Doug Ford vows to axe Crown Royal from LCBO stores
Ontario premier Doug Ford has doubled down on his plan to ban Crown Royal from liquor stores after Diageo shuts a local bottling plant next month.
Crown Royal owner Diageo will close a bottling plant for the brand in Amherstburg, Ontario, next month. The company intends to shift some of its bottling capabilities to sites in the US and its plant in Valleyfield, Quebec. The closure will affect approximately 200 jobs.
Ford has been vocal in his criticism of Diageo, threatening to delist Crown Royal whisky and other Diageo products from Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) stores across the province if the plant closure happens.
In his first press conference of 2026, Ford restated his vow to ban Crown Royal but backed down on plans to remove Diageo’s other products from LCBO shelves.
When asked by a journalist if he would continue with his threat to remove Crown Royal, Ford responded: “Oh, 100%, I can’t wait.”
He confirmed that the ban would “only focus on Crown Royal for now”.
Last month, Diageo struck a shutdown agreement for union workers at the Crown Royal plant in Amherstburg, triggering efforts to find a new employer for the site.
Ford told reporters there are “quite a few interested parties” considering buying the site who could “rehire all the Diageo workers”.
He also expressed his disbelief that Diageo would maintain production in the province. He pointed out Diageo’s plan to build a multi-million-dollar Crown Royal distillery in St Clair Township in Southwestern Ontario in 2022, which was put on hold in November 2024.
“It’s all a bunch of BS. It’s all going to Alabama. Mark my words,” he told journalists. “They said they were going to invest in St Clair, Ontario, [CA]$350 million. They pulled the carpet out from underneath us.”
Last year, Diageo revealed plans to open a US$415m manufacturing and warehousing facility in Alabama, US.
‘Don’t try to hurt Ontario’
Referring to the LCBO, Ford restated: “If you have your number one customer spending hundreds of millions of dollars, why would you try to hurt that customer?
“So, as simple as that, it’s not going to be produced in Ontario anymore. They’re closing the plant after God knows decades, and generations have worked at this plant. We’re going to bring new products and opportunities to this jurisdiction. The message to everyone else: don’t try to hurt Ontario.”
Diageo reiterated in a previous statement that it remains committed to Canada and operates production facilities in Manitoba and Quebec, as well as corporate headquarters and warehouses in Ontario.
The UK-headquartered drinks giant also employs 500-plus people across Canada, including more than a fifth in Ontario (outside of those working at the Amherstburg site).
Diageo is the world’s biggest spirits producer, owning brands such as Smirnoff vodka and Captain Morgan rum. In the LCBO’s second-quarter update, covering 22 June to 11 October 2025, Smirnoff was the top-selling spirit by net sales, followed by Crown Royal, Canadian whisky JP Wiser’s, Captain Morgan and Absolut Vodka.
The Spirits Business has approached Diageo for a statement on Ford’s comments, and an update on the Crown Royal site in St Clair.
Most Canadian provinces, including Ontario, removed American spirits from shelves last year due to trade tensions between the two countries.
Manitoba and Nova Scotia began selling their American alcohol stock in recent months, with proceeds donated to local charities.
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