Alcohol

Licensing

The Liquor Licence Act and its Regulations provide the Registrar with the authority for regulating and licensing liquor sales licences, ferment-on-premise facility licences, liquor delivery service licences, manufacturer’s licences and manufacturer’s representative licences.

The AGCO is also responsible for overseeing the administration of Special Occasion Permits (SOPs), which are required for occasional private events (such as weddings and receptions) or public events (such as community festivals), where beverage alcohol will be served and/or sold to the public. As of May 29, 2017, the AGCO began moving away from paper-based applications and SOP applicants were able to apply online, directly from the AGCO’s iAGCO online portal. As of April 1, 2018, paper was eliminated and all applications for a SOP are made online through the iAGCO online portal. 

TABLE 12 – Total Number of Liquor Licences and Special Occasion Permits

TABLE 13 – Compliance Services Inspections – Alcohol

VQA Wine Sales at Farmers’ Markets

As of March 31, 2019, there were 133 wineries selling their fruit wine, honey wine, maple wine or VQA wine at 207 Ontario Farmers’ Markets.

TABLE 14 – Notices of Proposal (NOPs) and Orders of Monetary Penalty (Alcohol)

If the Registrar proposes to refuse, revoke or suspend a licence, the Registrar must serve an NOP on the applicant/licensee outlining the reasons for the proposed action. Applicants/licensees who dispute an NOP issued by the Registrar may appeal the proposal to the Licence Appeal Tribunal (LAT).

TABLE 15 – Alcohol Advertising Complaints Reviewed