Get Your Drink On
T h e M a t r i x
Select B.C. grocery stores will begin stocking alcohol this spring, plans for which first emerged in
2013. Yet, compared with the rest of Canada, B.C. is still relatively ambivalent in its attitudes and
approach toward the sales of booze. Here, then, is a quick comparison by Trevor Melanson
feBruarY 2015 BCBusiness 21
B.C. has a relatively
evenly split system of
government and private
liquor stores, the latter
accounting for roughly
43 per cent of sales. Soon
select grocery stores will
be able to stock booze (but
not big-box retailers like
Walmart or corner stores).
Alberta privatized
liquor stores in 1993 and
remains the only provin-
cial government to have
done so. While Alberta
now has plenty of liquor
vendors, 1,300 (up from
200 before privatization),
grocery stores are not
permitted to sell booze.
Most of Ontario's liquor
stores are run by the
LCBO, a Crown corpora-
tion—although some
private vendors, like The
Beer Store monopoly,
have special permission to
sell booze. Some grocery
stores also have private
wine outlets within them.
Quebec's liquor system,
while technically public,
allows for the sale of
beer and wine at grocery
and corner stores. Hard
liquor, however, must be
purchased from govern-
ment-run
SAQ stores.
$16.41
(private stores)
British Columbia Alberta Ontario Quebec
$14.81
(private stores)
$10.88
(The Beer Store)
$14.08
(grocery + corner stores)
Total: $3.10 billion Total: $5.34 billion Total: $7.51 billion Total: $2.42 billion
Beer
44%
Spirits
31%
Wine
25%
Beer
42%
Spirits
28%
Wine
30%
Beer
44%
Spirits
13%
Wine
43%
ILLuSTraTIONS: SaBrINa SMeLKO; SOurCeS: IpSOS reId, 2013; STaTISTICS CaNada, 2014
+2.4% +7.0% +2.9% -0.6%
On existing provided colour scheme
On existing provided colour scheme
On existing provided colour scheme
On new colour scheme matching icons palette
On existing provided colour scheme
On average, how much does a six-pack of beer cost? (average price of a six-pack in 2013)
Where can liquor be sold?
What are people drinking? (as a percentage of total 2013 liquor sales)
And are they consuming more or less? (in dollars spent, from 2012 to 2013)
Beer
38%
Spirits
28%
Wine
34%
