Ontario vastly expanding where booze can be sold in move to modernize alcohol retail market
CBC
Starting in 2026, Ontarians will be able to buy beer, wine, cider and seltzers at convenience stores, big box outlets, some gas stations and more supermarkets, marking a major overhaul in how alcohol is sold in the province.
A suite of changes announced Thursday are intended to modernize the booze market, the provincial government said, by ushering in "the largest expansion of consumer choice and convenience since the end of prohibition almost 100 years ago."
The Ministry of Finance estimates there will be some 8,500 new locations where consumers can purchase low-alcohol products, giving Ontario the third-highest density of alcohol retail stores among the provinces, behind only Newfoundland and Labrador and Quebec.
The LCBO will continue to be the only retailer that sells high-alcohol spirits like gin and whisky.
As part of the overhaul, the province is ending its Master Framework Agreement (MFA) with the multinational conglomerates that own The Beer Store, which currently has a quasi-monopoly on the distribution and sale of beer in Ontario.
The MFA, which the previous Liberal government extended in 2015, will be allowed to expire at the end of 2025, the province said.
At a technical briefing for the media Thursday morning, an official called the agreement a strong impediment to retail expansion because it limits the number of grocery stores that can sell beer to 450.
The Beer Store will still be the primary distributor of beer to retailer outlets, bars and restaurants until at least 2031 while the market adjusts to the new regulations, the province said, but smaller Ontario craft brewers will be able to distribute their products through other channels if they wish.
The Beer Store will also continue to run the province's recycling program for alcoholic beverage containers over the same period.
There will be no caps on the pack sizes of beer, cider and ready-to-drink seltzers sold in the new retail outlets, the government said. Grocery stores in Ontario that currently offer beer are limited to singles and six packs.
While LCBO locations will maintain consistent pricing, private retailers will be able to set their own prices "consistent with relevant regulations," according to the province. There will still be a minimum price for alcoholic products to "preserve standards for responsible consumption," a news release accompanying the announcement said.
The changes also include measures the province said are meant to support sales and growth for local Ontario producers. Existing shelf space requirements for grocery stores that sell alcohol — 20 per cent for craft beer and 40 per cent for Ontario wines and ciders — will be extended to all new retail locations.
Meanwhile, legislation to be tabled in the coming months would eliminate a 6.1 per cent tax at on-site winery retail shops.
More to come.
A suspended Moncton structural engineer faces more lawsuits alleging design flaws in buildings that require repair.
Sajjade Tugano has come a long way since he first set foot in Chibougamau, six hours north of Quebec City, in the depths of winter in November 2021.
A national mentor-based hockey organization that helps marginalized youth through the sport is paying tribute to one of its members and youngest coaches.
After months of asking the City of Saskatoon to do more to solve its homelessness crisis, advocate David Fineday took to the stand at city council Tuesday.
A community organization wants to breathe new life into a historic building in Regina.
Some Prince County residents are walking away with more answers after attending Tuesday night's public information session in Albany, P.E.I., on the Wejipek Wind Project.
After just a few months of using vape detectors in a couple of bathrooms, a B.C. high school principal says it's reduced vape use in those areas to basically zero.
Burlington MP Karina Gould gets boost from local young people after entering Liberal leadership race
A day after entering the Liberal leadership race, Burlington, Ont., MP and government House leader Karina Gould was cheered at a campaign launch party by local residents — including young people expressing hope the 37-year-old politician will represent their voices.
Anold Mulaisho was born intersex and wonders where they fit in, in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump's executive order for the United States to recognize only two sexes, male and female.
WARNING: This story contains references to suicide.
Subway service is down on Line 1 between Sheppard West and Lawrence West due to a broken power rail, the TTC said Wednesday morning.
A long-term care home in Toronto's Yorkville neighbourhood has cleared one more hurdle to add desperately needed beds to its property, a move that's been praised by housing advocates but opposed by locals concerned about the impact on the neighbourhood.
A Charlottetown resident is calling on the P.E.I. government to do more to protect homeowners after reading about a recent oil spill very similar to one on his Montague property 20 years ago, which he says ruined him financially.
WARNING: This story includes details of abuse.
Two years after Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly declared she was taking the unprecedented step of moving to confiscate millions of dollars from a sanctioned Russian oligarch with assets in Canada, the government has not actually begun the court process to forfeit the money, let alone to hand it over to Ukrainian reconstruction — and it may never happen.
Alberta business and oilpatch leaders are returning home from Washington this week after the U.S. presidential inauguration festivities — and gritting their teeth after a roller-coaster of emotions.
Youth workers in Toronto's Jane and Finch area are flipping the script on negative stereotypes about their communities with a new fundraising campaign that offers anti-bias training in exchange for donations to bolster their programming.
In a sudden move that came late Tuesday evening, city officials rolled out cots and temporarily opened a warm building in east London as frigid temperatures continued.