Ontario's accelerated plan to expand alcohol sales, allowing beer and wine in more locations, comes with a hefty price tag. While the policy aims to increase convenience for residents, the province will incur an additional $600-million cost to expedite the change by only 17 months.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford pretends to drink from a beer can and Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy holds one at an announcement saying the province is speeding up the expansion of alcohol sales , in Toronto on May 24, 2024.Ontario’s push to speed up making it easier to buy beer and wine comes with a tab that leaves a bad taste in the mouth.
For readers outside Ontario, who wonder why this was not already the case, the province has a restrictive alcohol sales system. Most retail sales are done through the Beer Store, owned by brewers, and the government-run LCBO. So his government moved up the timetable. In the spring of 2024, Ontario announced plans to expand legal alcohol sales at grocery stores and allow them at convenience and big-box shops – focused on low-test options such as beer, wine, cider and ready-to-drink cocktails. By the start of August last year, this new regime was being rolled into place.
That loss comes because traditional alcohol retailers were subject to beer and wine taxes, while grocery, convenience and big-box stores are not. Although inconvenient to provincial coffers, the projected tax loss would be evidence the policy was being embraced. More people buying from more convenient locations means a drop in tax revenues.
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