{"id":817691,"date":"2026-07-22T02:50:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T02:50:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/817691\/"},"modified":"2026-07-22T02:50:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T02:50:13","slug":"premiers-agree-to-lift-interprovincial-barriers-on-alcohol-sales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/817691\/","title":{"rendered":"Premiers agree to lift interprovincial barriers on alcohol sales"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

A government-run B.C. liquor store in Vancouver in August, 2022. All the provinces and the Yukon signed a memorandum last year committing to open their borders to direct consumer sales by May, 2026.DARRYL DYCK\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

The premiers of nine provinces announced Tuesday that they\u2019re removing major barriers to interprovincial sales of alcohol.<\/p>\n

Provincial rules will be changed to allow brewers and distillers to sell alcohol directly to consumers regardless of jurisdiction.<\/p>\n

The agreement knocks down a number of trade barriers across the country. Direct-to-consumer sales of beer, wine and spirits manufactured in one province and shipped to consumers in another have been largely governed by item-specific agreements between provinces or were effectively prohibited.<\/p>\n

\u201cCanadians can get the benefits of these products, strengthening internal trade \u2013 being our own best customer at a time when it really matters,\u201d New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt told reporters in Charlottetown, where premiers are meeting this week.<\/p>\n

New Brunswick and Manitoba had already dropped the barriers before Tuesday\u2019s announcement.<\/p>\n

Not all provinces signed on.<\/p>\n

The premiers of Quebec, the Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut didn\u2019t sign the deal. However, a statement released by those who did sign said Quebec and the Yukon were working to join in the near future.<\/p>\n

Decisions to lift U.S. alcohol bans should be part of broader deal, Carney says<\/a><\/p>\n

The new trade system is effective immediately, but British Columbia said it is aiming for next February to get regulations in place.<\/p>\n

Tuesday\u2019s deal stems from a memorandum signed by all the provinces and the Yukon in 2025 to take action on the file.<\/p>\n

The new agreement comes after U.S. President Donald Trump announced this week a plan to implement steep tariffs on Canadian beer, wine and spirits.<\/p>\n

Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston said those new duties mean it\u2019s more important than ever for governments to build an economy free of interprovincial trade barriers.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday\u2019s agreement will open new markets and new choice and convenience for producers and customers in Ontario and across Canada,\u201d Ford said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said the same new opportunities are now open to producers in her province. She said the next step will be clearing the way for barrier-free retail sales across the country.<\/p>\n

N.W.T. and Nunavut said in a joint statement that they support the goal of knocking down trade barriers but didn\u2019t sign Tuesday\u2019s deal because \u201cof the unique realities of our territories.\u201d<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Ontario Premier Doug Ford, centre, and Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe leave a meeting with Indigenous leaders at the Council of the Federation meeting in Charlottetown on Tuesday.Darren Calabrese\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

\u201cMany of our communities have locally determined alcohol restrictions or prohibitions that reflect community priorities and cultural values,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n

\u201cRespecting community self-determination is fundamental to how alcohol is managed in the North.\u201d<\/p>\n

Industry groups praised the announcement.<\/p>\n

Dan Paszkowski, the president of Wine Growers Canada, said they\u2019ve been urging the change for almost two decades.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday\u2019s agreement is the culmination of years of collaboration between governments and industry and represents a transformational step toward a truly national Canadian wine marketplace,\u201d he said in a statement.<\/p>\n

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business, or CFIB, said it appreciates that governments want to reduce trade barriers and said a further sign of success will be low or minimal licensing or regulatory fees for direct-to-consumer sales.<\/p>\n

Dan Kelly, CFIB\u2019s president, also said the premiers should now work on opening up retail sales.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: A government-run B.C. liquor store in Vancouver in August, 2022. All the provinces…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":691676,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,44,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-817691","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-news","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/817691","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=817691"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/817691\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/691676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=817691"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=817691"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=817691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}