DTC Opportunities For Local Producers

An agreement was signed by the Government of Alberta and 8 other provinces this afternoon that broadens DTC opportunities under the Canada Free Trade Agreement (CFTA) between provinces.  For your reference, a news release from the CFTA Secretariat has been posted.

Effective immediately, liquor manufacturers in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, PEI, and Newfoundland and Labrador may sell liquor (from any product category) directly to customers in participating jurisdictions for personal use (no commercial sales; no sales to licensees).  To participate, manufacturers must be authorized by the consumer’s province – for Alberta, that means that any manufacturer in one of the other participating provinces must first be authorized by AGLC.  Out-of-province producers must submit an administrative fee based on volumes sold into Alberta (approximately parallel to markup) to maintain fairness for licensees that order liquor products at wholesale through AGLC.

As per the news release, British Columbia has also signed on to the interprovincial agreement but will not be ready to implement for several months.  At this time, the existing Alberta-BC agreement for DTC wine remains in place, but any extension to manufacturers of other products can only take place once BC has fully implemented the required changes for their system (we can share an update with ALSA when that occurs).

This agreement was brokered by the Government of Alberta, so if there are any questions or feedback, sharing directly with the provincial government would be the most direct channel – if AGLC can assist in any way, we would be glad to help.