Brewers on the Hill

Hosted by the co-chairs of the Parliamentary Beer Industry Caucus, the reception at Bier Markt on Sparks St. welcomed more than 250 guests, including MPs and senators from all parties, senior staff and brewers of all sizes and regions. The evening offered a chance to highlight what the industry brings to communities across Canada: more than 1,300 breweries, 149,000 jobs and $13.6 billion in GDP.

“Monday’s turnout says a lot about how much beer means to this country,” said Richard Alexander, president of Beer Canada. “Parliamentarians from all sides of the aisle took the time to meet the people who brew Canada’s beer and had important conversations about jobs, farms, local businesses and communities in every province and territory. We are grateful to our beer caucus for all their ongoing and unwavering support, and to all the guests who joined us.”

Canada celebrates Canadian Beer Day

Two days later, Canadians from coast to coast to coast marked Canadian Beer Day under the 2026 theme, Brewed into Canadian Culture. Breweries, restaurants, bars, retailers and beer lovers shared their celebrations online and in person, including a special social media message from Prime Minister Mark Carney. The Canadian Beer Day giveaway drew more than 1,775 entries from across the country, and the winner was announced the following Friday, Oct. 9.

“Canadian Beer Day is about the people behind the brewing industry, from the farmers who grow the barley to the brewers, drivers, retailers and servers who bring Canadian beer to Canadians,” said Alexander. “Thank you to our member brewers, our partners and every Canadian who celebrated with us.”

Looking ahead

Beer Canada will carry this week’s momentum into the fall. As Parliament prepares for Budget 2026, the industry continues to call for the permanent repeal of the federal beer excise tax escalator so Canadian brewers can keep investing in the jobs and communities celebrated on Canadian Beer Day.

Signal49’s findings are clear: Canada’s automatic beer excise tax escalator is not working as intended. Since the policy was introduced in 2017, the federal excise tax on beer has increased by approximately 20 per cent. Yet, federal beer excise revenues have remained essentially flat since 2020.

“Automatically increasing taxes every April, without a vote in Parliament, also fails to account for changing economic conditions, pressures on Canadian brewers, or the affordability challenges facing consumers and the bars and restaurants that serve them. At a time when Canadian businesses are being asked to invest, grow and create jobs, automatically increasing one of the taxes they pay makes little economic sense,” said Richard Alexander, Beer Canada president.

The federal government has already recognized the escalator’s shortcomings by intervening to limit its impact in five of its first 11 scheduled increases. A tax mechanism that repeatedly requires government intervention needs to be reconsidered. Canada is also an international outlier. It is one of only three Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries that automatically index beer excise taxes, whereas other OECD countries set excise rates through legislative or budgetary decisions.

Beer is an overwhelmingly Canadian-made product. Approximately 90 per cent of the beer sold in Canada is brewed here, supporting Canadian workers, farmers, communities, restaurants and businesses across the country.

Budget 2026 allows the federal government to fix a policy that is not delivering its intended results. The automatic beer excise tax escalator should be permanently repealed, and future changes to beer excise taxes should once again be subject to transparent government and parliamentary review.

The full Signal49 Research report is available here.

“Richard is uniquely qualified to lead Beer Canada at this critical time for the Canadian beer industry, bringing a wealth of experience, enthusiasm and a track record of successes in advocacy,” said Andrew Oland, president of Moosehead Breweries Ltd. and chair of Beer Canada.

“I’m excited to take on this great opportunity and responsibility to ensure Canada’s brewers, beer consumers and all those implicated throughout beer’s added value supply chain from the farm to hospitality are well positioned to succeed and thrive well into the future,” said Alexander.

Beer Canada extended its thanks and best wishes to outgoing president, CJ Hélie, who has chosen to retire after joining Beer Canada in 2021 and completing over 38 years in the Canadian beverage alcohol industry.