Quebec’s Minister for the Economy and Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, Samuel Poulin, is opening the door to the sale of ready-to-drink spirit-based beverages in grocery stores.
It’s one of the amendments presented Tuesday by Poulin in his Bill 11 on regulatory relief.
The amendment aims to allow these spirit-based products to enter the grocery market, just like malt-based beverages, wine, and cider.
“We believe this will generate millions of dollars in economic benefits for Quebec’s small and medium-sized businesses,” the CAQ minister told reporters in the corridors of the National Assembly.
His proposal would end the Société des alcools du Québec (SAQ) monopoly in the industry. However, grocers would still be required to go through the Crown corporation to purchase ready-to-drink distilled alcohol beverages, Poulin said.
The Union québécoise des microdistilleries (UQMD) welcomes the Legault government’s announcement.
According to the group, the decision “helps to modernize an outdated regulatory framework and correct a long-standing inconsistency between the different categories of alcoholic beverages available to Quebec consumers.”
“This opening responds to a market reality where ready-to-drink beverages are experiencing sustained growth and represent a strategic segment for our businesses,” said UQMD President Nicolas Bériault in a press release.
The Retail Council of Canada (RCC) also welcomed this move by the Legault government. Its president for Quebec, Michel Rochette, also pointed out that “expanding the range of ready-to-drink products ... would correct the regulatory inconsistency that currently exists.”
Malt-based and spirit-based ready-to-drink beverages can have a comparable alcohol content in the final product, he argued. Minister Poulin believes that the prices displayed for these beverages on supermarket shelves should be the same as in SAQ stores.
The RCC is calling on the government to put in place a framework “that ensures real competition and fair prices for consumers.”
“In this regard, the wholesale structure and markup mechanism should avoid a stacking of margins that would unnecessarily drive up prices,” it recommends.
The UQMD demands that the implementation of this potential authorization support Quebec SMEs. “Market access terms, commercial conditions, and shelf space must be designed in such a way that they do not simply benefit large multinationals with substantial promotional budgets and considerable bargaining power,” the union demands.
While per capita consumption of beer and wine declined in Canada from 2018 to 2023, “consumption of ready-to-drink beverages increased significantly,” says the RCC, citing data published by Quebec’s Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food.
The same data also show that sales volumes at the SAQ in the category including ready-to-drink beverages “more than doubled” over the same period, the retail council added.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Feb. 24, 2026.
By Frédéric Lacroix-Couture, The Canadian Press
