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.
Run 3 Space | Play Space Running Game
Traffic Jam 3D | Online Racing Game
Duck Hunt | Play Old Classic Game
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) says it has resolved an issue that prevented people from seeing how much contribution room they had left in their tax-free savings accounts (TFSAs).
A Stellarton, N.S., man says he was baffled when he discovered his $2,000 non-refundable airline ticket to Texas was cancelled.
Theresa Marcotte now regrets her decision four years ago to have two heat pumps installed in her Miramichi home.
Cut the red tape and cue the white dress.
More than 400 children under the age of one have received the measles vaccine in Manitoba since the government expanded eligibility for the shot last month due to a growing number of cases.
Wildfires continue to rage in northern Saskatchewan as the province faces its worst fire season in more than a decade.
Four in five of the wildfires so far in Saskatchewan this year have been caused by humans — the vast majority of them accidentally. But experts say part of the reason they've spread so far, so fast, is another human factor: climate change driven by the burning of fossil fuels.
Just a block away from the border of Alberta and Saskatchewan there's a garden uniting green thumbs in Lloydminster.
Shelley Lindaas has long dreamed of seeing a Kermode bear cub in person.
The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) report outlining the events leading to the death of Erixon Kabera answered some questions for his family and friends, but many remain.
Syed Hassan says he doesn't like to complain much. But when his wife told him she got a parking ticket on Thursday night, he knew he needed to speak out.
Following the public outcry over the Jian Ghomeshi case, some legal scholars and sexual assault survivor advocates lauded changes made to the Criminal Code that would prevent defence lawyers from surprising complainants at trial with past emails or text messages with the defendant.
The Waterloo Region District School Board has been talking a lot about the word "family" this month.