# Why are McNuggets (tm) so expensive in Canada? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 20, 2012, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-mcnuggets-tm-so-expensive-in-canada/610148 "2012-01-20T17:37:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-mcnuggets-tm-so-expensive-in-canada/610148/1 "2012-01-20T17:37:43Z")
The other day, my wife wanted to buy some Chicken McNuggets. I almost had an aneurysm when I saw how expensive they were – $4.69 for 6 nuggets! After tax, that was almost a dollar per McNugget. And now, I just noticed in another thread that a pack of 4 McNuggets is on the “dollar menu” in the U.S. (at least in some locations). That’s one third of the per-nugget price that I’m paying in Canada (Toronto, specifically). Thinking back, when I was a kid I seem to recall that 9 McNuggets cost about the same as a Big Mac or a Quarter Pounder. And now 6 McNuggets cost about the same as a large sandwich. Why can’t we have cheap McNuggets in Canada? Do we have to import chickens from Mongolia or something? ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-mcnuggets-tm-so-expensive-in-canada/610148/2 "2012-01-20T17:44:01Z")
Can’t help you, but I’d like to know if McDonald’s up there has McPoutine? I think that would be great. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-mcnuggets-tm-so-expensive-in-canada/610148/3 "2012-01-20T17:45:14Z")
We have to make our McNuggets with chicken here - it’s somewhat restrictive. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-mcnuggets-tm-so-expensive-in-canada/610148/4 "2012-01-20T17:45:31Z")
If I could get the SO to go visit her relatives, I want to make a Spicy McHaggis Sandwich. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-mcnuggets-tm-so-expensive-in-canada/610148/5 "2012-01-20T17:48:02Z")
> [@Lukeinva](#): > > Can’t help you, but I’d like to know if McDonald’s up there has McPoutine? I think that would be great. I’ve seen “poutine” (don’t know if it’s made with real cheese curds) at Burger King, Harvey’s, Dairy Queen and KFC (I think). Not McDonalds, though. EDIT: A quick Google reveals that some McDonalds restaurants in Canada have served poutine. It’s not ringing any bells with me, though. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-mcnuggets-tm-so-expensive-in-canada/610148/6 "2012-01-20T17:48:11Z")
It’s to offset the eventual cost to our public health-care system. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-mcnuggets-tm-so-expensive-in-canada/610148/7 "2012-01-20T18:43:44Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > If I could get the SO to go visit her relatives, I want to make a Spicy McHaggis Sandwich. Hey, aren’t you the poster who always cooks amazing food for his _roommate_? Did you find the way to her heart was through her stomach? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-mcnuggets-tm-so-expensive-in-canada/610148/8 "2012-01-20T19:18:14Z")
I don’t think she’d like a Spicy McHaggis Sandwich. She won’t eat filtration units since she became a nurse. (And I tend to like things spicier than many people do.) ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-mcnuggets-tm-so-expensive-in-canada/610148/9 "2012-01-20T20:32:59Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > If I could get the SO to go visit her relatives, I want to make a Spicy McHaggis Sandwich. It’s been retired since 2003. I don’t know if [this was the thread you saw](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=480510), but you’d have to compare across all McNugget prices in the two stores, as apparently McDonald’s doesn’t do bulk. ---
**Author:** ![kushiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-mcnuggets-tm-so-expensive-in-canada/610148/10 "2012-01-20T20:37:58Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > We have to make our McNuggets with chicken here - it’s somewhat restrictive. 🙂 Wait, wait, are you making a joke, or do we really have more stringent standards for McNuggets? That would be awesome. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-mcnuggets-tm-so-expensive-in-canada/610148/11 "2012-01-20T20:42:47Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > I don’t know if [this was the thread you saw](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=480510), but you’d have to compare across all McNugget prices in the two stores, as apparently McDonald’s doesn’t do bulk. No, it was [this post from the very recent “Can I take your order?” thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=14685375&postcount=21). But that’s interesting; if the 10 piece McNuggets costs $4, then at least it’s not one-third as cheap as the Canadian 10 piece. I think the Canadian 10 piece costs somewhere in the $5.50 to $6 range – that’s still expensive compared to the U.S., but not ridiculously so (no more so than U.S. vs. Canadian book and magazine prices, for instance). ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-mcnuggets-tm-so-expensive-in-canada/610148/12 "2012-01-20T20:44:35Z")
They’ve been on sale around here (Chicago) for 20 for $5 for awhile. Mmmmmm…mechanically separated chicken… ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-mcnuggets-tm-so-expensive-in-canada/610148/13 "2012-01-20T20:52:30Z")
