Liquor Control and Licensing Branch

POLICY DIRECTIVE
No: 16-04
Date: February 23, 2016
To:

All LCLB Staff
All LRS and Wine Stores
All Manufacturer Associations
Liquor Distribution Branch
All Local Government, First Nations and Police Agencies

Re: Minimum Liquor Pricing in Liquor Stores

Introduction
Effective May 1, 2016 a new policy will come into effect imposing new minimum liquor
prices in Licensee Retail Stores (LRS), Wine Stores and manufacturer on-site stores.
The same policies will apply to BC Liquor Stores (i.e. LDB stores) and Rural Agency
Stores.
New Policy
The following policy has been introduced to set the following minimum retail prices in
LRSs, Wine Stores and manufacturer on-site stores. A licensee may not sell liquor for
less than either of the following prices:
1) The price that the licensee paid for the liquor; or
2) The price set out in the table below.
Liquor Category
Wine
Spirits
Liqueurs
Packaged Beer (bottles and tins)
Draught Beer (kegs 18 litres or greater)
Cider and Coolers

Minimum Price Per Litre (not including
all sales taxes)
$6.44
$27.88
$20.39
$3.19
$1.97
$3.75

Requirement (1) above, is the continuation of a longstanding LCLB policy. Requirement
(2) above is to help ensure that liquor with very low wholesale prices is not retailed at
prices that may encourage abuse or overconsumption.
The Appendix contains examples of minimum prices for common package sizes. In
addition, an interactive Excel spreadsheet is available on our website allowing you to
enter different product sizes to determine the minimum price. Follow the link here:
Page 1 of 3

 http://www.pssg.gov.bc.ca/lclb/docs-forms/minimum-price-calculator.xls

Under the Liquor Control and Licensing Act, the LCLB can apply this policy only to
LRSs, Wine Stores and manufacturer on-site stores. However, LDB will impose the
same pricing policies on their stores and they will also require Rural Agency Stores to
follow the same rules.
To provide liquor stores with sufficient time to review and adjust their retail pricing and
advertising, the new policy will not come into effect until May 1, 2016. In the interim, the
existing policy prohibiting licensees from selling liquor below its purchase price remains
in effect.
Further Information
Further information regarding liquor control and licensing in British Columbia is available
on the Liquor Control and Licensing Branch website at http://www.pssg.gov.bc.ca/lclb/.
If you have any questions regarding these changes, please contact the Liquor Control
and Licensing Branch toll free in Canada at 1-866-209-2111 or 250 952-5787 if calling
from the Victoria area.

Original signed by
Douglas Scott
Assistant Deputy Minister and General Manager

Page 2 of 3

 APPENDIX
MINIMUM RETAIL PRICES BY PRODUCT CATEGORY AND SIZE
Product Type

Product Size

BEER - Packaged

650 ml
6 x 341 ml
12 x 341 ml
6 x 355 ml
12 x 355 ml
500 ml

Minimum Retail Price
(excluding all sales taxes)
$2.07
$6.53
$13.05
$6.79
$13.59
$1.60

BEER – Kegs 18 litres or
more

20 litres

$39.40

30 litres
50 litres
58.7 litres

$59.10
$98.50
$115.64

WINE

375 ml
750 ml
1.5 litres
2 litres
4 litres
16 litres

$2.42
$4.83
$9.66
$12.88
$25.76
$103.04

SPIRITS

375 ml
750 ml
1.14 litres
1.75 litres

$10.46
$20.91
$31.78
$48.79

LIQUEURS

375 ml
750 ml
1.14 litres

$7.65
$15.29
$23.24

CIDER AND COOLERS

473 ml
473 ml x 4
355 ml x 4
330 ml x 6
355 ml x 6
2 litres

$1.77
$7.10
$5.33
$7.43
$7.99
$7.50

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