Most of Canada is part of a new agreement allowing breweries to sell direct to consumers almost nationwide. The Northwest Territories opted out, and that has consequences for the NWT Brewing Co.
The Yellowknife-based brewery, which also operates the city’s Woodyard Brewhouse & Eatery, is now pressing the territorial government to find a way for it to more easily sell its products in southern jurisdictions.
The GNWT says that’s unlikely to happen.
“If opting out means NWT producers are excluded from those new interprovincial opportunities, that’s a significant disadvantage for local businesses,” NWT Brewing Co’s Fletcher Stevens told Cabin Radio by email.
“Our concern is that two separate issues appear to have been bundled together. One issue is whether alcohol should be shipped directly into NWT communities with restricted or prohibited status. The other is whether NWT breweries should lose the ability to sell directly to consumers in the nine provinces that have opened those markets to one another. Those are very different questions.”
Advertisement.
Advertisement.
At the heart of the issue is an agreement reached earlier this month between Canada’s premiers.
Known as a direct-to-consumer alcohol agreement, it will allow alcohol producers like breweries to sell alcohol directly to the door of customers in any jurisdiction that signs up. For example, New Brunswick breweries could sell to people living in northern Ontario, while BC wine could be sold direct to someone in Charlottetown.
The NWT and Nunavut each said they would not sign.
“The agreement allows consumers to purchase alcohol directly from a brewery, winery, or distillery and have it shipped to their home; however, many of our communities have locally determined alcohol restrictions or prohibitions that reflect community priorities and cultural values,” the two territories said in a joint statement at the time.
Advertisement.
Advertisement.
“Respecting community self-determination is fundamental to how alcohol is managed in the North. We believe any changes to alcohol distribution must be consistent with those locally established systems and the choices made by communities.”
In an email, Stevens said he and his company understand that rationale.
“Communities in the Northwest Territories have unique approaches to alcohol regulation, and respecting local decision making is important,” he wrote.
“We’d welcome a solution that allows the GNWT to maintain its current approach to inbound shipments while still allowing NWT producers to access customers elsewhere in Canada.
“We want to understand whether NWT producers have in fact lost access to these new markets, whether that decision is final, and whether there is an opportunity to pursue an outbound-only arrangement that protects community choice while supporting northern businesses.”
GNWT plans to ‘explore framework’
Todd Sasaki, a spokesperson for the NWT’s Department of Finance, stressed the territory hasn’t lost any existing access to southern markets. Companies in the NWT can still sell alcohol elsewhere in Canada through liquor authorities, he wrote in an email.
But for direct-to-consumer sales, “it comes down to reciprocity,” he continued.
“Participating provinces and territories agree to allow producers in other participating jurisdictions to ship directly to consumers, while retaining authority to set their own registration, taxation, age-verification and enforcement requirements,” Sasaki wrote.
Advertisement.
Advertisement.
“Some direct-to-consumer opportunities already exist in jurisdictions (such as Manitoba) that do not require reciprocity.
“However, because the NWT is not a signatory to the operating agreement, NWT producers are not currently able to participate in the new reciprocal direct-to-consumer sales network being established among participating provinces and territories.”
Sasaki said the GNWT is working on implementation of a new Liquor Act and regulations, after which it will “explore an NWT direct-to-consumer framework,” but no decisions have been made.
“While some jurisdictions already permit direct-to-consumer shipments without reciprocal agreements, no participating jurisdiction has indicated a willingness to extend the benefits of the new reciprocal framework on an outbound-only basis,” he concluded.
The agreement encompassing most Canadian jurisdictions is likely to roll out in stages.
Earlier this month, Nova Scotia’s government said Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador and Ontario were also signing up, while Quebec and the Yukon “are anticipated to sign at a later date.”
BC is understood to be working toward fully joining the deal by early 2027.
Eshana Gohil contributed reporting.
