Drinks and Cannabis

Drinking age by province

Each province and territory sets its own drinking age, and none of them use 21. The age is 18 in Quebec, Alberta and Manitoba, and 19 in every other province and territory. The age applies to buying alcohol and drinking it in bars and restaurants.

Bars and liquor stores card anyone who looks under about 25. A US passport or passport card is the safest ID; most places also accept a US driver's license, but staff may not know every state's design, so carry your passport as a backup.

Where to buy alcohol

Unlike in most US states, alcohol retail in much of Canada runs through provincial government stores. Every province does it differently, so here is what to expect where you are going. Prices on shelves are before tax, and most provinces add a small, refundable container deposit on cans and bottles.

Ontario

The government-run LCBO sells spirits, wine and beer and is the only general retailer for spirits. The Beer Store, owned by large brewers, sells beer and takes back empties, though it has closed many locations. Since September 2024, licensed convenience stores can sell beer, cider, wine and ready-to-drink cocktails, and since October 31, 2024, any grocery store can apply to sell them too, including big-box stores. Retail sales are allowed from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Wineries, breweries and distilleries also sell their own products on site.

Quebec

The government-run SAQ sells spirits and most wine, with SAQ Sélection stores for fine wine and SAQ Dépôt warehouse outlets. Dépanneurs (corner stores) and grocery stores sell beer, cider and wine, and their beer aisles are often stacked with excellent Quebec craft brews. Corner-store wine is mostly bottled in Quebec from imported bulk wine, so go to the SAQ for anything special. Grocery and corner store sales stop at 11 p.m.

British Columbia

Government-run BC Liquor Stores compete with private liquor stores, many attached to pubs. Some grocery stores sell BC wine, and a few sell beer and imported wine. Alcohol carries 10% provincial sales tax plus 5% GST in BC, so the price at the till runs about 15% over the shelf price.

Alberta and Saskatchewan

Alberta privatized liquor retail in 1993, and Saskatchewan has since moved to private stores too. You will find independent and chain liquor stores everywhere, including large warehouse-style shops with wide selections and competitive prices. These are also the only two provinces still stocking American brands as of late summer 2026.

Manitoba, Atlantic Canada and the North

• Manitoba: government Liquor Marts, plus beer vendors attached to hotels and a few private wine stores.
• Nova Scotia: NSLC stores, plus some private wine shops and farm stores at wineries.
• New Brunswick: ANBL stores and smaller agency stores in rural towns.
• Prince Edward Island: PEI Liquor stores.
• Newfoundland and Labrador: NLC stores, with beer and agency outlets in many corner stores.
• Territories: government liquor stores with limited hours. Some communities in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories restrict or prohibit alcohol, and bringing it in can be illegal there. Check local rules before you fly north; see The North.

American alcohol and the trade dispute

In March 2025, in response to US tariffs, most provinces pulled American beer, wine and spirits off government liquor store shelves. The SAQ removed US products on March 4, 2025, and the LCBO, BC and others did the same. As of late August 2026, US alcohol was still off provincial store shelves everywhere except Alberta and Saskatchewan, which never imposed a ban.

In August 2026, Prime Minister Mark Carney asked the provinces to restock US alcohol while Ottawa finalized a trade deal with Washington. Some premiers said they would consider it once a deal was signed, and Quebec said it would make its own decision. In February 2026, the SAQ sold off some aging US stock at a 15% discount, with proceeds going to Quebec food banks. Check the LCBO, SAQ or BC Liquor websites for current availability before you go hunting for a favorite bourbon or California cabernet.

What this means for you:

• Bars and restaurants may still pour American products from older stock, but many have switched to Canadian ones.
• You will see "Product of Canada" and "Buy Canadian" signs in liquor stores. Canadians generally welcome American visitors; the boycott is aimed at policy.
• Bringing a bottle of US wine or spirits with you for personal use is fine, within your duty-free allowance.
• It is a good excuse to try Canadian whisky, Ontario and BC wine, and Quebec cider, which are the subject of the rest of this page.

Drinking in public, parks and patios

As in most of the US, drinking on the street is illegal across Canada, and open alcohol in a car is an offense. Keep bottles sealed and out of the driver's reach, ideally in the trunk. The big change of recent years is that several cities now allow drinking in some parks and beaches.

Toronto has been debating a city-wide expansion, so the list may grow. In provincial parks, alcohol is generally allowed only on your registered campsite, and some parks ban it entirely over long weekends such as Victoria Day in May. Beaches in provincial parks are usually off-limits for alcohol.

Bars, patios and last call

Patio season (terrasses in Quebec) runs roughly May through September, and Canadians treat a sunny patio as a near-sacred thing. Most provinces stop bar service around 2 a.m.; Montreal's bars serve until 3 a.m., which is part of its draw for weekend visitors. Many bars and restaurants open for alcohol service in the late morning for brunch.

Canadian whisky

Canadian whisky has its own legal definition: it must be mashed, distilled and aged in Canada, aged at least three years in small wooden barrels, and bottled at 40% alcohol or higher. Canadians call almost any of it "rye," even when the main grain is corn. Most Canadian whisky is a blend of separately distilled grains, which gives it a smooth, mellow profile; a growing number of all-rye and single malt whiskies push in the other direction.

