The heads of nine Canadian provinces have given the go-ahead this week for direct-to-consumer (D2C) alcohol sales between their jurisdictions.
The Premiers of Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland & Labrador signed the agreement yesterday (21 July) that allows DTC sales between each of them. British Columbia has pledged to implement a DTC system for all types of alcohol in February next year, while the other seven provinces either already allow direct sales or are in the process of developing a system.
The deal builds upon a memorandum of understanding signed last year by all of Canada’s ten provinces and the Yukon territory, agreeing to explore “ways to improve the flow of alcoholic beverages across Canada”. Quebec and Yukon, which did not sign yesterday’s agreement, are “in the process of establishing the necessary infrastructure to implement DTC in their jurisdictions, with the aim of signing on … in the near future”.
This week’s domestic deal comes as Canada faces the threat of 50% tariffs on alcohol imports to the US from next month. Sales of spirits from the US in Canada nosedived last year as individual provinces began pulling the country’s products from liquor store shelves. The removal came about in response to President Trump’s implementation of a 25% tariff on selected imports from Canada, although this did not include alcohol.
In the 2024-2025 fiscal year, Canada imported an estimated CAD1bn (US$0.72bn) of beverage alcohol from the US, down 5.4% from the previous fiscal year, according to Statistics Canada data published in March.
The share of domestic alcohol sales increased across all beverage categories in Canada between 31 March 2024 and 1 April 2025. Canadian products represented 60.6% of the country’s total alcohol sales, up from 59% in the corresponding period a year earlier.
