A year after Ontario Premier Doug Ford ordered the LCBO to remove all products made in the United States, the government says roughly $2 million worth of booze has gone to waste.
On March 4, 2025, in response to the first round of tariffs levied by U.S. President Donald Trump, American alcohol was officially removed from the shelves of provincial liquor stores.
Ontario imported roughly $965 million worth of booze from America before the ban.
A year later, the Ministry of Finance said sales of Ontario-made alcohol products had increased roughly 22 per cent, with craft products up 35 per cent. A spokesperson said sales of VQA Ontario wines were up 52 per cent after the ban, which included California wine.
“We have been clear: until tariffs are completely removed, U.S. alcohol will remain off shelves,”
Through the winter, the government resisted calls to auction off expiring American products to raise funds for food banks, a move which had been used in other jurisdictions.
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It means roughly $2 million worth of U.S. products have either expired or will expire in the next few months. Most of those products, according to the government, are beer, ready-to-drink beverages and wine.
Exactly what those products were and when the government worked out they would expire is a closely-guarded secret.
Documents obtained by Global News using freedom of information laws show there was extensive interest from the CEO of the LCBO and the Minister of Finance during the summer about what would expire and when.
“I am touching base on some urgent questions that we need LCBO’s input on,” an official with the Ministry of Finance wrote in one email dated August, 2025.
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“The U.S. inventory item is quite urgent at the moment and if you could provide answers to these questions as soon as possible that would be great. Please prioritize question 1 as the Minister is inquiring – we need an answer to this by Monday.”
What the minister wanted to know, however, is unclear. The majority of pages were partially or fully redacted by privacy officials, citing advice to the government and potential economic harm from their release.
The documents suggest regular reviews of expiring American stock are taking place at the LCBO.
More government waste, to prove what? Stupidity!
Please explain how bourbon expires.
Mixing emotions with policies usually will give you bad results. What’s was logical….sell the US stock and don’t order anymore.
Booze doesn’t expire
Thank you for choosing for us. You always know what’s best. I hope you take over more of our lives in the future.
We don’t need their booze
The whole thing was knee jerk and not thought out. It would have made more sense to sell out and simply not restock
TDS at its finest from Ford …. He looks like a dork, at least to elbows down crowd … Eh
Elbows up losers!
I can see beer expiring, but bottles of wine and liquor can last many years if stored properly. Ask anyone with a wine cellar.
Shoulda been sold at cost…so the retailers don’t take the loss….and had imports stopped……that would have been logical!
Such a stupid retaliatory measure. Didn’t work. Did it? The only ones benefitting are the cdn manufacturers that otherwise can’t compete on quality alone. It’s been 2 years. Enough already And isn’t it curious. Ford refused to sell for charity like other provinces…. Hmm. I wonder what his bar looks like at HIS cottage.
Many Canadians have had a bottle of scotch, rum or gin in their cabinet for many years. This is a stupid story, Anyway it could be sold in a New York minute to a broker in Hong Kong, Mexico, or Brazil ata modest discount