Names to know

• Crown Royal: the best-selling Canadian whisky in the US, made in Gimli, Manitoba.
• Canadian Club: made at Hiram Walker in Windsor, Ontario, directly across the river from Detroit. Its history includes Prohibition-era rum-running across the Detroit River.
• J.P. Wiser's and Lot No. 40: also from the Windsor distillery; Lot No. 40 is a respected all-rye whisky.
• Alberta Premium: a 100% rye whisky from Calgary, cheap and good.
• Forty Creek: from Grimsby, on the Niagara wine route.
• Glen Breton: single malt from Glenora Distillery on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia.
• Shelter Point: single malt from a farm distillery on Vancouver Island.

Craft distilleries have opened in every province, many making gin with local botanicals as well as whisky. Distillery tours and tastings are easy to add to a Windsor, Niagara or Cape Breton trip; check each distillery's site for tour times and booking.

Icewine and wine regions

Icewine

Icewine is Canada's signature wine: an intensely sweet dessert wine made from grapes left on the vine into winter and picked frozen, usually at night. Under Canada's VQA rules, the grapes must freeze naturally and be picked at 17.6°F (-8°C) or colder. The water in the grapes stays behind as ice during pressing, leaving a few drops of concentrated, sugary juice. Vidal, Riesling and Cabernet Franc are the common grapes.

Because yields are tiny, icewine is expensive and sold in small 200 or 375 ml bottles. Taste it before you buy at a winery, and serve it chilled in small pours. Niagara's Icewine Festival is held over weekends in January, and the Okanagan also runs a winter wine festival in January; check the official sites for dates.

The main wine regions

Okanagan vineyards took heavy damage from extreme cold snaps in the winters of 2022–23 and early 2024, which wiped out much of the 2024 harvest. Some BC wineries bought grapes from other regions while vines recovered, so read labels if you want wine made only from Okanagan fruit.

Reading a Canadian wine label

Look for VQA (Vintners Quality Alliance) on Ontario and BC bottles: it means the wine is made entirely from grapes grown in that province's designated areas. Cheaper bottles marked "International blend from imported and domestic wines" are mostly imported bulk wine bottled in Canada. If you want to taste Canadian wine, that difference matters.

Craft beer and cider

Beer

Canada's big beer names, Molson and Labatt, are now owned by international brewing groups. Moosehead in Saint John, New Brunswick, bills itself as Canada's oldest independent brewery, and Alexander Keith's has been brewed in Halifax since 1820. The more interesting story is craft beer, which has exploded since the 2010s.

• Quebec: one of North America's best beer scenes, with Belgian-style ales (Unibroue's La Fin du Monde from Chambly is the classic) and dozens of Montreal brewpubs. Dépanneur beer shelves are a great place to explore.
• British Columbia: Vancouver's Mount Pleasant neighborhood has a cluster of taprooms within walking distance, and Victoria has a long craft tradition.
• Ontario: Toronto has taprooms in most neighborhoods, and breweries dot cottage country and the Niagara region.
• Atlantic Canada: Halifax has a dense brewery scene for its size, and St. John's has Quidi Vidi Brewing, known for a lager made with iceberg water.

Cider and ice cider

Quebec makes some of the world's best cider. Ice cider (cidre de glace), invented in Quebec around 1990, is made by concentrating apple juice through winter cold, either by freezing the juice or leaving apples on the tree. It tastes like a bright, sweet apple version of icewine and costs less. The Route du cidre in the Montérégie, south of Montreal, links orchards around Rougemont, Mont-Saint-Grégoire, Hemmingford and Frelighsburg.

BC's Saanich Peninsula near Victoria and Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley also have strong cideries, and dry farmhouse ciders are on tap in most craft beer bars.

The Caesar and other Canadian drinks

The Caesar

The Caesar is Canada's cocktail: vodka, Clamato (tomato juice with clam broth), Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce, served over ice in a glass rimmed with celery salt and garnished with a celery stalk and lime. Walter Chell created it in 1969 at the Calgary Inn to go with the opening of an Italian restaurant. It is close to a Bloody Mary, but the clam broth makes it lighter and more savory.

You can order one anywhere in Canada, from a dive bar to a fine-dining room. Brunch spots compete with over-the-top garnishes, from pickled beans to skewers of shrimp. National Caesar Day falls on the Thursday before Victoria Day in May. Order a "Virgin Caesar" for an alcohol-free version.

Screech and Quebec's caribou

In Newfoundland, screech is Jamaican rum bottled locally. Pubs on George Street in St. John's run "screech-in" ceremonies for visitors, which involve a shot of screech, a recited saying and kissing a cod. It is a tourist tradition, played for laughs, and locals will tell you whether a place does it well. See Newfoundland.

At Quebec City's Winter Carnival in February, the drink is caribou, a warming mix of red wine, spirits and maple syrup. See Quebec City and Festivals.

