N.S. And N.B. Get Passing Grades For Restaurant Liquor Policy

HALIFAX — The report cards have just come in. Restaurants Canada has given all 10 provinces a grade based on how accessible their liquor laws are for bars and restaurants. This has been a sticking point for years with many restaurants across the country. Since each province has a virtual monopoly on liquor prices and sales, the restaurant industry often finds itself at a competitive disadvantage.

This is the fourth report card on liquor policy Restaurants Canada has given out since 2015. The good news for the industry is the Atlantic provinces seem to be improving. Nova Scotia received a B, an improvement from the usual B- they received the past two reports. New Brunswick meanwhile Got a B-, which is way better than the D- it received back in 2019.

Restaurants Canada said Nova Scotia’s improved grade is thanks to the province giving a 10 percent discount to restaurants on bottled and canned beer, ready-to-drink liquor products, and cider.

The organization also praised Nova Scotia for being the only Atlantic Canadian province to put a cap on third-party delivery charges, such as Skip The Dishes and Uber.

“Nova Scotia has gone above and beyond to help licensed establishments keep their costs down amid the ongoing pandemic,” said Richard Alexander, Restaurants Canada Vice President, Atlantic Canada, in a news release. “As bars and restaurants continue to transition from survival to revival, Restaurants Canada looks forward to working with the provincial government on ways to further support their recovery.”

How can Nova Scotia get a higher grade on its next report card? The industry organization says there are several improvements the province can make, including increasing its discounts and lowering taxes to “level the playing field” with craft breweries.

New Brunswick’s dramatic grade improvement is credited, in the report, to the Higgs government taking power in 2018. Since then said Restaurants Canada, new policies have come into effect to help restaurants and bars be competitive.

They note that NB Liquor introduced a cost rebate program in 2020. New Brunswick was also cheered for providing a new 5-10 percent rebate on wine and spirits, and 1 percent on certain beer products. The province also doubled the rebates in the early days of the pandemic to help the struggling restaurant industry.

Restaurants Canada does criticize the province, however, for not capping third-party delivery fees as Nova Scotia did.

Alberta ended up receiving the best grade, which was a B+. Saskatchewan got the lowest letter at C-. Newfoundland and Labrador made one of the dramatic improvements of all the provinces. In the very first report card in 2015, the eastern province received a big F. But in 2022 they got a respectable C+.

This table is courtesy of Restaurants Canada: