Ontario earns C-plus grade on pandemic liquor policy report

TORONTO, ONTARIO, 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, Ontario’s grade improved from a C-minus to C-plus. This was primarily attributable to bars and eating places now getting a ten% low cost in comparison with what retail prospects pay for wine, spirits, and cider from the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO). Unfortunately, the ten% low cost doesn’t apply to kegs of beer or cider, holding again Ontario’s total grade.

“Restaurants Canada is encouraged by the steps that Ontario is taking in the right direction to improve liquor pricing for licensed establishments as they continue to recover from pandemic losses,” mentioned James Rilett, Restaurants Canada Vice President, Central Canada. “We look forward to working with the province to raise its grade even further by our next report. Artificially high prices for beer remains a key area for improvement: The Beer Store still charges bars and restaurants a licensee price that’s 30% higher than what they charge regular retail customers, due to the current Master Framework Agreement with the Ontario government.”

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

How can Ontario elevate the bar?

Restaurants Canada is continuous to work with the Ontario 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 licensed institutions for all sorts of beverage alcohol merchandise;
• Continue to chop pink tape for licensed institutions;
• Re-introduce the liquor server wage; and
• Involve {industry} in upcoming Master Framework Agreement negotiations between authorities and The Beer Store.

Visit restaurantscanada.org/assets/raise-the-bar-2022 to obtain the total 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 packages, analysis, advocacy, assets and occasions. Before the COVID-19 disaster, Ontario’s $37 billion restaurant {industry} was the province’s fourth-largest supply of personal sector jobs, usually using greater than 480,000 folks. Ontario’s bars and eating places are nonetheless struggling to rebound from a minimum of $20 billion in misplaced income and get better roughly 40,000 jobs within the wake of the pandemic.

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