Canadian brewers and winemakers criticize provinces for excluding alcohol from a new trade deal, warning delays are raising costs and hurting competitiveness.
Alcohol Exclusion From Trade Deal Frustrates Producers
Industry Reaction
A new agreement signed Wednesday by Canadian provinces, territories, and the federal government has ignited frustration across the country’s beverage-alcohol sector. While the deal aims to ease interprovincial trade restrictions for select goods, alcohol was omitted — a move that industry leaders say undermines years of advocacy.
Adin Wener, managing partner at Toronto-based Henderson Brewing Company, said the industry had expected long-promised progress. He noted that many brewers facing U.S. tariffs were counting on expanded domestic markets. “We should be one country, especially in the face of tariffs,” he said.
Lingering Barriers
Producers say the continued exclusion of alcohol reinforces challenges that complicate business operations. Those include differing provincial packaging requirements, shipping rules, and pricing structures, all of which can add months to distribution timelines.
Canada’s alcohol sector is already grappling with inflation, declining consumption among younger demographics, and rising costs for materials like aluminum. For breweries and wineries, interprovincial hurdles remain one of the few obstacles that government policy could remedy, yet progress remains slow.
Years of Delays
In July, nine provinces and one territory signed a memorandum of understanding to simplify direct-to-consumer alcohol sales by May 2026. But industry experts say that without firm commitments, timelines mean little.
Jeff Guignard, CEO of WineBC, said the sector has waited too long. “We haven’t been talking about this for weeks. We’ve been talking about this for years,” he said. He also pointed to added costs facing B.C. wineries shipping into Alberta after a new ad valorem tax took effect this spring.
Provincial Motives
Economists say the provinces’ reluctance to liberalize alcohol trade stems from financial incentives. With major provincial retailers — including Ontario’s LCBO and Quebec’s SAQ — generating substantial revenue, governments remain cautious about introducing competition from out-of-province producers.
Concordia University economist Moshe Lander said the decision reflects a long pattern of carveouts that have built today’s maze of trade barriers. Removing alcohol, he argued, threatens both revenue and local industries tied to tourism and regional branding.
Outlook
Industry leaders maintain that direct-to-consumer progress is possible, though they say political coordination is essential. Economists, however, warn that without unified commitment from all 14 jurisdictions, meaningful reform is unlikely.
“It could happen,” Lander said. “But the political will has to be there among 14 people at the same time.”
