce and protects the domestic market through import controls. When the forecast is reasonably accurate and farmers fill their allocations, the model can work well.

But a production allocation is only a ceiling. It is not a guarantee that........

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