Liquor Laws in BC

When creating offers or doing quality checks for partners primarily in the ‘Food + Drink’ loop, it is important to align the offers to the BC Liquor Laws. All liquor advertising must comply with:

  1. Liquor Control and Licensing Regulation, [http://www.bclaws.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/241_2016] ; and

  2. the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission's Code for Broadcast Advertising of Alcoholic Beverages. [http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/television/publicit/codesalco.htm]

Signs and advertisements cannot:

  • Encourage people to drink liquor or to drink irresponsibly. Ads that mention price must take this into account. If a licensee's price advertising encourages or results in patrons drinking to excess, the Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch can prevent the licensee from including liquor prices in future advertising).

  • Show people who are drinking liquor, are intoxicated or are behaving irresponsibly or illegally.

  • Associate liquor with driving.

  • Be directed at minors or placed in locations used or visited mostly by minors, such as video arcades and playgrounds.

  • Depict liquor as a necessity, a key to social acceptance or personal success, central to the enjoyment of an activity, or as a status symbol.

In addition:

  • Ads for bars and winery lounges cannot use pictures of minors (anyone under the age of 19) or of personalities, images or activities that may appeal to minors.

  • Ads for bars, winery lounges and restaurants cannot show people with liquor unless there is also food in front of them.

  • Ads for restaurants must make clear that serving food is the restaurant's primary purpose.

  • Ads for companies that make beer, wine or spirits cannot be shown on a theatre screen before a movie with a young target audience.

Beverage Category

Draught beer or cider if serving is less than 50 oz.: $3.00 per 12 oz. (341 ml)

Draught beer or cider if serving size is 50 oz. or greater: $12 per 60 oz. pitcher

Bottles or cans of beer, cider or coolers: $3.00 per 341 ml bottle or 355 ml can

Wine: $3.00 per 5 oz. glass (142 ml)

Spirits and Liqueurs: $3.00 per oz. (28.4 ml)