Sources
Statistics are based on a census of all provincial and territorial liquor authorities. Financial data are reconciled with annual reports of the liquor authorities. Non-financial data are edited for consistency and completeness and respondents are contacted to confirm or to explain variations.
Updates to the questionnaire and CANSIM series in 2015
In 2015, the Control and Sale of Alcoholic Beverages program questionnaire, the “Government Liquor Authority: Report of Operations”, was updated after conducting qualitative testing involving field interviews with provincial and territorial liquor authorities’. Subsequently, the previous CANSIM tables were terminated and new CANSIM series were created to reflect these changes. A summary of the main updates are as follows.
A fourth beverage category was added to the questionnaire - Ciders, Coolers, and Other Refreshment Beverages (CCORB). International organizations including the World Health Organization publish alcohol statistics with four beverage categories: Spirits, Wine, Beer, and Other. Prior to the 2015 update, Ciders and Wine Coolers were included with Wines, Spirit Coolers were included with Spirits, and Beer Coolers were included with Beer. Other refreshment beverages not elsewhere classified could be reported as a Spirit, Wine, or Beer, at the discretion of the respondent. In aim of improving the comparability of these statistics, the fourth beverage category CCORB was added to the questionnaire and to its associated CANSIM series. As of fiscal year ending March 31st 2014, a majority of liquor authorities in Canada report sales using a variant of a fourth category that include ciders, coolers, “ready-to-drink” beverages, and/or other refreshment beverages.
Also in the beverage categories, the Beer category was updated to include four sub-categories: Light Beer, Regular Beer, Strong Beer, and Beer not elsewhere classified.
Absolute volume of sales of alcoholic beverages is calculated by multiplying the sales volume by the percentage of alcohol content for each product category. The percentages were modified in 2015 to reflect more accurate alcohol content based on an administrative data source obtained for this purpose. In the Spirits category, the percentage of alcohol content estimate is now 40% for Brandy, Gin, Rum, Whisky and Vodka. Spirit liqueurs are now classified at 20% and other spirits not elsewhere classified at 35%. In the Wine category, the conversion rate is now estimated at 10% for sparkling wines. For non-sparkling wines, rosé wines are now estimated at 11%, white wines 12%, red wines 13%, fortified wines 18%, and other wines not elsewhere classified 15%. In the Beer category, light beer is now classified at 4%, regular beer 5% and strong beer 7%. For series continuity, beer not elsewhere classified is assigned an alcohol content of 5%, equivalent to a Regular Beer, and equivalent to the alcohol content assigned to Beer in the previous version of the questionnaire and CANSIM series. In the Ciders, Coolers, and Other Refreshment Beverages category, ciders are classified at 5.5%, wine coolers at 4.5%, beer coolers at 7% and other refreshment beverages at 8%.
With the aim of improving the comparability of the number and types of retail outlets between each province and territory’s diverse alcohol beverage distribution networks, the categorization of outlets section was updated. The previous version of the questionnaire classified outlets as a either a government owned and operated liquor store, a liquor store agency, a wineries’ retail outlet, or a breweries’ retail outlet. The updated questionnaire and associated CANSIM series maintains the categories liquor store and liquor store agency, and updates wineries’ and breweries’ retail outlets into a broader third category: Other Retail Outlets. Other Retail Outlets includes wineries’ and breweries’ on-site and off-site retail outlets, ferment-on-premise facilities, general merchandise and grocery stores, and other retail outlets. This was done to better reflect the other types of retail outlets in operation across the country and to ensure full coverage of the distribution network.
The tax and other government revenue sections of the questionnaire and associated CANSIM series were updated to include all retail sales taxes, excise taxes, specific taxes on alcohol, and other reported and identifiable government revenues derived from the control and sale of alcoholic beverages. Retail sales taxes are estimated at the applicable rate by province and applied to gross sales. Specific taxes on alcoholic beverages are validated in corresponding provincial and territorial public accounts and annual reports of the liquor authority. Excise taxes are estimated using the reported excise taxes by product type from the Federal Public Accounts, and proportionally applying these amounts to each provincial and territorial share of sales in those categories by corresponding year. Additionally, the sales figures in all CANSIM series were revised to show the pre-tax sales. Previously, GST was included in the sales figures but other taxes were not.
Concepts and Methods
Statistics on sales of alcoholic beverages by volume should not be equated with data on consumption. Sales volumes include only sales as reported by the liquor authorities and their agencies, including sales by wineries, breweries, and other outlets that operate under license from the liquor authorities. Consumption of alcoholic beverages would include all of these sales, as well as any unreported volumes of alcohol sold through ferment-on-premise operations or other outlets, and any unrecorded or illegal transactions. Statistics on sales of alcoholic beverages by dollar value should not be equated with consumer expenditures on alcoholic beverages. The sales data refer to the revenues received by liquor authorities and their agents, and a portion of these revenues include sales to licensed establishments such as bars and restaurants. The sales data do not, therefore, reflect the total amount spent by consumers on alcoholic beverages since the prices paid in licensed establishments are greater than the price paid by those establishments to the liquor authorities.
The value of sales of alcoholic beverages excludes all sales taxes, the value of returnable containers, and deposits. Per capita sales by value and volume are based on the population of inhabitants of 15 years of age and over. This is in accordance with the practice of Health Canada in presenting trends that are more realistic in the consumption of alcoholic beverages. This allows comparability with other countries, the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development and the World Health Organization as they also present alcohol per capita data using the population of inhabitants of 15 years of age and over. The population estimates are based on CANSIM table 051-0001 Estimates of Population, by age group and sex for July 1, Canada, provinces, and territories, annual (persons).