Alberta has stopped buying U.S. booze. How does that work?

Taylor Lambert · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 07, 2025 5:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

When Premier Danielle Smith announced connected Wednesday however Alberta would respond to tariffs imposed by the United States, 1 measurement was definite to drawback attraction — nary much American booze.

But dissimilar other provinces wherever intoxicant organisation has greater authorities involvement, Alberta is constricted successful what it tin do, astatine slightest immediately.

Privatization, benignant of

Back successful 1993, successful a shift toward privatization, the Ralph Klein authorities sold disconnected Alberta's government-owned liquor stores.

But portion the state exited the retail broadside of liquor distribution, it kept a monopoly implicit wholesale operations.

In different words, whether you store astatine your country liquor store oregon a large chain, the retailers person to bid and bargain their products done a Crown corp called Alberta Liquor, Gaming and Cannabis (AGLC).

Retailers wage wholesale prices acceptable by AGLC connected products, which are transported and warehoused by backstage contractors. But it all flows through the provincial government.

That strategy means that Smith's bid to halt further imports of U.S. booze is not rather arsenic sweeping arsenic Ontario Premier Doug Ford pulling U.S. products that are presently successful stores off the shelves.

In Ontario, the authorities owns the products connected the shelves of authorities liquor stores. In Alberta, the privately owned liquor stores person already paid for the products connected their shelves. It would beryllium harder — and much politically fraught — for Smith to unit those stores not to merchantability what they person connected hand.

"Everything that's connected my support close present I person already paid for, which is antithetic from evidently Ontario oregon Manitoba oregon B.C., who tin conscionable propulsion that worldly disconnected the support due to the fact that it's a authorities procurement," said David Owens, who owns Sherbrooke Liquor successful Edmonton.

Lack of clarity

On the authorities website wherever retailers acquisition products, American items were listed arsenic retired of banal connected Thursday.

It's unclear however the import prohibition mightiness use to a merchandise that has been ordered but is not yet successful Alberta, oregon what would hap to the banal connected manus successful the cardinal organisation warehouse.

"We're a small spot confused close present connected immoderate of the messaging," Owens said. "We're trying to get immoderate clarification connected that.

It's besides unclear whether the announcement connected Thursday that U.S. President Donald Trump was temporarily pausing tariffs connected immoderate Canadian products would impact Alberta's U.S. intoxicant import ban.

The AGLC did not respond to a petition for comment. A authorities spokesperson did not supply responses to a database of questions from CBC News, but did accidental the premier would person much to stock astir the province's tariff effect Friday. 

A past of boycotting booze

Smith is not the archetypal Alberta premier to usage intoxicant purchasing to effort and nonstop a connection to a governmental opponent.

Rachel Notley did the aforesaid successful 2018, halting imports of B.C. vino owed to the B.C. authorities proposing oil-spill regulations that would artifact improvement of immoderate caller pipelines to the West Coast.

In that lawsuit arsenic well, the state didn't question to forestall the merchantability of vino already successful the province, though Notley called connected Albertans to deliberation doubly astir buying it.

"Maybe take immoderate terrific Alberta trade brew instead," she said astatine the time.

Watch | Why you tin inactive find U.S. products successful Alberta liquor stores:

Also announced connected Wednesday was an agreement betwixt the national authorities and astir provinces and territories to region interior commercialized barriers and let the merchantability of Canadian intoxicant crossed the country.

In an quality connected CNN connected Thursday, Smith defended the import ban.

"Our absorption is, well, if the Americans aren't going to bargain products from our Canadian companies, we person to. And truthful that means that we should beryllium buying much Canadian brew and much Canadian spirits and much Canadian wine," she said.

"It's not ideal."