The premiers of nine provinces announced Tuesday that they’re removing major barriers to interprovincial sales of alcohol.
The deal says provincial rules will be changed to allow brewers and distillers to sell alcohol directly to consumers, regardless of jurisdiction.
It knocks down a number of trade barriers across the country.
Direct-to-consumer sales of beer, wine and spirits manufactured in one province and shipped to another have been largely governed by agreements between provinces or were effectively prohibited.
All 10 provinces and the Yukon signed a memorandum in June 2025 committing to open their boundaries to direct-to-consumer sales by May.
New Brunswick and Manitoba opened to out-of-province products before Tuesday’s announcement.
The premiers of Quebec, the Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut didn’t sign the deal. However, a statement released by those who did sign said Quebec and the Yukon were working to join in the near future.
The statement said the new trade system is effective immediately but notes British Columbia needs extra time to get its regulations in place and it’s aiming for no later than February 2027.
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New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt said she’s thrilled to see other provinces allow all direct-to-consumer sales, noting her government was the first to do so last August.
“Canadians can get the benefits of these products, strengthening internal trade — being our own best customer at a time when it really matters,” Holt told reporters in Charlottetown, where the premiers are meeting this week.
N.W.T. and Nunavut said in a joint statement that they support the goal of knocking down trade barriers but didn’t sign Tuesday’s deal because “of the unique realities of our territories.”
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“Many of our communities have locally determined alcohol restrictions or prohibitions that reflect community priorities and cultural values,” the statement said.
“Respecting community self-determination is fundamental to how alcohol is managed in the North.
“We believe any changes to alcohol distribution must be consistent with those locally established systems and the choices made by communities.”
The agreement comes after U.S. President Donald Trump announced this week a plan to implement steep tariffs on Canadian beer, wine and spirits.
The push for direct-to-consumer sales is part of a larger effort to address interprovincial trade barriers.
“Provinces and territories remain committed to working with each other and the federal government to maintain momentum in removing barriers to build a more resilient and streamlined economy and to unlock Canada’s full economic potential,” said the statement from the premiers who signed the deal.
— With files from Jack Farrell in Edmonton
Still can’t ship provincially inspected meat across borders for retail. Booze is our priority?
About time…
But just going to go out on a limb here and say ‘good for them; good work’s
It can be hard to give someone you don’t always agree with for doing something right…
Go on, give it a try… It feels good.
Be Good.
That’s it? The big take away is lifting alcohol restrictions? We are governed by idiots!
Let’s also remove ALL barriers for all provincial goods immediately.
We are a pathetic country if we can;’t do that,
And while we are at it every single person in this country is to be treated equal and pay equal taxes, with equal rights.
When are canadians stops electing these liberal anti business socialists to parliament
one country about time
Sad that our leaders only seem to make common-sense decisions when threatened
They were going to do that a year ago. what a bunch of Clowns
Over a trillion dollars in investment capital has fled Canada since Sunny Ways Trudeau took over in 2015 because of the klepto-socialist anti-business climate.
Even Carny, our present Prime Minister and former the CEO of Brookfield which manages over $1 trillion USD in assets globally, saw the economic rot and moved his company’s HQ out of Canada to the US in 2024.
Heck, the klepto-socialism rot is so endemic, we can’t even find private investors to build oil pipelines anymore.
I thought this was to be done last year during Elbows Up? Hilarious. I won’t be buying anything from Quebec. I can still buy American Bourbon in Alberta
Trump may be the best thing that ever happened to us. We have been sitting on our hands for decades not grasping at the low hanging fruit that would boost our own economy. Our leaders just needed some motivation and for the first time in decades we are getting that motivation. I think the best case scenario would be for trump to plan 100% tariffs on everything, make all of Canada take responsible economic measures, and then Trump wont follow through.
We are our own worst enemy, we are trying to make a deal with the US yet we have barriers within our own country.