TORONTO — Ontario’s premier made history Tuesday simply by purchasing a six-pack of beer at a Toronto grocery store, something that hasn’t been legal in the province since Prohibition.
Kathleen Wynne, 62, smiled when she was asked for proof of age as she purchased a pack of Rhyme & Reason from Toronto’s Collective Arts Brewing at a Loblaws store, starting the long-promised rollout of beer sales in select grocery outlets across the province.
“It’s nice to be carded,” she joked with the cashier before announcing that 58 grocery stores across Ontario can now legally sell beer.
“Today the wait is over. Beer is here, in grocery stores, just in time for the holidays.”
The Liberal government’s goal is to have six-packs of beer available at 58 grocery stores by the end of this year — 13 of them independents — and eventually expand to 450 grocery retailers, both large and small, by 2017. That’s roughly the same number of retail outlets the Beer Store currently operates in Ontario.
Ontario now joins Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador, two provinces that also sell beer in grocery stores. New Brunswick sells a limited selection of wines at some grocery stores, while Ontario sells Canadian wines at some grocery stores and at Wine Rack locations.
It’s all about making life easier for people who lead very busy lives, said Wynne.
“Anything that government can do to help people save a little more of their time is worthwhile, is what government’s should be doing,” she said. “It’s also one of the main reasons that we have embarked on the biggest shakeup to alcohol sales since the end of Prohibition.”
The other reason, said Wynne, is fairness, insisting the government was creating a level playing field for brewers big and small. At least 20 per cent of grocers’ shelf space for beer must be dedicated to products from small brewers.
Canadian Press/Nathan Denette
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, left, and Minister of Finance Charles Sousa, right, pick beer at a Loblaws grocery store in Toronto on Tuesday.
“So that the province’s incredible craft brewers can continue to grow in a fair and efficient beer market,” said Wynne.
In addition to allowing sales of six packs at some grocery stores, selected LCBO stores will sell six and 12-packs of beer, but the foreign-owned Beer Store will retain exclusive rights to sell cases of 24.
The government didn’t want to “blow up” the Beer Store’s cost-effective distribution network, which keeps Ontario beer prices among the lowest in Canada, said Wynne.
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By next month, Ontario residents will be able to pick up a six-pack at Walmart
“And the Beer Store is returning to its co-operative roots by opening up ownership to all Ontario-based brewers, and that was the original impetus behind Brewers Retail,” she added.
Finance Minister Charles Sousa said the government would be appointing a beer ombudsman in January.
“I’m encouraged by how much interest there seems to be in this position,” he said.
Last month, the government announced 13 grocery stores chains were chosen to sell beer in the first round, including retail giant Walmart, Metro Ontario and Sobeys. Of the initial 58 beer licences, 13 went to independents including Starsky Fine Foods in Hamilton, Pino’s Get Fresh in Sault Ste. Marie and J-&-B La Mantia in Lindsay.
Canadian PressThirteen grocery stores chains were chosen to sell beer in the first round, including retail giant Walmart, Loblaw Metro Ontario and Sobeys.
Not all of them were immediately ready to start selling beer.
“We understand from some of the outlets that it’s going to take them a few days to get up and running, but they can order the beer today,” said Wynne.
Loblaws announced Tuesday that beer is now available in 19 of its outlets, including some Real Canadian Superstore, Your Independent Grocery and Fortinios locations.
“As our display space expands into the new year, we anticipate we’ll offer over 200 varieties of domestic, imported and local beers in our stores,” said Loblaw’s COO Grant Froese. “And we have the opportunity for regional favourites on a store by store basis.”
Wynne again rejected the idea of selling beer in corner stores — something first promised by the Liberal government of David Peterson 30 years ago — warning “the price of beer would go up if you put it in convenience stores.”
Just minutes after the first beer sales at an Ontario grocery store, Wynne was asked why grocers couldn’t also sell marijuana once the federal government legalizes it.
The premier said Monday “it makes a lot of sense” to have the LCBO sell marijuana because of its secure distribution network and history of socially responsible sales.
“I think leaving it to random distribution is not acceptable,” she said Tuesday. “It is going to have to be controlled in some way, and I’ll await the federal government’s direction on that.”
