Albertans can now indulge in earlier breakfast beers and early-morning mimosas, as new liquor rules have expanded when bars and restaurants can begin serving.
On Tuesday, the Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Commission announced licensed bars, restaurants and other establishments can now serve alcohol as early as 6 a.m., all year long.
They previously needed to obtain special permission to serve alcohol before 9 a.m. during special events like the Olympics, FIFA World Cup and Calgary Stampede.
The AGLC now says that permission process is too cumbersome, so it’s letting licence holders decide when to crack open the bottles.
“Previous processes requiring licensees to apply separately for each special event caused significant administrative burdens for both licensees and AGLC,” said CEO Kandice Machado.
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“This change streamlines the process while maintaining the high standards in place already for safe and responsible liquor service that supports industry integrity, public well-being and community safety.”
Service Alberta Minister Dale Nally says businesses told the province they wanted more flexibility to meet the needs of their customers and the change means the government is listening.
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Class A, B, C and F licensees such as restaurants, bars, private clubs and licensed facilities that make their own product have the option to begin early liquor service at 6 a.m.
The earlier service hours are optional. Closing hours for liquor service remain unchanged at 3 a.m., with last call for alcohol still one hour before closing time.
The AGLC said it saw very few compliance issues during past events but it plans to monitor how the change rolls out across the province.
—with files from Jack Farrell, The Canadian Press
before you be a critic, what about the people who work night shifts. why can’t they go for a drink after work? It’s their evening.
Bring on the alcoholics. Only they would be drinking at that time of the morning.
Might as well go 24 hrs.
Who exactly are these scumbags trying to help and with what?
How bad off is your world if you have to drink at 6:00 AM? Pathetic!
Good. Why the time limit was put in place never made any sense. If it was to prevent drunks, whether drinking starts at 6am, or 6pm, after 6 beers in an hour one is drunk no matter what time of day it is.