Drink DirectProvinces sign a multilateral DTC memorandum of understanding
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Not legal advice. This is a plain-language account of a regulatory event, drawn from the sources listed here. Rules can change — always check with the relevant provincial liquor regulator before shipping or ordering alcohol.
Full disclaimerBuilding on the First Ministers' March commitment, a group of provinces sign a formal memorandum of understanding, setting a shared — but non-binding — target: get interprovincial direct-to-consumer alcohol sales running nationally by May 2026. The MOU takes effect for its initial signatories on June 30, 2025; ministers publicly announce it on July 8, and the CFTA's own webpage for it is dated July 25. Newfoundland and Labrador, initially a holdout, signs on August 25, bringing the group to eleven of thirteen provinces and territories.
The MOU creates no legal obligations on its own. It's the political groundwork that the CFTA Operating Agreement turns into a real, if still non-binding, framework the following July.
Affected provinces
- OntarioActive · LCBO authorization required
- AlbertaActive · AGLC authorization required
- ManitobaActive · No authorization required
- New BrunswickActive · No authorization required
- Newfoundland and LabradorActive · NLC authorization required
- Nova ScotiaActive · NSLC authorization required
- Prince Edward IslandActive · PEILCC authorization required
- SaskatchewanActive · No authorization required
- British ColumbiaSigned · Feb 2027 target
- QuebecSigned MOU, not yet in Operating Agreement
- YukonSigned MOU, not yet in Operating Agreement