One of the most urgent issues affecting farmed animals in Canada is the suffering of egg-laying hens, including those who produce Sobeys caged eggs. Millions of hens spend their entire lives confined in cramped wire cages. They suffer in conventional battery cages and so-called “enriched cage colony housing”—a misleading term used to disguise ongoing cage confinement.
This intensive confinement has a profoundly negative impact on hens’ well-being. In cages, hens can’t engage in their natural behaviours. They are forced to live in wire bottomed cages and cannot forage, perch, or dust-bathe, and lack enough space to even flap their wings.
In battery cages, hens are only given space equivalent to the size of a single sheet of letter-sized paper, and in “enriched cages”, a legal-sized sheet of paper.
Globally, cage confinement for egg-laying hens is being phased out, yet Canada continues to invest in it. Direct engagement with corporations to improve their animal welfare policies is critical to end this abuse.
In 2016, Canadian grocery giant Sobeys promised to end cruel cages in its egg supply chain by 2025. Disappointingly, Sobeys egg cruelty remains rampant with the company still sourcing around 80 percent of eggs from caged hens as we move through 2026.
This blatant failure to honour its promise to Canadians and to hens is unacceptable.
Game, Set, Match! No Love for Sobeys Caged Eggs
Animal Justice and concerned advocates took that message directly to the 2026 National Bank Open. At this major sporting event, Sobeys is a corporate partner. Demonstrators wore Wimbledon-style white tennis attire outside the Sobeys Stadium in Toronto and the IGA Stadium in Montreal, and educated spectators on Sobeys’ animal welfare failures. They let the public know that Sobeys does not serve love for hens while it continues to sell cruel caged eggs.
In Toronto, an aerial banner also flew over Sobeys Stadium Centre Court at the women’s quarter-finals with a bold message in the sky: SOBEYS HURTS ANIMALS.CA.
Sobeys executives and corporate stakeholders rely on preserving their wholesome reputation among their customers. However, their reputation is being increasingly tarnished by failing to adhere to their animal welfare commitment.
Sobeys Animal Welfare Improvements Can Transform a Rotten Industry
The Canadian government allows the animal agriculture industry to essentially write its own rules leaving farmed animals with virtually no legal protection on farms. As a result, corporations like Sobeys, with enormous purchasing power, play a critical role in determining how farmed animals are treated behind closed doors. As major buyers, grocery chains have immense market power to demand higher animal welfare standards from their suppliers. When a retail giant like Sobeys commits to cage-free egg sourcing, it drives change across the egg industry.
However, a corporate animal welfare commitment only matters if the company actually follows through. Ten years later, Sobeys continues to drag its feet and dodge accountability. Instead of honouring its public commitment, the company continues to sell caged eggs, causing suffering to hens on a massive scale. Calls are growing across the country for Sobeys to do better!
Take Action to Stop Sobeys Egg Cruelty Today
Animal Justice and advocates across the country continue to call on Sobeys to release a clear time-bound plan to eliminate cages from its egg supply chain and deliver on its broken promise.
That demand can easily be met, and it is the bare minimum Canadians expect from a company that has already committed to making this change.
Corporations pay attention when their customers speak up. You have the power to create real change for egg-laying hens trapped in cages across Canada.
- Email Executives: Demand a clear, time-bound plan to get hens out of cages by contacting Sobeys executives here.
- Call Customer Care: Dial 1-866-948-0196 to let Sobeys know you refuse to support businesses lagging on animal welfare.
- Submit Formal Feedback: File an official complaint through the Sobeys corporate contact form.
