{"id":14149,"date":"2025-01-25T09:26:21","date_gmt":"2025-01-25T09:26:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/torontotribune.ca\/index.php\/2025\/01\/25\/why-is-it-so-hard-to-buy-booze-from-another-province-blame-trade-barriers-national\/"},"modified":"2025-01-25T09:26:21","modified_gmt":"2025-01-25T09:26:21","slug":"why-is-it-so-hard-to-buy-booze-from-another-province-blame-trade-barriers-national","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/torontotribune.ca\/index.php\/2025\/01\/25\/why-is-it-so-hard-to-buy-booze-from-another-province-blame-trade-barriers-national\/","title":{"rendered":"Why is it so hard to buy booze from another province? Blame trade barriers – National"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Part of Ottawa\u2019s response to the threats of tariffs<\/a> by U.S. President Donald Trump<\/a> so far has been to vow to work on easing interprovincial trade barriers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Some experts say one sector where consumers often feel the effects of those barriers\u00a0is the sale and purchase of alcohol across provincial lines.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s easier to get a bottle of wine from Chile than it is (to get one) from British Columbia,\u201d said Matthew Holmes, executive vice-president and chief of public policy at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.<\/p>\n

He added that even in provinces like Alberta, where private sellers of alcohol are prominent, the province still controls the alcohol that comes in and how it\u2019s purchased.<\/p>\n

\u201cMr. Trump is reminding Canadians of how dysfunctional our confederation is economically,\u201d Sylvain Charlebois, director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University, said.<\/p>\n

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Charlebois said this makes Canadian winemakers and brewers overly reliant on the U.S.<\/p>\n

\u201cNova Scotia, Ontario and B.C. \u2014 all three provinces do produce a lot of wine. But they\u2019re reliant on the U.S. to generate more income. It\u2019s more difficult to sell to other provinces than it is to sell to U.S., which is not normal.\u201d<\/p>\n

While interprovincial trade barriers exist across the country, Charlebois said Quebec and Ontario have \u201cby far\u201d the most restrictive policies when it comes to importing alcohol from out-of-province.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoth provinces have not been open to any discussions to open up their markets,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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In Quebec, only the provincial alcohol corporation Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 des alcools du Qu\u00e9bec<\/a>\u00a0(SAQ) has legal authority to import alcohol into the province. Quebecers bringing alcohol into the province are required to contact the SAQ via an online form, even if it is a gift, donation, inheritance or souvenir from a trip.<\/p>\n

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The regulations can often prevent small business owners like Matt Tweedy from scaling up. Tweedy is the co-founder of the Tooth and Nail Brewing Company based in Ottawa\u2019s Hintonburg neighbourhood, a stone\u2019s throw from the provincial boundary between Ontario and Quebec.<\/p>\n

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Quebec\u2019s provincial regulations mean he can\u2019t sell his beer across the Ottawa River.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe ran into a situation a few years ago where a friend was getting married on the Quebec side of a particular structure that straddles Ontario and Quebec. We couldn\u2019t sell beer to his wedding. They weren\u2019t aware that this was the law when they booked the location,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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