Pursuant to the 2023 Ontario Budget: Building a Strong Ontario, effective July 1, 2023, a single basic tax rate of 12 percent applies to wine and wine coolers sold in off-site winery retail stores if the wine or wine cooler is manufactured by the owner of the off-site winery retail store.  Off-site winery retail stores include:

  • standalone off-site stores, and
  • stores located inside the shopping area of a grocery store, referred to as wine boutiques.

Wine and wine coolers from off-site winery retail stores

For the purposes of this page, wine includes wine coolers.

Purchasers of wine from an off-site winery retail store are subject to the taxes below, which are included in the price of the product.

An “off-site winery retail store” is a winery retail store that is not located on the Ontario winery’s production site.  These include:

  • standalone off-site stores, and
  • stores located inside the shopping area of a grocery store (referred to as wine boutiques).  For wine boutiques, the taxes apply only to the wine that is manufactured by the winery that owns the wine boutique.

Wine basic tax – up to and including June 30, 2023:

Wine boutiques located inside the shopping area of a grocery store:

  • If the wine is an Ontario wine, 9.6% of the retail price of the wine for purchases made on or after April 1, 2018 and before July 1, 2023.
  • If otherwise, 22.6% of the retail price of the wine for purchases made on or after April 1 2018 and before July 1, 2023.

Standalone off-site winery retail stores:

  • If the wine is an Ontario wine, 6.1% of the retail price of the wine for purchases made on or after April 1, 2018 and before July 1, 2023.
  • If otherwise, 19.1% of the retail price of the wine for purchases made on or after April 1, 2018 and before July 1, 2023.

Wine basic tax – on and after July 1, 2023:

All off-site winery retail stores including standalone off-site winery retail stores and wine boutiques:

  • 12.0% of the retail price of the wine for purchases made on or after July 1, 2023, regardless of the type of wine.

Volume tax:

  • 29 cents per litre for wine, or
  • 28 cents per litre for wine coolers.

Environmental tax:

  • 8.93 cents per non‑refillable container.

Wine taxes do not apply on wine that was not manufactured by the operator of wine boutiques.

For the purposes of the wine taxes

Ontario wine means wine that is Ontario wine for the purposes of the Liquor Licence and Control Act, 2019:

  • wine produced from agricultural products grown in Ontario, and may include agricultural products grown outside of Ontario in the prescribed amounts

Ontario wine cooler is, except as prescribed by the regulations, Ontario wine, or a beverage containing Ontario wine, that contains not more than 7 percent alcohol by volume.

Retail price of wine or a wine cooler is the amount fixed by the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (or the winery, if the LCBO has not fixed a price) for the wine, less the sum of:

  1. the amount of any deposit on the container containing the wine that is required to be collected or remitted under the Ontario deposit return program
  2. all taxes imposed under Part IX of the Excise Tax Act (Canada) (i.e., HST) in respect of the purchase of the wine, and
  3. all taxes imposed under the Liquor Tax Act, 1996, in respect of the purchase of the wine.

Disclaimer: The information on this page does not replace the law found in the Liquor Tax Act, 1996, and related regulations. For more information, please visit ontario.ca/finance.