New numbers suggest Canadians are drinking less alcohol

Some might call them sobering statistics.

For others, they are simply surprising - and that includes one of the people who crunched the numbers.

"We're selling less booze,” said Sylvain Charlebois, head of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University.

According to numbers Charlebois and his colleagues gathered from the 2023-2024 fiscal year, alcohol sales by volume in all provinces - except Prince Edward Island, for which they didn't find data - were down.

The figures included a 4.2 per cent drop in Nova Scotia and a 15 per cent estimated decline in Alberta.

"There is an underlying trend here, I think, and that's pushed by the cost-of-living crisis we're in right now, (along with) immigration, cannabis and health concerns,” Charlebois said.

"I think that we've been seeing a growing trend in awareness of the impacts of alcohol on our general health,” said Allison Garber, a Bedford-based sobriety advocate who stopped drinking several years ago.

Garber said while she wouldn't be surprised if booze sales bounced back a bit during the warm, sunny weather this summer, she feels a lot of people are cutting back on their consumption for health reasons.

"Even in conversations with my friends who drink in moderation, they've said they've actually pulled back the number of drinks they consume because of learning new information,” Garber said.

The Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation's (NSLC) report from the first quarter of the 2024-2025 fiscal year shows a 2.5 per cent decline in volume for beverage alcohol.

Cannabis sales, though, went up by just over seven per cent.

The NSLC says price reviews are done twice a year, and the cost of living isn't lost on them either.

"We know that inflation affects everyone. We have many conversations with our suppliers to understand their costs, as well as our own, to determine the prices that customers see on our shelves,” said Terah McKinnon, NSLC spokesperson. "I know we're not alone. This is a trend that we're seeing across the country."

Charlebois said despite the sales-by-volume numbers trending down, revenues are actually up.

"And I don't think that trend will stop now,” he said. “I think it will continue and I suspect that at some point revenues will be impacted."