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On April 1, the Alberta government introduced a new flat-fee price increase of 15 cents on every 750 ml bottle of wine, as well as a “value-added” fee that will further increase the cost. Wine merchants in Alberta are concerned about the effect on their customers and BC wineries see it as a tax grab. Richard Harvey, co-owner and founder of Calgary’s Metro Vino, described the increases as Alberta wine taxes by another name – a fee they’ll have to pass on to consumers.
Source: “Price of wine set to go up in Alberta with new ‘value-added’ fee”, CBC News, March 4, 2025.
The move comes as the Federal government and provinces push to remove inter-provincial trade barriers in response to Trump tariffs. The tax is a further frustration to BC wine merchants, given that in July 2024, the Alberta and BC governments reached an agreement on direct-to-consumer wine sales to Alberta.
Alberta’s new wine tax adds a percentage increase based on the cost of the bottle of wine.
$15-20 bottle: 5% rate increase
$20-20 bottle: 10%
>$25: 15%
As reported by CTV News Calgary, Jeff Guignard, CEO of Wine Growers British Columbia, says that “Nobody does it like Alberta”, adding, “We’ve had plenty of conversations with them and they’re just not listening”. According to Guignard, the only being people being impacted are Alberta consumers and BC wineries.
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