Alcohol-free options

Non-alcoholic beer, wine and spirits are widely sold, including at the LCBO and SAQ, and most bars have a few zero-proof cocktails. Canada Dry ginger ale started in Toronto in 1904, if you want something Canadian with no alcohol at all.

Coffee and tea

Coffee in Canada runs from the national institution, Tim Hortons, to serious third-wave roasters. Tim Hortons is cheap, fast and everywhere, especially on highways and in small towns; a "double-double" is a coffee with two creams and two sugars. Second Cup is a Canadian café chain, and Starbucks is as common as in any US city. See Food for more on Tim Hortons culture.

• Vancouver: a deep coffee culture, with local roasters such as 49th Parallel and JJ Bean. Vancouver is also credited with the London Fog, Earl Grey tea with steamed milk and vanilla, now on café menus nationwide.
• Montreal: Italian-style espresso bars, the best known being Café Olimpico in Mile End, plus a strong independent café scene. Order an allongé for a longer espresso close to an Americano, or a café au lait.
• Toronto: independent roasters in most downtown neighborhoods, and Pilot Coffee Roasters is a widely stocked local name.

Drip coffee at Tim Hortons costs a couple of Canadian dollars; a latte at an independent café typically costs C$5 to C$7 (about $3.50 to $5), before tax and tip.

Cannabis

Recreational cannabis has been legal across Canada since October 2018. Adults can buy dried flower, pre-rolls, vapes, edibles, drinks and topicals from licensed stores. Each province sets its own age, retail system and rules on where you can consume.

Ages and where to buy

Adults may carry up to 30 grams of dried cannabis (or the equivalent) in public. Buy only from licensed retailers; unlicensed shops still exist, and their products are untested and illegal. Edibles sold legally are capped at 10 mg of THC per package, which is lower than what many US dispensaries sell, but start slowly anyway.

Where you can consume

This is where visitors get caught out. The rules vary a lot by province and city:

• Ontario: generally allowed where tobacco smoking is allowed, which excludes enclosed public places, workplaces, vehicles, and areas near schools, playgrounds and restaurant patios.
• Quebec: smoking or vaping cannabis is banned in public places, including streets and parks.
• British Columbia: allowed in some public places where tobacco is, but banned at beaches, parks, playgrounds, sports fields and bus stops, among others.
• Alberta: many cities, including Calgary, ban public consumption outside designated areas.

Most hotels ban smoking of any kind in rooms and charge a steep cleaning fee if you ignore it. Rental car companies treat smoke the same way. A private residence, with the owner's permission, is the safest place.

What drinks cost

Expect to pay more for alcohol than in most of the US, because of taxes and provincial markups. Shelf and menu prices are before sales tax, and tipping at bars follows the US pattern: a dollar or two per drink, or 15% to 20% on a tab.

For daily budget planning, see Money and Budget.

Drinking and driving

Canada treats impaired driving as a serious crime, and enforcement is tougher than most Americans expect. The rules apply to visiting drivers exactly as they do to Canadians.

• Criminal limit: a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08% (80 mg per 100 ml) or more within two hours of driving.
• Mandatory alcohol screening: police can demand a roadside breath sample from any driver they lawfully stop, with no suspicion needed. Ontario's RIDE checks and Alberta's Checkstops are common, especially on weekends and holidays.
• Refusing a breath test is a criminal offense with a minimum C$2,000 fine (about $1,430) for a first offense.
• Penalties: a first impaired driving offense carries a minimum C$1,000 fine (about $715), rising with higher blood alcohol, plus a driving ban. Repeat offenses carry mandatory jail time.
• Provincial limits: most provinces impose an immediate roadside license suspension, and sometimes impound the car, from 0.05%; Saskatchewan's threshold is 0.04%. Quebec relies on the 0.08% criminal limit for fully licensed adult drivers. Young and novice drivers generally must have zero alcohol.
• Cannabis: it is a criminal offense to drive with 2 ng or more of THC per ml of blood, and there are combined limits for alcohol and cannabis together.

The same impaired-operation laws apply to boats, which matters in cottage country. Use Uber or Lyft in big cities, taxis elsewhere, or plan a designated driver for winery days. More on road rules in Driving.

Bringing alcohol across the border

Into Canada

If you are of legal drinking age for the province where you enter, you can bring in one of the following without duty or tax:

• Up to 1.5 liters of wine (about two standard bottles), or
• Up to 1.14 liters (40 fl oz) of liquor, or
• Up to 8.5 liters of beer or cider (about 24 standard cans or bottles).

Anything over that is charged duty, taxes and provincial fees, which can add up quickly. Declare it all. See Entering Canada and Crossing the border.

Back to the US

US Customs generally allows travelers 21 and over to bring back 1 liter of alcohol duty-free. More is allowed for personal use but is subject to duty and federal excise tax, and your home state's laws may set limits. Icewine, Canadian whisky and Quebec ice cider all make good souvenirs; pack bottles in checked luggage if you are flying, since liquids over 3.4 oz (100 ml) cannot go in your carry-on, even through preclearance. Full details are in Shopping and US customs.