Here is a list of the stores authorized to sell beer starting today:
Farm Boy
Region: GTA
360 Taunton Rd., Unit 2, Whitby
905-430-1400
Michael-Angelo’s
Region: GTA
4099 Erin Mills Parkway, Mississauga
905-820-3300
Coppa’s Fresh Market
Region: GTA
4750 Dufferin St., Toronto
416-736-6606
Coppa’s Fresh Market
Region: GTA
3300 Rutherford Road, Vaughan
905-303-3999
Galleria Supermarket
Region: GTA
7040 Yonge St., Vaughan
905-771-1474
Galleria Supermarket
Region: GTA
865 York Mills Road, Suite 1, Toronto
647-352-7788
Real Canadian Superstore
Region: GTA
51 Gerry Fitzgerald Drive, Toronto
416-665-3209
Loblaws
Region: GTA
380 The East Mall, Etobicoke
416-695-8990
Loblaws
Region: GTA
5010 Glen Erin Drive, Mississauga
905-607-0580
Loblaws
Region: GTA
17 Leslie St., Toronto
416-469-2897
Loblaws
Region: GTA
50 Musgrave St., Toronto
416-694-3838
Real Canadian Superstore
Region: GTA
171 Guelph St, Georgetown
905 877-5393
Real Canadian Superstore
Region: GTA
1385 Harmony Road North, Oshawa
905-433-9569
Real Canadian Superstore
Region: GTA
2549 Weston Rd., Toronto
416-246-9192
Real Canadian Superstore
Region: GTA
18120 Yonge St., Newmarket
905 830-4072
Metro
Region: GTA
1050 Kennedy Circle, Milton
905-878-3363
Metro
Region: GTA
1822 Whites Road, Pickering
905-420-8838
Metro
Region: GTA
16640 Yonge St., Newmarket
905-853-5100
Longo’s
Region: GTA
3455 Wyecroft Road, Oakville
905-825-8989
Longo’s
Region: GTA
469 Cornwall Road, Oakville
905-338-1255
Sobeys
Region: GTA
15500 Bayview Ave., Aurora
905-726-2530
Sobeys
Region: GTA
11700 Yonge St., Richmond Hill
905-508-7585
FreshCo
Region: GTA
2501 Third Line, Oakville
905-827-6322
FreshCo
Region: GTA
800 Steeles Ave W., Vaughan
905-669-0336
West
Farm Boy
Region: West
1415 Beaverbrook Ave., London
519-963-2895
Walmart Supercentre
Region: West
1280 Fanshawe Park Road, London
519-472-7100
Starsky Fine Foods
Region: West
685 Queenston Road, Hamilton
905-573-8885
Real Canadian Superstore
Region: West
875 Highland Road West, Kitchener
519-745-4781
Fortinos
Region: West
65 Mall Road, Hamilton
905-574-0810
Real Canadian Superstore
Region: West
1205 Oxford St., London
519-641-3653
Real Canadian Superstore
Region: West
4371 Walker Road, Windsor
519-972-8335
Zehrs
Region: West
400 Conestoga Blvd., Cambridge
519 620-1376
Food Basics
Region: West
509 Commissioners Road W., London
519-463-2857
Food Basics
Region: West
3770 Montrose Road, Niagara Falls
905-361-3200
Food Basics
Region: West
505 Rymal Road E., Hamilton
905-574-5298
Metro
Region: West
500 Edinburgh Road South, Guelph
519-763-3827
Sobeys
Region: West
977 Golf Links Road, Ancaster
905-648-3534
Sobeys
Region: West
307 Grand River St. N., Paris
519-442-4485
FreshCo
Region: West
700 Queenston Road, Hamilton
905-560-8111
East
Farm Boy
Region: East
2030 Tenth Line, Ottawa (Orleans)
613-841-4221
La Mantia’s Country Market
Region: East
50 William Street South, Lindsay
705-324-6625
Brown’s Your Independent Grocer
Region: East
1251 Main St, Stittsville
613-831-9268
Loblaws
Region: East
1980 Baseline Road, Ottawa
613-723-3200
Loblaws
Region: East
1100 Princess St., Kingston
613-530-3861
Real Canadian Superstore
Region: East
760 Eagleson Road, Ottawa
613 254-6050
Metro
Region: East
3201 Strandherd Drive, Nepean
613-823-8825
Food Basics
Region: East
975 West Ridge Blvd, Orillia
705-326-5200
Sobeys
Region: East
700 Terry Fox Dr., Kanata
613-831-1444
Sobeys
Region: East
193 Metcalfe St., Ottawa
613-598-0027
Sobeys
Region: East
840 March Road, Kanata
613-599-8965
Sobeys
Region: East
1200 Lansdowne St W., Peterborough
705-748-5655
Sobeys
Region: East
501 Towerhill Road, Peterborough
705-740-9026
North
Pino’s Get Fresh
Region: North
219 Trunk Rd., Sault Ste. Marie
705-946-5632
Walmart Supercentre
Region: North
2416 Long Lake Road, Sudbury
705-523-1300
Walmart Supercentre
Region: North
1349 Lasalle Blvd., Sudbury
705-566-3700
Real Canadian Superstore
Region: North
971 Carrick St., Thunder Bay
807-343-4544
Safeway
Region: North
115 Arthur Street West, Thunder Bay
907-473-5993
Sobeys
Region: North
1015 Dawson Road, Thunder Bay
807-768-0099