Editor's note: This article originally appeared on The Trillium, a Village Media website devoted exclusively to covering provincial politics at Queen’s Park.
Beer, wine and other lower-alcohol beverages will be able to be bought in many more Ontario convenience and grocery stores by Jan. 1, 2026, Premier Doug Ford announced on Thursday, fulfilling an old campaign promise.
Any participating convenience, grocery or big box store will be able to sell beer, wine, cider, seltzers, coolers and ready-to-drink cocktails, making Ontario the second jurisdiction in Canada to do so after Quebec, the government said in a release.
There will be no restrictions on the size of cases. Any retailer will be able to sell 24- or even 30-packs of beer.
The government says the move will open up sales to an estimated 8,500 stores across the province.
"Just imagine on a Friday night in December, instead of being stuck in a long line out at the LCBO you'll be able to pop into your local convenience store to grab a bottle of wine, local retail or a big box store before heading out to the holiday party," Ford said at a news conference held at a gas station in Etobicoke on Thursday.
"Or in the summer, you'll be able to buy a case of beer at a grocery or big box store while you're stocking up on food and snacks ahead of your vacation up north or out east at the cottage," he added. "There's absolutely no reason that people in Ontario shouldn't enjoy the same convenient shopping experience as other Canadians do."
The Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) will remain the only distributor of spirits and continue to sell lower-ABV drinks as well.
New retailers will be able to sell alcohol between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m., seven days a week, Ministry of Finance staff said in a technical briefing for journalists before Ford's announcement.
The premier batted away questions about whether it's responsible to allow people to buy booze so early in the morning.
"We got to start treating people like adults," he said.
While LCBO prices will continue to be the same across the province — a bottle of Kraken rum costs the same in Toronto as it does in Kenora — new retail locations will be able to set "competitive pricing," subject to market changes above a minimum floor, the ministry said.
That means beer sold at your local convenience store could be cheaper than it is at a government-run outlet.
The ministry said it estimates only a small hit to the LCBO's bottom line since the retailer will become the exclusive wholesaler for restaurants and bars. The Beer Store will still be the primary distributor of beer to retailers, bars and restaurants until 2031, although brewers will have the option to act as their own distributors, the ministry said.
The two-year wait is due to the province's master framework agreement with The Beer Store, which limits where beer can be sold in the province. It expires on Dec. 31, 2025.
The Beer Store will still exist, and will still sell beer. It will also continue to run the province's alcohol container recycling system until 2031. The five-year term was decided to give The Beer Store some breathing room, so it could keep distributing beer and operating the recycling program, ministry staff said.
“With today’s announcement, we look forward to the next stage in The Beer Store’s evolution, where our role as primary distributor, recycling steward and responsible retailer are preserved and poised for growth," Roy Benin, CEO of The Beer Store, said in a release.
To ease the impact that a more open market is expected to have on craft brewers, the government said all new retailers will have to abide by the current shelf space requirements in grocery stores. That means 20 per cent for small beer producers and 40 per cent for small wine and cider producers.
The government is adding $10 million over five years for public health efforts, it said in a release, though that wasn't enough to allay concerns from health organizations.
"This is a health-care issue," said Camille Quenneville, CEO of the Canadian Mental Health Association's Ontario chapter.
"Increasing availability to alcohol is in direct contradiction to a public health approach to substance use. Without clearly outlined goals, strategies and sufficient funding to reduce alcohol-related harms, this retail expansion will put additional strain on an already overloaded community mental health and addictions system," she added.
Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy said the government will continue to consult with relevant organizations — like the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario — on how to structure the policy going forward to ensure a safe consumption regime.
The Opposition NDP has raised concerns about job protections for the unionized LCBO and Beer Store employees.
"With the jobs of thousands of unionized workers on the line, we need to ensure the transition is done in a way that doesn’t leave anyone behind,” said NDP MPP Jamie West, his party's labour critic, in a press release. “Beer Store workers are specially trained and manage important recycling and processing services that should continue with their expertise. Based on this government’s track record, how can we trust them to get this right?”
The government is also scrapping the 6.1 per cent wine basic tax at on-site winery retail stores to help make the Ontario wine industry competitive with other Canadian jurisdictions, like B.C.
Neither Ford nor Bethlenfalvy said whether they expect that cut to be reflected on the sticker price, instead arguing it's up to the wineries to decide "whether they want to pass that savings on to their consumers or reinvest in their business," Bethlenfalvy said.
Beer and wine in corner stores was a key part of Ford's populist 2018 campaign, which also included his buck-a-beer promise. The premier ran into trouble, though, after The Beer Store warned that breaking the provincial contract could come with upwards of hundreds of millions of dollars in financial penalties — and economic groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said sidestepping the penalties through legislation would be bad for business confidence.
Ontarians will also be able to purchase alcohol directly from out-of-province distributors starting in 2026. Currently, the only way to do so is to ask the LCBO to order it on one's behalf.
The government said it will continue to consult with stakeholders on issues like wholesale pricing, licensing, mark-ups, taxes and fees.
