Several years ago after undercover investigations and intense corporate engagement pressure by Mercy For Animals, the Retail Council of Canada (RCC)—a trade association representing Canada’s largest grocers—made public, time-bound commitments for its members to phasing out gestation crates for pigs and battery cages for laying hens from their supply chains. 

On March 29, 2021, the RCC publicly revoked these commitments, assigning total responsibility for corporate animal welfare policies to its individual members. In a coordinated effort on the same day, the country’s largest retailer, Loblaws, deleted its years-old cage-free and crate-free policies from its website. These developments represented an unprecedented threat to the success of animal welfare policy implementation in Canada.

But Mercy For Animals immediately took action. We contacted every major grocer in the country—including Loblaws, Sobeys, Metro, Save-On-Foods, and Walmart—and didn’t stop pushing until we met with them all. 

In response to public outcry, every retailer reinstated removed policies in some form on their website, updated existing statements to address the RCC issue, or mentioned reporting progress on their website in some form. 

We continue to work closely with these companies to ensure they are making headway on their animal welfare commitments.