Beer, wine, ready-to-drink cocktails coming to Ontario corner stores and gas stations in 2026: sources

Premier Doug Ford’s government is set to reveal its plan for changing how alcohol is sold in Ontario, including allowing all supermarkets, convenience stores and gas stations to sell beer, wine and canned mixed drinks starting in 2026, industry sources told CBC News.

The plan goes to cabinet on Tuesday and the announcement is to be made on Thursday, multiple sources said.

Three sources in the industry say the key changes include:

• Allowing all corner stores and any gas stations that sell food to sell beer, wine, cider and ready-to-drink alcoholic beverages, such as seltzers or premixed cocktails (collectively known as RTDs).

• Allowing all grocery stores to sell beer, wine, cider and RTDs, scrapping the existing cap on the number of supermarkets with retail licences.

• Ending the restrictions that currently permit only The Beer Store to sell cases of 12 and 24.     

The reforms to Ontario’s $10-billion-a-year retail alcohol sector won’t come unto effect until Jan. 1, 2026, the sources said.

That’s because a contract setting out the rules for beer sales in the province remains in force until then. The contract — known as the Master Framework Agreement (MFA) — is between the government and the multinational brewing companies that own The Beer Store.

The government will issue official notice this week that it intends to terminate the agreement when it expires at the end of 2025, the sources said.

Beer, wine and coolers are for sale at this 7-Eleven location in Niagara Falls, Ont., but only for on-site consumption with food, under a restaurant-style liquor licence obtained by the convenience store chain. (Pelin Sidki/CBC)

Terminating the agreement will not mean the end of The Beer Store, as its retail shops will be allowed to continue, the sources said.

All the industry sources spoke to CBC News on condition they not be identified. Officials in Ford’s office did not respond Monday evening to requests for comment on the accuracy of the information the sources provided.

Ford himself recently indicated that The Beer Store has a future in Ontario.

“We’re going to be continuing to negotiate with The Beer Store and they’ll still play an important role in the whole system,” Ford told reporters in late November at a news conference on an unrelated topic.

CBC News reported last month that Ford’s government was preparing to change the rules on how beer, wine, cider and spirits are sold in Ontario.

His Progressive Conservatives made a campaign promise back in 2018 to allow convenience stores to sell beer and wine, but the MFA stood in the way of fulfilling it.

Under the changes to take effect in Ontario in 2026, The Beer Store will lose its monopoly over selling beer in formats larger than a six-pack, but will maintain its presence as a retailer, according to industry sources. (Colin Butler/CBC)

The current agreement. signed by the then-Liberal government of Kathleen Wynne, caps at 450 the number of grocery store locations that can sell beer or wine, precludes supermarkets from selling beer in any format larger than a six pack, and bars retail sales from convenience stores.

Ford’s government went so far as tabling a bill to scrap the MFA in 2019. Although the legislation passed, the government has not actually brought it into force.

Under the terms of the MFA, scrapping the deal before it expires would put the province on the hook for unspecified financial penalties, to be paid to the big brewers. Industry sources said the amount could run well into the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Over the course of the past year, the Ford government held closed-door consultations with industry officials on what it calls “modernizing” the alcohol sales regime in Ontario. The government required all participants in the consultations to sign non-disclosure agreements.

Three industry sources said the government will commit to changes in the taxation of wine and beer, but none of the sources could confirm what the changes will be.

Similarly, two sources said the government will require retailers to devote some portion of their shelf space to Ontario’s craft brewers and small-scale wineries, but had no specifics.

The reforms will not alter the role or structure of the LCBO in the retail landscape, sources said.

Some industry sources said The Beer Store will be well-placed to corner the potentially lucrative market for distributing beer to thousands of new locations in supermarkets, convenience store and gas stations because of the breadth of its existing distribution network.

An adviser on alcohol policy recommended in 2019 that the Ford government break the LCBO’s and Beer Store’s stranglehold on distribution, calling Ontario’s policies too restrictive.

Supermarket chains are currently forbidden from being involved in distributing alcohol in Ontario. That means they must use the LCBO and Beer Store to transport beer, wine and cider to their retail locations.