The Ontario government’s current ongoing expansion of the number of retail outlets that could sell beer, wine, liquor and other alcoholic beverages would at it completion see 8,500 stores peddling booze, Southwestern Public Health Board was told at its meeting on Thursday, Oct. 24.
Public Health Nurse Jacqueline Deroo delivered a report on the expansion on behalf of SWPH’s injuries prevention team.
She said that the expansion of sales outlets for alcoholic beverages began with 450 grocery stores in 2015.
That program was expanded in 2019, and in 2020, the province allowed the outlets to deliver to homes and businesses.
In December of 2023, the government announced it would further widen the number of stores that could sell alcoholic beverages by Jan. 1, 2026.
Then, in May of this year, the government announced it was speeding up the expansion of outlets to August through October of this year, and grocery stores were allowed to sell a wider variety of beverages.
Then, on July 15, the government again accelerated the process, announcing that convenience stores could begin sales as of Sept. 5.
“By the end of October 2024, every convenience, grocery and ‘big-box’ store in Ontario will be eligible to sell beer, cider, wine and ready-to-drink alcoholic beverages.
“This will introduce up to 8,500 new stores where these products can be sold.”
Such stores would have to meet certain requirements, including staff training, minimum pricing of products and warning signs about drinking during pregnancy.
Ms. Deroo said the process for alcohol licensing in Ontario had been changed by new provincial legislation.
The new rules removed any public and municipal consultation on where such outlets should go, as well as any way to object to an application.
Where the new outlets opened could present a risk for some vulnerable populations, she warned, and that should be taken into consideration.
“If a store applied for a licence to sell alcohol close to a sensitive area, such as a treatment facility or high school, the provincial legislation would still allow a permit despite any (municipal) bylaws.”
Each municipality would, if it wanted any control over new outlets, have to adopt a bylaw of its own as well as pay for enforcement, Ms. Deroo said.
Ontario’s Alcohol and Gaming Commission would get extra money toward inspections and enforcement of provincial legislation.
She noted that the province had allocated $10-million over the next five years “to support social responsibility and public health efforts,” but how that money would be allocated wasn’t yet known.
Ms. Deroo pointed out that the mortality rate ascribed to alcohol use had increased locally between 2018 and 2021, reaching a high of 3.4 per hundred thousand of population in 2021, while across Ontario that had dropped to 2.5 per hundred thousand over the same period.
In 2021, the local rate of hospitalization for alcohol-related issues was 1.4 times that of the provincial average at 305.7 per hundred thousand compared to 219 across Ontario.
Locally, “heavy drinking,” defined as five drinks on a single occasion for males and four for women, had increased to 20 percent of drinkers, compared to 15 percent for the province.
Issues that arose due to drinking included violence in homes and on streets, chronic diseases, sexually-transmitted infections, road crashes, underage drinking, injuries and suicides.
Alcohol also contributed to the cost of provincial health care, lower productivity in workplaces and court cases, among others, she asserted.
The estimated cost across Ontario was estimated at $2.7-billion for opioids, $4.2-billion for tobacco and $7.1-billion for alcohol.
While sales of alcoholic beverages were seen as moneymakers for the province, in 2020-21 just over $5-billion in sales were realized, resulting in a deficit of nearly $2-billion.
Ms. Deroo pointed out that the majority of Canadians also weren’t aware of a link between cancer and alcohol consumption among other dangers.
Ms. Deroo said in response, the health unit was increasing public education campaigns about alcohol consumption, themed “Drink Less, Live more.”
She recommended the board also send a letter to provincial ministries seeking information on how the $10-million in additional public health funding over the next five years would be allocated.
SWPH would also work with local communities on revisions to their own municipal alcohol policies, which governed consumption of alcohol in community-owned facilities.
However, Ms. Deroo said, “this is not ideal, as it normalizes alcohol.”
British Columbia had opened up drinking on beaches, she remarked, which resulted in violent incidents.
Consumption should continue to be restricted in public areas such as parks, she recommended.
Southwold Mayor Grant Jones, a board member, said municipalities would face a challenge in attempting any zoning restrictions.
