This article covers various topics involving alcoholic drinks in Canada. The Government of Canada defines an alcoholic drink as "a beverage containing 1.1% or more alcohol by volume."[1]
Canadian wine has been produced for over 400 years. In 1611, Louis Hérbert planted a hillside vineyard near what is today, Bear River, Nova Scotia.[2] He and other settlers tried to cultivate Vitis vinifera grapes from Europe with limited success. They found it necessary to focus on the native species of Vitis labrusca and Vitis riparia along with various hybrids. However, the market was limited for such wines because of their peculiar taste which was often called "foxy". However, this became less apparent when the juice was made into Port- and Sherry-styled wines. In 1866, the first commercial winery opened in Canada, situated on Pelee Island in Ontario.[3]
During the first half of the twentieth century, the temperance movement and later consumer demand for fortified and sweet wines hampered the development of a quality table wine industry. Consumer demand did not shift from sweet and fortified wines to drier and lower alcohol table wines until the 1960s. At the same time, there were significant improvements in wine-making technology, access to better grape varieties and disease-resistant clones, and systematic research into viticulture.[citation needed]
Beer was first introduced to Canada by European settlers in the seventeenth century, as Canada had an ideal climate for making beer before refrigeration was introduced. However, the preferred drink of the citizens of New France was imported wine or brandy. Although the first commercial brewery was built by Louis Prud'homme in Montreal (then Fort Ville-Marie) in 1650, it failed. Jean Talon, the first appointed Intendant of New France put limits on the amount of wine and spirits that could be imported and established the La brasserie de Roy in Quebec City, in the year 1668.[4] This brewery also failed after Talon returned to France in 1672 and import limits were increased.[5] What instead sprung up was the development of spruce beer, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic.[6]
After the fall of New France, the numerous British soldiers in the Canadian British colonies in the eighteenth century was a benefit to breweries since the troops were each entitled to six pints of beer per day. Most preferred ales and other heavy beers, not lager.[7] Another important base of customers was the British Loyalists that immigrated from the newly independent United States to Canada.[8] During those centuries and into the nineteenth, a number of commercial brewers thrived, including some that became the staple of the Canadian industry: John Molson founded a brewery in Montreal in 1786, Alexander Keith in Halifax in 1820, Thomas Carling in London in 1840, John Kinder Labatt in 1847, also in London, Susannah Oland in Halifax in 1867, and Eugene O'Keefe in Toronto in 1891. The Upper Canada government issued a patent on July 6, 1842, to George Riley of Kingston, Upper Canada for "an improved method of brewing ale, beer, porter, and other malt liquors."[9] Molson's is the oldest surviving Canadian brewing enterprise.[10]
Canadian whisky is a type of whisky produced in Canada. Most Canadian whiskies are blended multi-grain liquors containing a large percentage of corn spirits, and are typically lighter and smoother than other whisky styles.[11] When Canadian distillers began adding small amounts of highly-flavourful rye grain to their mashes, people began demanding this new rye-flavoured whisky, referring to it simply as "rye". Today, as for the past two centuries, the terms "rye whisky" and "Canadian whisky" are used interchangeably in Canada and (as defined in Canadian law) refer to exactly the same product, which generally is made with only a small amount of rye grain.[12]
Comparative consumption
Statistics Canada carries out surveys of alcoholic consumption in Canada, divided by territory/province.[13] Average values for the country in 2006 are given in the bottom row of the table.
This means that there is a separate agency (or agencies) in each province responsible for regulating the consumption of and, in all but one case, the sale of alcoholic drinks. Alberta is currently the only jurisdiction to have completely privatized its retail liquor industry (the AGLC maintains a monopoly over the wholesale distribution of wine, distilled spirits and imported beer — the distribution operation itself being contracted out to a private operator). Most of the other jurisdictions have maintained a total or near-total control over the sale of hard liquor while allowing limited privatisation of country-originated beer and wine sales.
