Move to private retail liquor sales in Saskatchewan positive, says Restaurants Canada

Regina – Restaurants Canada applauds the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority’s plan to move to a private retail system for liquor sales.

The announcement comes as welcome news to bar and restaurant owners, given that Saskatchewan scored D+ on Restaurants Canada’s recent Raise The Bar report card on provincial liquor policy, and puts the province on track for a better grade in 2016, Restaurants Canada said in a news release.

The Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority changes include:

• 40 government-owned liquor stores will be converted to private ownership, and an additional 12 new stores will be added.
• All retailers will have the same wholesale prices and operating hours, and can sell any type of chilled product to public and commercial entities.
• Licensed restaurants and bars will have access to a greater choice of products.
• Licensed restaurants and bars will not have access to wholesale pricing.

“This is the most significant change in retailing of liquor in this province since Prohibition,” said Restaurants Canada Vice-President Manitoba/Saskatchewan Dwayne Marling. “That’s a big improvement for our members and their customers. Our next step is to table wholesale pricing for restaurants. Given this impressive first step, we are optimistic this can happen.”