Saskatchewan reverses American-branded beer ban after outcry

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The Government of Saskatchewan has walked back plans to remove beer with American brand names, but brewed in Canada, from the province’s store shelves.

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In a media release sent out Monday afternoon, the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority (SLGA) said it was reversing its decision to bar distributors from selling 54 kinds of American-branded alcohol made in Canada as part of its response to United States tariffs on some Canadian products.

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The authority said the change came following concerns raised by industry groups.

“As a result, Saskatchewan has realigned its approach to be consistent with other provinces by focusing on U.S.-produced alcohol,” it said in a statement. “Sale and distribution of 54 Canadian-produced American brands will resume.”

The move to ban the beer, announced last week, drew criticism from industry and other groups.

Here’s what you need to know about the decision.

Why did the province ban American-branded alcohol?

Saskatchewan announced the removal of American alcohol from liquor-store shelves as part of its tariff-response plan in early March.

At the time, the provincial government said SLGA would stop buying American products. Products that had already been purchased could still be sold, it said.

What beer was Saskatchewan planning to remove from shelves?

American brands were set to be removed from sale in Saskatchewan. Beer Canada president CJ Helie said the brands included Budweiser, now owned by Belgian AB InBev but founded in St. Louis, and Coors and Miller, both owned by Molson Coors Beverage Co.

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Helie said the beer brands account for 45 to 50 per cent of total beer volume sold in Saskatchewan, an amount that would cause impacts to distributors and retailers.

“The impacts are going to sort of cascade very quickly,” he said.

What did beer makers say about the original decision?

Helie’s organization represents a range of brewers — from large multinational subsidiaries, to regional brewers, all the way down to small micro brewers — and he said the SLGA move caught the organization off guard.

“We were shocked, to be honest,” he said.

That’s because the beers impacted were ones brewed in Canada at facilities across the country.

“Canadian brewers are proud to be a true Canadian industry, with 88 per cent of all beer consumed in Canada made here in Canadian breweries, by Canadian workers, using local ingredients including Saskatchewan barley,” Helie said in a statement released following the province’s decision to reinstate access to American-branded beer.

What did barley farmers say?

Cody Glenn, the current chair of Sask. Barley, said the organization was on the same page as Beer Canada in regards to the original SLGA decision. He said growers would have felt an impact if the decision was not reversed.

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“By far the biggest hit to barley is the SLGA decision to pull all of these brands off the shelves,” he said.

Glenn said if the SLGA ban had remained in place, it would have decreased barley demand by approximately 141,000 metric tonnes.

The Sask. Barley chair said the biggest market for barley growers is the domestic market, followed by the U.S and China.

How did Saskatchewan’s policy differ from other provinces?

In the face of proposed American tariffs on Canadian imports, many provinces have retaliated by removing American alcohol from store shelves.

But Helie said Saskatchewan’s policy was in stark contrast to those in other provinces, such as Ontario and British Columbia. In those provinces, governments targeted their policies so they didn’t impact companies with domestic operations.

“These were all brands, products made in the U.S. in American plants,” he said.

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