Manitoba earns C grade on pandemic liquor policy report

WINNIPEG, MANITOBA, July 27, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The grades are in: For the fourth time since 2015, Restaurants Canada has given every province a report card on how industry-friendly their liquor policy panorama is for bars and eating places.

In this 12 months’s Raise the Bar report, Manitoba failed to enhance its grade from a C, primarily because of the province’s lack of progress on liquor pricing for licensees. While most different jurisdictions have both launched or expanded discounted licensee pricing insurance policies within the wake of COVID-19, Manitoba’s bar and restaurant operators are nonetheless paying greater than common retail prospects for a similar merchandise at government-run liquor shops.

“The ongoing pandemic continues to represent the most challenging crisis that Manitoba’s foodservice and hospitality industry has ever faced,” stated James Rilett, Restaurants Canada Vice President, Central Canada. “Restaurateurs have appreciated policy changes helping them improve takeout and delivery sales and Restaurants Canada is hopeful that the province will build on the progressive steps taken with the introduction of Bill 38 and receive a higher grade in the future.”

Here’s how Manitoba’s efficiency file on Restaurants Canada’s Raise the Bar report compares with the remainder of the provinces:

How can Manitoba elevate the bar?

Restaurants Canada is constant to work with the Manitoba authorities to enhance the liquor policy panorama for bars and eating places. Here’s how the province can enhance its grade by the following Raise the Bar report:

• Make wholesale pricing accessible to all liquor licensees, for all sorts of beverage alcohol merchandise;
• Continue to chop purple tape for licensed institutions;
• Introduce a liquor server wage; and
• Permit licensee-to-licensee liquor gross sales.

Visit restaurantscanada.org/assets/raise-the-bar-2022 to obtain the complete report and be part of within the on-line dialog with the hashtag #RaiseTheBar2022.

About Restaurants Canada

Restaurants Canada is a nationwide, not-for-profit affiliation advancing the potential of Canada’s various and dynamic foodservice {industry} via member applications, analysis, advocacy, assets and occasions. Before the COVID-19 disaster, Manitoba’s $2.7 billion restaurant {industry} was the province’s fourth-largest supply of personal sector jobs, sometimes using greater than 44,000 individuals. Manitoba’s bars and eating places are nonetheless struggling to rebound from at the least $1 billion in misplaced income and get well roughly 1,000 jobs within the wake of the pandemic.

• Raise the Bar 2022: Report Card on Provincial Liquor Policies for Bars and Restaurants