Local beer, like this one from Quidi Vidi Brewery, will soon be available for people outside of Newfoundland and Labrador to order online. (CBC)
Newfoundlanders and Labradorians who are of drinking age will soon be able to have Canadian booze made outside the province delivered to their doors.
On Monday, the provincial government announced after months of holding out, it is signing on to the federal agreement on direct-to-consumer sales of alcoholic beverages for personal consumption.
“Once we have operating agreements in place, then an individual in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador who has a favourite wine from British Columbia that they don’t have or carry, for example, at the liquor store — they can go directly to that winery and have something shipped into the province,” Finance Minister Siobhan Coady told reporters.
WATCH | N.L. allows interprovincial booze trade — with limits: 
N.L. allows interprovincial booze trade — with limits
The Newfoundland and Labrador government signalled on Monday that it is willing to budge when it comes to removing trade barriers with other provinces, but as the CBC’s Terry Roberts reports, there are still plenty of lines in the sand in order to protect local jobs and products — especially when it comes to the brewing industry.
The emphasis on buying local and Canadian-made products started in February, when U.S. President Donald Trump imposed 25 per cent tariffs on almost all Canadian goods.
To retaliate, some Canadian provinces removed American liquor from their shelves, resulting in an estimated $26 million loss in annual revenue for the U.S. from the Newfoundland and Labrador Liquor Corporation.
In March, all provinces — with the exception of Newfoundland and Labrador — agreed to remove barriers preventing their alcohol from being sold in other provincial jurisdictions by April.
At the time, Coady said the province wanted to protect breweries owned by Molson and Labatt in St. John’s from the potential negative impacts the agreement could have on its operations.
Premier John Hogan says the province will join the rest of Canada and remove its interprovincial trade barriers that prohibited the sale of other locally made Canadian alcohol products. (Danny Arsenault/CBC)
Premier John Hogan said allowing direct-to-consumer alcohol sales won’t affect operations or jobs at the Molson and Labatt breweries in St. John’s.
“Their jobs are not in jeopardy, we are not changing rules or legislation or polices to affect those jobs,” Hogan said.
“Canadians realized that we should be less reliant on the U.S. and more cooperative with each other.”
This means beer sold in convenience stores, for example, will continue to be brewed within the province, whereas products from local breweries will become available in new markets.
Direct-to-consumer sales of booze from outside Newfoundland and Labrador is limited to personal consumption only. Wholesalers, retailers, or other licensees are not included in the changed legislation.
Online ordering of Canadian alcoholic beverages should come into effect next spring.
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