Page 44 - Beverage MasterFebMarch 2021_Update

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to produce alcohol in Canada. The AGCO also over-
sees most aspects of alcohol sales and service in
Ontario. This means they not only control the man-
ufacturing of alcohol but also the distribution and
sale of any kind, including bars, restaurants and
private events.
The initial step in becoming a brewer, distiller or
winemaker in Ontario is to obtain a federal license
to manufacture alcohol in Canada. According to
the Government of Canada website, one must
prove that they are of legal age and have sufficient
resources to conduct a business before applying for
the license, which does not carry with it any fees
on its own. This license allows producers to manu-
facture alcohol in bulk, but producers must pay an
excise duty once the alcohol is packaged to store it
on-site. In Canada, as of April 2020, spirits contain- licensing guide, to be eligible to apply for a Liquor
ing more than 7% alcohol by volume are subject to
an excise duty of $12.61 per litre of absolute ethyl
alcohol. The only way around paying an excise duty
at the time of packaging is to apply for an excise
warehouse license that allows manufacturers to
store non-duty paid packaged spirits for an extend- product. The roughly nine-week process of approv-
ed period.
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Once a producer is licensed by the federal govern-
ment to produce bulk alcohol, the AGCO requires
a separate manufacturer’s license to sell the wine,
beer or spirit within the province. The AGCO has
strict guidelines surrounding where alcohol may
be sold in the province. The Liquor Control Board
of Ontario is the main outlet for alcohol sales in
Ontario. There are 666 LCBO stores across Ontario
responsible for providing the Ontario public with
spirits, wine and beer in quantities of less than
12 units per case. A separate chain known as The
Beer Store, also mandated by the AGCO, provides
Ontarians with cases of beer. If a producer or sup-
plier does not have this license, they will not be
allowed to sell their product in the province.
In 2017, Ontario started allowing a limited num-
ber of grocery stores with proper licensing to carry
beer and wine, but, according to the AGCO web-
site, these premises must also sell a variety of food
products that must occupy at least 10,000 square
feet of the retail space. Therefore, only large chain
grocery stores are eligible for these permits, and
there are only about 450 grocery stores that carry
alcohol in the province.
For breweries and distilleries to operate retail
shops out of their own facilities, another license
must be issued, even once producers have success-
fully obtained a manufacturer’s license. Yet another
license is required to operate a “Tied House” or
restaurant facility out of a brewery or distillery.
Each of these licenses carries with it separate fees
and must be renewed every two years. Since many
Ontario breweries and distilleries are in remote
towns across the province, the best way to get
their product into the hands of the general public is
to apply to have them on the shelves of the LCBO.
According to the LCBO, they review over 50,000
submissions annually from producers and suppliers
trying to sell their products through this system.
Even products already approved must reapply
for the license every two years. Per the AGCO
Sales License, producers must submit their feder-
al license to manufacture, a registered business
name, a summary of their business plan, including
detailed floor plans of their facilities, a marketing
plan and images of the bottle/packaging of the
ing product submission ends with an LCBO chemical
analysis. This LCBO analysis is done on every active
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