Connect with us
[the_ad id="89560"]

Alberta

Province will not allow liquor sales in Alberta grocery and convenience stores

Published

6 months ago

4 minute read

MLA committee completes liquor model review

Minister for Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction Dale Nally has accepted recommendations to maintain the current liquor retail model.

After a comprehensive review, the MLA Advisory Committee tasked with evaluating Alberta’s liquor retail model has recommended to the Minister of Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction that the province should not move forward with allowing liquor sales in grocery and convenience stores. The review into the potential expansion of liquor sales into grocery and convenience stores was initiated to explore the feasibility and impact of such a change on Alberta’s retail liquor industry.

“The idea of expanding liquor sales to grocery and convenience stores has been mused about for years. I’m grateful for the significant work done by MLAs to look into the feasibility and wisdom of such an expansion and the recommendations they’ve put forward. I am pleased to accept those recommendations and ensure Alberta continues to uphold our current model, which is one of the most open in Canada.”

Danielle Smith, Premier of Alberta

The committee’s recommendation comes after extensive consultations with industry representatives, business owners and experts. The decision to uphold the current model was made to protect Alberta’s private liquor industry, which has been a pillar of economic growth and job creation since privatization in the 1990s.

“Alberta’s private liquor model is a jewel in the crown and allows small businesses to thrive while providing a wide variety of products and services. I accept the MLA committee’s recommendation to keep a level playing field and ensure the continued success of these businesses.”

Dale Nally, Minister of Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction

“Expanding liquor sales to grocery and convenience stores may seem convenient for consumers, but it would have a detrimental effect on the retail liquor store industry. Our review determined that such a move would significantly harm small businesses and could ultimately lead to widespread closures, job losses and diminished selection for consumers.”

Scott Sinclair, MLA for Lesser Slave Lake and committee member

The MLA committee’s findings underscore the strength and diversity of Alberta’s existing private liquor model, which offers Albertans one of the most varied selections of alcohol in the country, along with competitive pricing and tailored customer service.

After consulting with members of the liquor industry and analyzing the economic effects, the committee concluded that expanding liquor sales to grocery and convenience stores would significantly harm Alberta’s existing private liquor retail model. Allowing sales of this nature would likely lead to widespread closures of independent liquor stores, job losses and a decrease in product variety and customer service. As a result, the committee recommended maintaining the current model to preserve the strength and stability of Alberta’s unique private liquor industry.

Quick facts

  • With more than 1,600 stores and 36,000 liquor products, Alberta has one of the most open liquor markets in Canada.
  • There are no barriers to listing a product in Alberta, as licensed liquor agents can pick and choose any products to bring into the province.

Before Post

Related Topics:

This is a news release from the Government of Alberta.

Follow Author

More from this author
Alberta / 1 week ago

Big win for Alberta and Canada: Statement from Premier Smith

Alberta / 2 weeks ago

Province announces plans for nine new ‘urgent care centres’ – redirecting 200,000 hospital visits

Alberta / 2 weeks ago

Province pumping $100 million into Collegiates and Dual-Credit hands-on learning programs

Alberta

Alberta takes big step towards shorter wait times and higher quality health care

Published on April 9, 2025

By

From the Fraser Institute

By Nadeem Esmail

On Monday, the Smith government announced that beginning next year it will change the way it funds surgeries in Alberta. This is a big step towards unlocking the ability of Alberta’s health-care system to provide more, better and faster services for the same or possibly fewer dollars.

To understand the significance of this change, you must understand the consequences of the current (and outdated) approach.

Currently, the Alberta government pays a lump sum of money to hospitals each year. Consequently, hospitals perceive patients as a drain on their budgets. From the hospital’s perspective, there’s little financial incentive to serve more patients, operate more efficiently and provide superior quality services.

Consider what would happen if your local grocery store received a giant bag of money each year to feed people. The number of items would quickly decline to whatever was most convenient for the store to provide. (Have a favourite cereal? Too bad.) Store hours would become less convenient for customers, alongside a general decline in overall service. This type of grocery store, like an Alberta hospital, is actually financially better off (that is, it saves money) if you go elsewhere.

The Smith government plans to flip this entire system on its head, to the benefit of patients and taxpayers. Instead of handing out bags of money each year to providers, the new system—known as “activity-based funding”—will pay health-care providers for each patient they treat, based on the patient’s particular condition and important factors that may add complexity or cost to their care.

This turns patients from a drain on budgets into a source of additional revenue. The result, as has been demonstrated in other universal health-care systems worldwide, is more services delivered using existing health-care infrastructure, lower wait times, improved quality of care, improved access to medical technologies, and less waste.

In other words, Albertans will receive far better value from their health-care system, which is currently among the most expensive in the world. And relief can’t come soon enough—for example, last year in Alberta the median wait time for orthopedic surgeries including hip and knee replacements was 66.8 weeks.

The naysayers argue this approach will undermine the province’s universal system and hurt patients. But by allowing a spectrum of providers to compete for the delivery of quality care, Alberta will follow the lead of other more successful universal health-care systems in countries such as Australia, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland and create greater accountability for hospitals and other health-care providers. Taxpayers will get a much better picture of what they’re paying for and how much they pay.

Again, Alberta is not exploring an untested policy. Almost every other developed country with universal health care uses some form of “activity-based funding” for hospital and surgical care. And remember, we already spend more on health care than our counterparts in nearly all of these countries yet endure longer wait times and poorer access to services generally, in part because of how we pay for surgical care.

While the devil is always in the details, and while it’s still possible for the Alberta government to get this wrong, Monday’s announcement is a big step in the right direction. A funding model that puts patients first will get Albertans more of the high-quality health care they already pay for in a timelier fashion. And provide to other provinces an example of bold health-care reform.

Nadeem Esmail

Senior Fellow, Fraser Institute
Continue Reading

Alberta

Alberta’s embrace of activity-based funding is great news for patients

Published on April 9, 2025

By

From the Montreal Economic Institute

Alberta’s move to fund acute care services through activity-based funding follows best practices internationally, points out an MEI researcher following an announcement made by Premier Danielle Smith earlier today.

“For too long, the way hospitals were funded in Alberta incentivized treating fewer patients, contributing to our long wait times,” explains Krystle Wittevrongel, director of research at the MEI. “International experience has shown that, with the proper funding models in place, health systems become more efficient to the benefit of patients.”

Currently, Alberta’s hospitals are financed under a system called “global budgeting.” This involves allocating a pre-set amount of funding to pay for a specific number of services based on previous years’ budgets.

Under the government’s newly proposed funding system, hospitals receive a fixed payment for each treatment delivered.

An Economic Note published by the MEI last year showed that Quebec’s gradual adoption of activity-based funding led to higher productivity and lower costs in the province’s health system.

Notably, the province observed that the per-procedure cost of MRIs fell by four per cent as the number of procedures performed increased by 22 per cent.

In the radiology and oncology sector, it observed productivity increases of 26 per cent while procedure costs decreased by seven per cent.

“Being able to perform more surgeries, at lower costs, and within shorter timelines is exactly what Alberta’s patients need, and Premier Smith understands that,” continued Mrs. Wittevrongel. “Today’s announcement is a good first step, and we look forward to seeing a successful roll-out once appropriate funding levels per procedure are set.”

The governments expects to roll-out this new funding model for select procedures starting in 2026.

* * *

The MEI is an independent public policy think tank with offices in Montreal, Ottawa, and Calgary. Through its publications, media appearances, and advisory services to policymakers, the MEI stimulates public policy debate and reforms based on sound economics and entrepreneurship.

Continue Reading

Trending

X