Alberta craft alcohol producers welcome direct-to-consumer deal

There’s something quintessentially Canadian about pouring some locally made whisky or cracking open a craft beer after a long day.

Until now, buying those products from a different province has been far more complicated than consumers may realize. 

That could soon begin to change. 

On Tuesday, premiers from nine provinces signed a landmark agreement to implement direct-to-consumer (DTC) alcohol sales, allowing Canadians to order alcohol directly from producers in participating provinces for personal consumption. The agreement applies only to sales from producers and does not include retailers or resale. 

The deal follows a July 2025 memorandum of understanding that committed provinces to opening cross-border DTC alcohol shipping by May 2026. 

Before the agreement, interprovincial alcohol sales were largely funelled through provincial liquor boards, creating lengthy listing processes that many small producers struggled to navigate. 

“It’s been very difficult for Canadian producers to access other provinces,” said David Farran, president and founder of Eau Claire Distillery. 

“Most of the retailing across Canada is run by government liquor stores, and they make the decisions on how to stock their shelves and what products to carry.” 

Though Eau Claire Distillery has secured listings in other provinces and in 15 U.S. states, Farran said it has been anything but straightforward. 

“The red tape aspect of getting these listings is almost impossible to overcome,” he said. “Our company has been successful in getting listings, but it’s taken us a long time, and it hasn’t been easy.”  

The Alberta Chambers of Commerce is an advocate for reducing this red tape and other trade barriers that Alberta businesses face. 

“For a small brewery, winery or distillery, those barriers can mean added costs, complicated rules and fewer opportunities to grow within their own country,” wrote Shauna Feth, president and CEO of the Alberta Chambers of Commerce, in an email statement to CBC News. 

She believes this agreement is a step in the right direction, but that more work needs to be done to continue the path toward free-flowing trade in Canada. 

“The focus now needs to be on practical implementation. Governments should keep the rules simple, minimize reporting and compliance costs, and work closely with producers to address problems as they emerge,” wrote Feth. 

Jordan Ramey, co-owner of Burwood Distillery, is also positive about what this could mean for the future of interprovincial trade.

“We should invest in Alberta; we should invest in Canada,” Ramey said. “But [provincial leaders] definitely need to make sure that whatever rollout happens is carefully thought out and worked out with industry members.”

Alberta’s brewing industry also welcomed the announcement, though with more nuanced expectations. 

“We’re very excited to see a step forward,” said Blair Berdusco, executive director of the Alberta Small Brewers Association. “I am happy that the conversation has happened, and that this is the furthest this particular effort has ever made it.” 

Unlike spirits, beer presents additional challenges, including higher shipping costs and a shorter shelf life. Berdusco said those realities mean the agreement may not immediately transform the business for many small breweries. 

“Unfortunately, I don’t know that it’s going to be a huge thing for Alberta small breweries or breweries across Canada,” she said. “We’re a little bit cautious about what the demand may be.”  

Still, she sees the agreement as a foundation for broader reform. 

“I’m hopeful that this is just the first step in more changes throughout Canada on how alcohol sales happen across borders,” said Berdusco. 

International influence

This agreement comes as Canadian producers continue navigating uncertainty created by U.S. tariffs and trade disputes. 

“It seems like alcohol is always tied up in the centre of these things. Here we go again,” Bryce Parsons, CEO of True Wild Distillery and president of the Alberta Craft Distillers Association, told CBC Radio’s Calgary Eyeopener on Wednesday. 

Parsons said the industry has endured 18 months of uncertainty, which was recently topped by U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement to hit certain Canadian exports with 50 per cent tariffs. 

“Why are we not prepared for this already?” Parsons said.

While some Alberta distillers were planning to shift business into new markets, he said the transition is not easy.

“It takes time, it takes money to navigate their complexities, whether it’s a province or whether it’s another country.” 

He argues that improving trade within Canada should have happened long before international tariffs forced businesses to rethink their strategies. 

“The easiest markets are within our own country, and that’s always still been a problem or a big hurdle here for the last year and a half,” Parsons said.

Alberta is one of two provinces, alongside Saskatchewan, that allows the sale and import of American liquor. 

Berdusco thinks that “consumers are making the choice on their own,” saying U.S. liquor sales have naturally decreased in Alberta due to a consumer-led ‘buy local’ mindset. 

“Albertans are making their choices, and a lot of them are choosing to look for local alternatives,” she said. 

Farran believes the newly signed DTC agreement opens the shopping cart to more Canadian options, allowing consumers to branch outside of their own province while keeping business in Canada.

“I do believe that Canadians at heart want to rally behind their own Canadian products.”