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By Pete McIntyre

Licenses can be transferred

No new liquor stores in B.C. for at least ten years

Oct 4, 2021 | 12:33 PM

British Columbia won’t be adding any new liquor stores for at least the next decade.

The NDP government has extended the moratorium on applications and approvals for new licensee retail stores (LRS) until July 2032.

“Minimizing increased access to retail liquor, as B.C. has done for most of a generation, clearly benefits public health and community safety,” said Mike Farnworth, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General. “Extending the moratorium on new LRSs also provides certainty for the more than 650 existing licensees who employ thousands of British Columbians.”

B.C. has 674 LRS, which are also known as private liquor stores or cold beer and wine stores, 668 manufacturer on-site stores, 225 rural licensee retail stores, 198 public BC Liquor stores and 59 wine stores.

The province said the moratorium has been in place almost continuously since the 1990s and said renewing the ban prevents the proliferation of liquor stores, while stabilizing the retail liquor store marketplace for current licensees.

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Existing LRS licences may still be transferred with approval of the Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch (LCRB). Excluded from the freeze are existing Independent Wine Stores licensees that may choose to convert their licence type to a LRS by March 31, 2025, to sell beer, cider and distilled products in their current locations.

Public health advocates and liquor industry representatives support the continued moratorium.

“While many British Columbians enjoy alcohol and use it in a low-risk way, when it’s more readily accessible, more injuries, incidents of alcohol poisoning, cancers and other diseases inevitably follow,” said Tim Stockwell, scientist, Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research. “Maintaining B.C.’s liquor retailer moratorium is a vital mitigation strategy that furthers public health and safety.”

“We are immensely grateful that government has heard us, and our members welcome the long-term certainty this provides for B.C.’s liquor retailers,” said Jeff Guignard, executive director of B.C.’s Alliance of Beverage Licensees (ABLE BC). “This is also good news for consumers who benefit from a healthy, competitive sector that will continue to offer the convenience, knowledgeable service and wide range of products that customers need.”

While LCRB does not license public BC Liquor Stores, the Liquor Distribution Branch respects the moratorium and will not grow its network of BC Liquor Stores while the moratorium is in place.