Québec puts some US alcohol back on shelves
The Canadian province of Québec has authorised its liquor board to sell select American products from 12 February after nearly a year off shelves.
The province’s government has allowed the Société des alcools du Québec (SAQ) to sell certain US products that could decline in quality from March 2027. American products were cleared from SAQ shelves on 4 March due to trade tensions between the two countries.
The funds from the sale of American products will be donated to Food Banks of Québec, which the SAQ supports through various initiatives every year.
The SAQ said it would transfer to the food banks an “amount equivalent to the cost of the products sold during the sales period” – which could total up to CA$8.6 million (US$6.3m).
The products will be offered for sale from 12 February 2026 on SAQ.COM and in SAQ Dépôt stores, with a 15% discount applied. SAQ has not disclosed what products will be on sale.
A ban on American products across most Canadian provinces has been in place since March 2025. The SAQ confirmed that the boycott remains on all other US products in its stores.
For its second quarter (Q2) – 12 weeks ending 13 September 2025 – the SAC reported a sales rise of 0.4% to CA$950.3m (US$1.3 billion) year on year. Net income dipped by 0.4% to CA$336.5m (US$459.4m).
In terms of product category, spirits recorded a 1.8% drop to CA$261.8m (US$357.4m), while ready-to-drink beverages rose by 12.3% to CA$54.9m (US$75m). Wine saw an uptick of 0.2% to CA$627.1m (US$856.1m), while volumes fell by 5.6%. Beer grew by 16.1% to CA$6.5m (US$8.9m).
Spirits volumes reached 6.7m litres in Q2, down by 5.6% year on year.
The partial return to shelves follows similar measures in other Canadian provinces. Manitoba began selling select American alcohol in December while Nova Scotia started offloading its inventory the month before.
Manitoba’s sales of US-made alcohol reached CA$6.9m (US$4.9m) in December, which was donated to several charities.
Last month, Québec finance minister Eric Girard raised concerns over the plan to boycott Crown Royal whisky across Ontario, warning it could “further weaken Canadian production chains”.
Related news
Ex-Gucci exec is new Rémy Cointreau US & Canada CEO
