Dear Premiers,
Canadians are facing real economic pressure. At a time when affordability, consumer choice, and domestic economic resilience matter more than ever, your collective efforts to reduce interprovincial trade barriers are both timely and necessary. Through the Council of the Federation, Premiers have shown leadership in recognizing that Canada’s internal market should work better for Canadians, and that goods produced here should be easier to buy here.
One of the clearest and most practical opportunities to deliver on that promise is the creation of an open national wine sales market including a harmonized direct-to-consumer (DTC) wine delivery agreement made in July 2025 to develop DTC operating agreements/ frameworks by May 2026.
Why Direct-to-Consumer Matters to Canadians
For consumers, DTC is about choice, access, and fairness. Today, Canadians can easily order imported wine from virtually anywhere in the world yet often cannot purchase Canadian wine directly from another province. In many cases, it is easier to buy Canadian wine from abroad than from a neighbouring province. This contradiction limits consumer choice and runs counter to the spirit of a truly open Canadian market.
A direct-to-consumer transaction is straightforward and responsible. Consumers purchase directly from a winery. All applicable federal and provincial taxes are paid. Age verification, compliant packaging, and regulated delivery are required. Provincial governments do not warehouse the product, operate retail stores, or provide marketing or distribution services. Their role is oversight, regulation, and tax collection, roles that are already well established.
Without amendment, DTC shipments will still be treated as though they pass through the full wholesale and retail system and are therefore subject to markups, levies and ad valorem taxes designed to fund services that are not actually provided. These charges would not improve public safety or compliance. Instead, they raise prices for consumers and act as internal trade barriers.
For this reason, a credible national DTC framework must be built on zero markups and zero levies and ad valorem taxes. Provinces such as Nova Scotia, British Columbia, and Manitoba have already demonstrated that consumer protection, tax compliance, and public oversight can be achieved without adding unnecessary costs. These systems work, and they work for consumers.
Opening the Domestic Market for Canadian Wine
Direct-to-consumer delivery is only one element of a much larger opportunity: creating a more open domestic market for Canadian wine.
Although Canadian wine is grown, fermented, bottled, and sold in Canada, it accounts for only a small share of national wine sales. In many provinces, market share remains in the low single digit, or less. This is not a reflection of consumer preference, but of structural barriers that limit access. Canadian wine simply does not move freely within Canada.
By contrast, imported wines enjoy established access in every province through liquor boards, private retailers, restaurants, and online platforms. Improving access for Canadian wine would not restrict imports or disadvantage international producers; it would allow Canadian products to compete fairly in their home market and align with the objectives of the Canadian Free Trade Agreement.
In this context, the July 2025 MOU – while appropriately focused on direct-to-consumer delivery for personal use – should be understood as a first step in a broader effort to remove internal trade barriers affecting Canadian wine.
Once a national DTC framework is implemented by May 2026, provinces should shift their focus to opening the domestic wine market more fully, ensuring Canadian wine can compete fairly with imports, increase domestic market share, and drive regional economic growth, including investments in advanced agriculture, tourism, hospitality and adjacent sectors.
The Public Economic Benefit
When Canadians buy Canadian wine, the benefits extend well beyond the point of sale. Each bottle supports Canadian farmers, processors, truck drivers, hospitality workers, tourism operators, and rural communities. Provincial revenues are generated not only through sales taxes, but through employment income, payroll taxes, corporate taxes, local procurement, and tourism spending. By contrast, much of the value of imported wine leaves the country.
Importantly, expanded DTC access does not threaten local retail. Evidence shows that DTC serves niche, small-lot, and winery-exclusive products that are not typically found on store shelves. Consumers who buy directly from wineries continue to support local liquor stores. DTC expands choice, it does not replace retail.
Non-wine-producing provinces benefit as well. With Canadian wine holding such a small share of many provincial markets, increased access does not disrupt existing systems. It provides consumers with more choice, generates transportation and delivery activity, and maintains existing tax revenues, without inventory or retail costs.
A Timely Opportunity
As provinces work toward the May 2026 deadline, we respectfully urge that the national DTC system be built on clear and consistent principles: no provincial markups and levies, no ad valorem taxes, and a regulatory approach proportionate to the limited role governments play in direct-to-consumer transactions. In parallel, improving interprovincial access to Canadian wine through both direct delivery as well as in retail and licensee channels is essential to growing market share, displacing imports, and augmenting the Canadian wine sector’s contribution to regional and national economies.
The public interest is clear: greater choice for consumers, fairer prices, stronger domestic supply chains, and a more resilient Canadian economy. Proven policy models already exist. Consumer demand is evident. The opportunity now is to act.
We are encouraged by the MOU to establish a DTC system across Canada, and urge Premiers to take this important opportunity to move quickly and collaboratively to deliver a national system that allows Canadians to buy Canadian products freely within their own country, and to ensure that internal trade liberalization delivers real benefits to the people it is meant to serve.
Sincerely,
Dan Paszkowski, President & CEO, Wine Growers Canada
Jeff Guignard, President & CEO, Wine Growers British Columbia
Aaron Dobbin, President & CEO, Wine Growers Ontario
Michelle Wasylyshen, President & CEO, Ontario Craft Wineries
Melissa Herbin, Executive Director, Wine Growers Nova Scotia