Legal issues
Age
In Canada, there is no federally defined age for legal alcohol purchase or consumption. Each province and territory is free to set its own drinking age. The legal ages for purchase are currently:[14]
Most provinces of Canada enacted prohibition of alcohol sales, consumption and distribution between the years of 1910 and 1920, during Prohibition in Canada. After prohibition ended, provinces enacted minimum drinking ages of 20 or 21 years. In the early 70s, the age limits were lowered to either 18 or 19 years of age to align with the age of majority. Later, a few provinces and territories raised their age limit from 18 to 19 in the late 1970s and early 1980s.[30]
Sales
Alcohol and cannabis sales in Canada, April 2022 to March 2023
The selling hours of alcohol, both on and off-premises, are also appointed by provincial and territorial jurisdiction, as long as off-premises sale hours do not coincide with curfew hours. Many provinces and territories define the off-premises sale of hard liquor, either by alcohol volume or by quantities thereof, to be sold only within specific hours, which usually correspond to the opening hours of a given vendor. However, in some of them, it is also possible to derogate to the current norm upon applying for a distributor's licence, under certain circumstances. The on-premises sale is allowed at the discretion of the premise, with the hours being regulated by every province.
In general, most provinces have banned "tied houses" (bars that are affiliated with only one alcohol supplier), in favour of free houses which sell products from a variety of suppliers. A partial exception is made for brewpubs where a bar and brewery are on the same site.
Consumption
The consumption of alcohol in public places is generally forbidden, regardless of the time (in a few provinces and territories this is still not enforced), unless a permit to do so is delivered by the responsible municipal authorities. In Quebec the consumption of drinks with low alcohol contents is permitted in public if accompanied by food. In all of the provinces and territories, the consumption of alcohol is forbidden while driving, with Ontario and Quebec also forbidding the possession of open non-empty containers within a motionless vehicle. Police in Canada are known to show considerable discretion to public consumption based on the amount of public disruption.
↑ Bellamy, Bellamy (May 2009). "Beer Wars". Canada's History. Canada's History Magazine. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved January 21, 2017.
↑ Koch, Phil (May 2009). "Beer Wars - Canadians have enjoyed suds for centuries". Canada's History. Canada's History. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved January 24, 2017. When Jacques Cartier arrived in North America, he and his crew were shown how to make the spruce beer Canada's First Nations were already brewing. Many early settlers brewed beer in their homes
Low-alcohol beer is beer with little or no alcohol by volume that aims to reproduce the taste of beer while eliminating or reducing the inebriating effect, carbohydrates, and calories of regular alcoholic brews. Low-alcohol beers can come in different beer styles such as lagers, stouts, and ales. Low-alcohol beer is also known as light beer, non-alcoholic beer, small beer, small ale, or near-beer.
Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage, transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic beverages. The word is also used to refer to a period of time during which such bans are enforced.
There is a long history of alcoholic drinks in China. They include rice and grape wine, beer, whisky and various liquors including baijiu, the most-consumed distilled spirit in the world.
Liquor or distilled beverages are alcoholic drinks produced by the distillation of grains, fruits, vegetables, or sugar that have already gone through alcoholic fermentation. Other terms for liquor include spirit, spirituous liquor or hard liquor. While the word liquor ordinarily refers to distilled alcoholic spirits rather than beverages produced by fermentation alone, it can sometimes be used more broadly to refer to any alcoholic beverage.
Beer was introduced to Canada by European settlers in the seventeenth century. The first commercial brewery was La Brasseries du Roy started by New France Intendant Jean Talon, in Québec City in 1668. Many commercial brewers thrived until prohibition in Canada. The provincial and federal governments' attempt to eliminate "intoxicating" beverages led to the closing of nearly three quarters of breweries between 1878 and 1928. It was only in the second half of the twentieth century that a significant number of new breweries opened up. The Canadian beer industry now plays an important role in Canadian identity, although globalization of the brewing industry has seen the major players in Canada acquired by or merged with foreign companies, notably its three largest beer producers: Labatt, Molson and Sleeman. The result is that Moosehead, with an estimated 3.8 percent share of the domestic market in 2016, has become the largest fully Canadian-owned brewer.
A liquor store is a retail business that predominantly sells prepackaged alcoholic beverages, including liquors, wine or beer, usually intended to be consumed off the store's premises. Depending on region and local idiom, they may also be called an off-licence, off-sale, bottle shop, bottle store or, colloquially, bottle-o, liquor store or other similar terms. A very limited number of jurisdictions have an alcohol monopoly. In US states that are alcoholic beverage control (ABC) states, the term ABC store may be used.
