Provinces Miss Alcohol Sales Deadline

The deadline for provinces and territories to allow direct-to-consumer alcohol sales across Canada is days away, but only Manitoba and New Brunswick have put the service in place so far, according to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, which says governments have not been clear about what will happen next.

Last summer, nearly all provinces and territories signed a memorandum of understanding committing to allow direct-to-consumer alcohol sales by the end of May 2026. The agreement was meant to let customers order beer, wine and spirits directly from producers in their own province and, in some cases, from other provinces and territories for delivery. The federal government helped broker the deal, but the responsibility for carrying it out rests with provincial and territorial governments.

The CFIB said Monday that small businesses still do not know which jurisdictions will meet the deadline or how the rules will work in practice. “Announcing commitments are not the same as delivering results,” Keyli Loeppky, the group’s senior director for Alberta and interprovincial affairs, said in a statement. “With the deadline essentially here, small businesses deserve clarity on what’s actually being implemented and when.”

Manitoba has long allowed direct-to-consumer alcohol sales. New Brunswick adopted changes in August 2025. Outside those two provinces, no broad national system has been launched, although some limited arrangements exist between specific jurisdictions. For example, wineries in British Columbia can sell directly to consumers in Alberta under certain conditions.

The push to open up alcohol sales across provincial lines has been framed as part of a broader effort to reduce interprovincial trade barriers and help Canadian businesses compete at a time of economic pressure from U.S. tariffs and trade tensions. The CFIB said removing those barriers could also help consumers by lowering costs and expanding access to products.

The group is urging governments to explain their timelines publicly and to move beyond announcements. It also wants provinces and territories to expand the Canadian Mutual Recognition Agreement on Goods so that alcohol can be sold more freely across the country.

Loeppky said governments should not treat the change as technically difficult. “Alcohol products are able to move across Canada without major consequences for businesses or consumers,” she said. “So governments are about to miss their own deadline.”

An Ipsos poll conducted exclusively for Global News found that six in 10 respondents supported removing interprovincial trade barriers, including those affecting alcohol sales, and believed doing so could help offset economic damage from the trade war and support growth.

For wineries, breweries and distilleries, the issue is now tied to compliance costs, shipping rules and access to new customers. For consumers, it remains unclear whether the promised changes will arrive on time or be delayed by provincial differences in how each government chooses to implement them.