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Get ready for a day of booze news, with the Ontario government expected to announce changes to how alcohol is sold in the province.
If Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s cabinet approves, the province will move to allow all supermarkets, convenience stores and gas stations to sell beer, wine and canned mix drinks or seltzers, according to industry sources.
In the last year, the government has held closed-door consultations with industry officials on “modernizing” the alcohol sales regime, but has required all participants involved to sign non-disclosure agreements.
The looming reforms pit a range of interests against each other as big supermarket companies, convenience store chains, the giant beer and wine producers, craft brewers and small wineries all vie for the best deal possible when Ontario’s almost $10-billion-a-year retail landscape shifts.
The Ford government hasn’t commented publicly on its planned changes but made a campaign promise in 2018 to allow convenience stores to sell beer and wine.
If the government does schedule a news conference on Thursday, CBC Toronto will aim to let you watch live in this story.
So, when would these changes happen? Sources suggest the changes would begin in 2026 – not this holiday season.
Will the announcement kill The Beer Store? No, although the government is going to end the restriction that makes The Beer Store the only place that can sell cases of 12 and 24.
The move will lead to the end of the current agreement between the government and the multinational brewing companies that own The Beer Store, which was signed by the previous Liberal government of Kathleen Wynne.
The agreement caps the number of grocery store locations that can sell beer or wine at 450, precludes supermarkets from selling beer in any format larger than a six pack, and bars retail sales from convenience stores.
Ford’s government went so far as tabling a bill to scrap the contract in 2019. Although the legislation passed, the government has not actually brought it into force.
Ontario’s $10-billion-a-year retail market for alcohol is about to undergo a shakeup. Industry sources tell CBC News the Ford government is considering changes that go well beyond allowing corner stores to sell beer and wine. CBC’s Mike Crawley explains.
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