Ontario accelerating plan to expand supermarket alcohol sales

The Ontario government says it is accelerating plans to bring ready-to-drink cocktails and larger packs of beer into some supermarkets, as some 9,000 unionized workers with the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) remain on strike.

With the province’s LCBO retail outlets currently shuttered, the government said Monday that the 450 grocery stores already licensed to sell beer, wine and cider will be able to order canned spirit drinks and 12- and 24-packs of beer beginning Thursday, two weeks ahead of schedule. They can start selling the beverages as soon they receive them.

“Our government is keeping our promise to give people in Ontario choice and convenience while supporting Ontario-made beverage producers across the province, including the Ontario businesses that produce more than 80 per cent of the ready-to-drink beverages sold here in our province,” Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy said in a news release.

“This is an important milestone for grocery retailers and consumers alike as we continue our work modernizing Ontario’s alcohol marketplace.”

WATCH | Unionized workers walked off job on June 5. Here’s why:

More than 9,000 Ontario liquor store employees are on strike after bargaining talks broke down between their union and the LCBO. As CBC’s Mike Crawley explains, the union is demanding Doug Ford’s government reverse its decision to sell some drinks at convenience and grocery stores.

The move is part of an already fast-tracked plan to expand alcohol sales in the province. Ford’s previous plan was to get beer, wine and ready-to-drink cocktails in convenience stores and all grocery stores by 2026, but in May he announced that would happen this year instead.

Product may not hit shelves right away: retail council

However, a spokesperson for the Retail Council of Canada said consumers likely won’t see the products in stores right away.

“When you factor in shipping and other logistics, it will take time to see these on stores’ shelves,” Michelle Wasylyshen wrote in a statement.

“Grocers continue to work on implementation as there are many moving parts and complexities in order to get this up and running.”

Some stores are seeing higher demand for beer and wine amid the LCBO strike, but there have not been any significant supply issues, she added.

The announcement comes a day after the LCBO announced it will not be opening some stores three days a week, walking back its initial plan to reopen select locations with limited hours during the strike action. More than 650 stores across the province have been shut down since workers walked off the job on July 5.

Unionized workers with the LCBO, Ontario’s main liquor retailer, have said Ford’s plans to make pre-mixed cocktails readily available across other stores are at the heart of ongoing negotiations.

The Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU), which represents the workers, has said the expansion threatens the LCBO’s future as a retailer and could lead to thousands of job losses within a few years.

Getting ready-to-drink beverages in grocery stores even sooner is an attempt to undercut the LCBO and amounts to interfering in bargaining, said OPSEU president JP Hornick.

“Ford is clearly trying to deliver on a promise he made to prospective corporate donors from the convenience and grocery industries during the elections,” Hornick wrote in a statement.

“Doug Ford should stop playing politics with the lives of our members and taxpayers’ money.”

WATCH | LCBO earns nearly 80% of its revenue from its retail outlets: 

The LCBO earns nearly 80 per cent of its revenue from its retail outlets, all currently closed by strike, the corporation’s latest annual report shows. CBC’s Mike Crawley breaks down how the LCBO currently turns a profit and how things are expected to change with the Ford government’s reforms — including the premier’s plan to sell select alcohol in Ontario convenience and grocery stores.

Ford won’t reconsider parts of expansion plan

Ford repeated on Monday that the province has no intention of reconsidering parts of its plan to open the alcohol retail market in the province despite calls from the union.

“That ship has sailed, we’re moving forward with it,” he said to reporters at an unrelated news conference ahead of the Premiers’ meeting in Halifax.

He said the province is waiting for union leaders to return to the table after the LCBO presented them with an offer. 

“We’ve focused on benefits, wage increases, job security and they just refuse to come [to the table.]”

Ford and his MPPs have attempted to paint the ongoing strike as opportunity for consumers to seek out local, Ontario-made products like craft beer and ciders. Last week, Ford rolled out an interactive online map to help consumers find booze retailers in their area.

Ford has denied he is trying to dismantle or privatize the LCBO and government officials have noted that LCBO revenues have increased through previous rounds of alcohol sales expansions.

Bethlenfalvy has directed the Crown corporation to showcase and promote Ontario beer, wine, spirits and ciders as part of the expansion, and he has said it will still have an important role as a wholesaler.

Last week, Ford firmly ruled out a reversal on the ready-to-drink expansion, saying the ship had sailed “halfway across Lake Ontario.”

An agreement that the former Liberal government signed with The Beer Store in 2015, as it expanded sales of beer and wine into grocery stores, gave the company exclusive rights to sell 12- and 24-packs of beer.

The agreement had been set to expire at the end of 2025, but Ford’s sped-up plan involves an “early implementation agreement” with The Beer Store that involves the province paying the company up to $225 million to help it keep stores open and workers employed.

The province is also giving brewers a rebate on an LCBO fee that normally brings in $45 million a year, and it is giving retailers a 10-per-cent wholesale discount.