Ottawa, ON — November 5, 2026 — Beer Canada issued the following statement in response to the federal budget tabled today:

“Budget 2026 is a missed opportunity. Canada’s brewers, farmers and unions asked the government to fix a long-standing problem: the federal beer excise tax escalator. The escalator raises the tax on beer automatically every April 1 based on inflation, without any review of whether or not an increase can be absorbed by brewers and consumers. Today’s budget leaves that policy in place,” said Richard Alexander, President of Beer Canada.

“We recognize the steps taken in recent years to cap the escalator at two per cent. But a cap is still an automatic increase, year after year, for an industry already facing real pressures and for the consumers who pay it at the checkout. Every automatic increase adds to the price of a beer brewed in Canada, at a time when affordability is already a daily concern for Canadian families and businesses. Temporary relief does not address the underlying problem: a tax that rises on its own rather than through a deliberate decision by the government and Parliament. Canada is the only G7 country that taxes beer this way.”

“There is still time to get this right. The next automatic increase takes effect on April 1, 2027, and Canada’s brewers remain committed to working constructively with the Minister of Finance and the government on a permanent solution. 90% of the beer Canadians drink is brewed here, with Canadian ingredients, by Canadian workers, in communities across the country. Keeping that production in Canada is a priority for brewers, and it should be a priority for government. Ending the escalator would give the more than 1,300 breweries across the country the predictability they need to invest, hire and keep brewing in Canada.”