News flash: Everything’s more expensive in Canada compared to the US. It probably has to do with a combination of taxes, lower volume demand, higher transportation costs, and in some cases, for food, a quota system that limits production and inflates prices. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-mcnuggets-tm-so-expensive-in-canada/610148/14 "2012-01-20T21:02:14Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > News flash: Everything’s more expensive in Canada compared to the US. Indeed…but my point is that McNuggets are _relatively_ more expensive in Canada than other items on the menu. > [@Leaffan](#): > > It probably has to do with a combination of taxes, lower volume demand, higher transportation costs, and in some cases, for food, a quota system that limits production and inflates prices. Chicken taxes? Chicken quotas? Higher chicken transportation? Why am I just hearing about these now? The volume demand thing sounds like a chicken-and-egg problem: they’re expensive because they’re unpopular, and they’re unpopular because they’re expensive. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-mcnuggets-tm-so-expensive-in-canada/610148/15 "2012-01-20T21:15:01Z")
Well, there is a poultry [quota](http://www.agr.gc.ca/poultry/regimp_eng.htm) system in Canada. > [@](#): > > Canada’s poultry and eggs industry operates under an orderly marketing system which is designed to match the supply with the demand. Of course taxes come into play; provincial and federal. Transportation is by truck, which typically requires fuel, which is taxed way higher than the US, so of course transportation is more expensive. As for demand, I meant the US has 10 times the population, therefore probably 10 times the demand. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-mcnuggets-tm-so-expensive-in-canada/610148/16 "2012-01-20T23:25:35Z")
> [@kushiel](#): > > Wait, wait, are you making a joke, or do we really have more stringent standards for McNuggets? That would be awesome. Some of column A, some of column B - I have heard that we have different standards for fast-food ingredients than in the US, but that’s pretty much anecdotal. I’d have to do more research on that. ETA: [Here’s an article that sort of addresses this (but not specifically fast food).](http://balanceoffood.typepad.com/balance_of_food/2011/05/harmony-not-good-when-canadas-food-standards-are-lowered-to-us-level.html) ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-mcnuggets-tm-so-expensive-in-canada/610148/17 "2012-01-20T23:45:42Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > The volume demand thing sounds like a chicken-and-egg problem: Are you comparing McNuggets with McMuffins? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-mcnuggets-tm-so-expensive-in-canada/610148/18 "2012-01-21T00:20:35Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > It’s to offset the eventual cost to our public health-care system. Or to reduce the strain on it, by discouraging the consumption of McNuggets? ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-mcnuggets-tm-so-expensive-in-canada/610148/19 "2012-01-21T01:08:10Z")
> [@Folly](#): > > They’ve been on sale around here (Chicago) for 20 for $5 for awhile. That’s the price (well 4.99) on the sign of the one nearest to my home as well. I used to love them so much, but they’ve really gotten worse and worse in recent years to the point where I don’t even crave them anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-mcnuggets-tm-so-expensive-in-canada/610148/20 "2012-01-21T02:01:28Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > I’ve seen “poutine” (don’t know if it’s made with real cheese curds) at Burger King, Harvey’s, Dairy Queen and KFC (I think). Not McDonalds, though. > > EDIT: A quick Google reveals that some McDonalds restaurants in Canada have served poutine. It’s not ringing any bells with me, though. I remember it. It sucked. The extreme saltiness of the fries, topped with an extremely salty gravy, made it almost inedible. Besides, those crisp skinny fries are ALL WRONG for poutine. I need to see if I can talk the manager of the nearest Five Guys to experiment with poutine on the menu. He would make millions. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-mcnuggets-tm-so-expensive-in-canada/610148.md?page=2)