A local vintner and a local brewer are waiting to see how a new agreement allowing direct-to-consumer (DTC) alcohol sales between nine provinces will affect their businesses.

On July 21 at the meeting of provincial and territorial premiers in Charlottetown, Ontario Premier Doug Ford along with premiers of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador signed what Ontario is calling a historic agreement that will allow direct-to-consumer (DTC) sales of alcoholic beverages between their individual jurisdictions for personal use.

Before the agreement signed in Charlottetown, and prior to the March 2026 DTC alcohol agreement between Ontario and Nova Scotia, Ontario consumers were only permitted to purchase alcoholic beverages from another province if the products were listed by the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO), ordered via the LCBO’s Private Ordering Program or bought in another province and transported by the purchaser to Ontario for personal use. Under the new agreement, producers in participating jurisdictions can now seek authorization from the LCBO to provide consumers in Ontario with direct access to conveniently purchase their alcoholic beverages of choice via online merchants and have those beverages delivered directly to their homes. Consumers located in those same jurisdictions will also have the same ability to make purchases from Ontario producers.

Ford has promoted the DTC agreement as a way of reducing trade barriers between provinces and encouraging economic growth within Canada to counter the current trade and political disputes with the United States.

Craig MacMillan of Lochiel co-owns Stonehouse Vineyard and is the Chair of Ontario Artisan Wineries (OAW). He does not believe the DTC agreement will have immediate benefits for his winery or other OAW member wineries.

“While interesting, the Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) announcement/agreement is not likely to do much for members of Ontario Artisan Wineries (OAW), although to make a final determination, it will take some time to see exactly what charges the various provinces impose on DTC sales,” MacMillan said.

MacMillan explained that British Columbia and Alberta had entered some form of DTC agreement in 2025, but then in the spring of 2026, Alberta imposed significant new charges on BC wines sold DTC in Alberta which made it effectively impossible to sell wine that way. 

“So, our concern, is that while they may drop the regulatory barriers to DTC, provinces will substitute this with economic barriers in terms of high charges in the form of mark-ups etc. Will have to wait in see,” MacMillan said.

He added that another consideration is the cost to ship to other provinces. 

“Shipping costs have increased, and it is extremely difficult for small OAW wineries to absorb the cost of paying for shipping, and we have noted increased reluctance by customers to incur the cost of shipping,” remarked MacMillan.

He concluded by saying OAW has repeatedly told the Ontario government that they need to deal with “intra” provincial trade barriers for 100 per cent Ontario non-VQA wines being sold by independent small artisan wineries, as we still cannot sell in convenience stores due to excessive charges imposed by LCBO.

Eric Mainville is owner and Head Brewer at Brauwerk Hoffman in Rockland. He said the DTC agreement is a win for the industry.

“Anytime restrictions are removed without risking customer safety, it benefits both the sector and the general population,” Mainville remarked.

However, Mainville does not believe the agreement will immediately benefit his company.

“While this is a positive development overall, I don’t see it significantly impacting our business in the near future. The cost of shipping beer long distances means interprovincial sales won’t be a primary focus for our revenue stream anytime soon,” he said.

“Our priority remains focusing on our local market first and foremost. Once we outgrow that focus, we may venture further into the wider market without jeopardizing our local clientele,” Mainville added.

He concluded that having the option to ship to specific customers who want our product is a positive step.

Québec is the only province to not sign the DTC agreement reached in Charlottetown. Premier Christine Fréchette has said that doing so would require significant changes to existing legislation in the province in order to be feasible.