Ottawa has reached a deal with the majority of provinces to allow Canadian booze to flow more freely across the country just as U.S. liquor is pulled from their store shelves.
The move is part of a host of changes being worked on by the federal, provincial and territorial governments that were announced late Wednesday to add $200 billion to the Canadian economy while it’s rocked by U.S. tariffs.
“This is unprecedented action to reduce trade barriers in Canada,” Internal Trade Minister Anita Anand told CBC News.
“This is a pivotal moment for Canada to take bold and united action in the face of the United States’ unjustified decision to impose 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods.”
All provinces, except P.E.I. and Newfoundland and Labrador, have agreed to remove the obstacles preventing their alcohol from being sold in other jurisdictions.
Booze is the headline but that’s not all that’s going on:
The federal, provincial and territorial governments are also working toward recognizing certified professionals no matter where they received their credentials in Canada.
Following a meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday, the first ministers directed the committee on Internal Trade — which is responsible for implementing the Canada Free Trade Agreement (CFTA) — to develop a Canada-wide credential recognition plan by June 1.
Along with recognizing labour credentials, the premiers are launching negotiations to allow goods certified in one province to be bought or sold in another without additional red tape, excluding food.
It’s about time.
Maybe there are some downsides I’m not aware of, but this sounds like great news to me. There are some great local microbreweries, sure, but I really miss some brews from when I was living in SK and it’s such a pain to get them several provinces away.
Love this news
Hopefully I can get Halifax’s Good Robot at the LCBO and other provinces get a chance to try North Bay’s Gateway City beers!
I don’t know many western Canada beers, but I’d like to!
Lots of Alberta and BC distillers are good, I’ve got family who always bring them back to Ontario. Out east I’ve had some good rum from JD Shore.
Can anyone recommend some fun spirits? Looking to scratch that bourbon itch…
I’m really surprised by this development. The fact that provinces sat down with Ottawa and agreed on something related to liquor makes me think whatever the proposed plan is, it’s probably not transformative…
Devil is in the details of course, but I’m interested to see what this actually looks like.
I quit drinking but this is good news. Wish there were more non-alcohol beers that didn’t suck. The only brand i found drinkable is Athletic and it’s American.
All provinces, except P.E.I. and Newfoundland and Labrador, have agreed to remove the obstacles preventing their alcohol from being sold in other jurisdictions.
with typical american ignorance, I ask… what is the reasoning here?
edit: thanks for the information everyone. TIL!
Without looking, I would guess that these are small markets with a somewhat fragile microbrewery ecosystem that may not be able to stand up to the wave of product about to come crashing in from Ontario and BC.
Could be their scale is so small that they may fear losing out, tho chances are their sales will go up. When I drank beer I really liked moosehead, but it was so expensive compared to the other beers, if there was no “import tax” I prolly would have only drank that beer making for a hell of a lot more sales (used to drink a 6 pack a day)
Moosehead’s a New Brunswick-based company, owned by the Olands, which are a significant name in the Canadian beer industry. It’s an old and well-established company, with significant means (at least compared to other independent brewers). They stand to do well from this.
Breweries on the islands do not have the distribution networks necessary to capitalize on this, and are much more likely to see themselves smothered by, well, Mooshead and the like, than they are to benefit.
Ah, good point, trade liberalization like this is best supported by equalizing access for smaller producers. Example: via support programs for smaller producers in the way of funding for, or even direct establishment of, co-op style distributors with scaled agreements for transport and processing.
