Federal Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc issued a second public statement in two months on June 29, urging provinces and territories to move faster on allowing people to buy alcohol directly from producers and have it shipped to their homes. He made the call after a meeting of ministers responsible for internal trade.

This file has been building since 2019, when federal and provincial governments agreed to a plan that included a commitment to make it easier for consumers to buy wine and spirits directly from producers across provincial lines. They set a target date of May 2026 to get this done.

What the situation looks like now

The May 2026 deadline has passed, and not all provinces have followed through. When a federal minister publicly urges governments to honour a commitment, it is typically a signal that they have not yet done so. LeBlanc's second statement in late June shows the federal government is not satisfied with partial or slow action — it wants provinces to do more than check a box. It wants real change that actually opens markets.

Why provinces are moving slowly

Alcohol sales are handled by provincial governments. Each province runs a Crown corporation — entities like the SAQ in Quebec, the LCBO in Ontario, and the BCLS in British Columbia — that sells alcohol and collects revenue for the provincial government. If a winery in British Columbia can ship directly to a customer in Ontario, the LCBO sells fewer bottles and the province loses that money. Provinces agreed in principle to the policy, but turning that agreement into actual laws and regulations has been slow.

Why this matters

For small wineries, craft breweries, and artisan distilleries, direct-to-consumer sales are important. In much of the United States, wineries have been shipping directly to customers for over a decade, and it has become a meaningful income stream for smaller producers that do not have the volume to meet the requirements that provincial liquor boards demand. Canadian producers have watched this opportunity remain largely closed at home.

How Ottawa can push back

The federal government does not have the power to force provinces to change their laws. What it does have is the ability to make its expectations public and create political pressure. The Committee on Internal Trade, where federal and provincial ministers responsible for trade meet, is where these negotiations actually happen. LeBlanc's two statements in 31 days send a signal that Ottawa is watching.

Whether anything concrete came out of the June meeting is not yet clear from public statements. The Committee on Internal Trade does not typically release detailed records of what was discussed. The real test will be whether any province that has not yet acted does so before the urgency of the issue fades — and with crowded legislative schedules, that risk is real.

The federal government has now put this issue on the record twice in quick succession. That tells us Ottawa is serious. Whether the provinces respond the same way will determine whether this agreement becomes real policy change, or simply another broken promise in a long history of provincial trade deals that lost momentum.