Purposeful production of alcoholic drinks is common and often reflects cultural and religious peculiarities as much as geographical and sociological conditions.
An alcohol-free or non-alcoholic drink, also known as a temperance drink, is a version of an alcoholic drink made without alcohol, or with the alcohol removed or reduced to almost zero. These may take the form of a non-alcoholic mixed drink or non-alcoholic beer, and are widely available where alcoholic drinks are sold.
A liquor license is a governmentally issued permit for businesses to sell, manufacture, store, or otherwise use alcoholic beverages.
Prohibition in Canada was a ban on alcoholic beverages that arose in various stages, from local municipal bans in the late 19th century, to provincial bans in the early 20th century, and national prohibition from 1918 to 1920. The relatively large and powerful beer and alcohol manufacturing sector, and the huge working class that purchased their products, failed to convince any of the governments to reverse their stance on prohibition. Most provinces repealed their bans in the 1920s, though alcohol was illegal in Prince Edward Island from 1901 to 1948. By comparison, the Ontario Temperance Act was in effect from 1916 to 1927.
Drinks containing alcohol are typically divided into three classes—beers, wines, and spirits—with alcohol contents between 3% and 50%.
The U.S. state of Oregon has an extensive history of laws regulating the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages, dating back to 1844. It has been an alcoholic beverage control state, with the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission holding a monopoly over the sale of all distilled beverages, since Prohibition. Today, there are thriving industries producing beer, wine, and liquor in the state. Alcohol may be purchased between 7 a.m. and 2:30 a.m for consumption at the premise it was sold at, or between 6 a.m. and 2:30 a.m. if it is bought and taken off premise. In 2020, Oregon began allowing the sale of alcohol via home delivery services. As of 2007, consumption of spirits was on the rise while beer consumption held steady. That same year, 11% of beer sold in Oregon was brewed in-state, the highest figure in the United States.
The state laws governing alcoholic beverages in New Jersey are among the most complex in the United States, with many peculiarities not found in other states' laws. They provide for 29 distinct liquor licenses granted to manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, and for the public warehousing and transport of alcoholic drinks. General authority for the statutory and regulatory control of alcoholic drinks rests with the state government, particularly the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control overseen by the state's Attorney General.
Alcohol has been consumed in New Zealand since the arrival of Europeans. The most popular alcoholic beverage is beer. The legal age to purchase alcohol is 18. New Zealand has an above average consumption rate of alcohol, in 2016 ranking 32nd globally in per-capita total alcohol consumption.
Alcohol laws are laws relating to manufacture, use, as being under the influence of and sale of alcohol or alcoholic beverages. Common alcoholic beverages include beer, wine, (hard) cider, and distilled spirits. Definition of alcoholic beverage varies internationally, e.g., the United States defines an alcoholic beverage as "any beverage in liquid form which contains not less than one-half of one percent of alcohol by volume". Alcohol laws can restrict those who can produce alcohol, those who can buy it, when one can buy it, labelling and advertising, the types of alcoholic beverage that can be sold, where one can consume it, what activities are prohibited while intoxicated, and where one can buy it. In some cases, laws have even prohibited the use and sale of alcohol entirely.
The legal drinking age in India and the laws which regulate the sale and consumption of alcohol vary significantly from state to state. In India, consumption of alcohol is prohibited in the states of Bihar, Gujarat, Nagaland, and Mizoram, as well as the union territory of Lakshadweep. There is partial ban on alcohol in some districts of Manipur. All other Indian states permit alcohol consumption but fix a legal drinking age, which ranges at different ages per region. In some states the legal drinking age can be different for different types of alcoholic beverage.
Alcohol in Malaysia refers to the consumption, industry and laws of alcohol in the Southeast Asian country of Malaysia. Although Malaysia is a Muslim-majority country, the country permits the selling of alcohol to non-Muslims. There are no nationwide alcohol bans being enforced in the country, with the exception of Kelantan and Terengganu which is only for Muslims. The Islamic party respects the rights of non-Muslims and non-Muslim establishments like Chinese restaurants and grocery shops are excluded from such bans. The federal territory of Kuala Lumpur has the highest alcohol consumption in the country, followed by the states of Sarawak in second place and Sabah in third place.
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