Get to know Ontario’s craft brewers

Craft breweries are major employers in local communities across Ontario.

Craft beer represents 11% of the volume of beer purchased in Ontario but accounts for 80% of all brewing jobs.

Over the last decade, craft beer was the fastest growing segment of Ontario’s manufacturing sector, growing from 40 breweries to over 300 and making $500 million of capital investments. Today, craft breweries are fixtures of nearly every community in Ontario: 90% of Ontarians have a craft brewery in their community.

Ontario’s Craft Brewers are held back by high taxes

Tax reform could unlock a decade of growth for local craft brewers.

For craft brewers to take advantage of the expansion of beer to corner stores, they need to be able to invest in new equipment, new employees and new methods of distributing their products. High taxes are standing in the way of making these investments.

With the province currently reviewing its taxes, fees and mark-ups on alcohol, this is an opportune time to introduce a fair, progressive tax structure for small craft brewers. If these tax reforms are made, a CANCEA study has found that the craft beer sector would add 1,000 new jobs, invest $380 million in capital equipment and generate an additional $2.35 billion in economic activity.

 What a fair tax system would mean for local craft beer

  • The government says the new retail options for beer are about giving consumers choice, but without changes to the tax system for local craft brewers the only choice beer lovers are going to have is between brands of beer brewed in far-away factories by foreign-owned multinational brewers.

  • A fairer tax system for craft brewers will create thousands more good, local jobs for people across Ontario. Today, craft brewers employ over 4,600 Ontarians full-time. And even though they represent only 11% of the beer consumer in Ontario, they account for 80% of all brewing jobs.

  • Craft brewers are fixtures of their communities. A more progressive tax structure will help be the difference between these small businesses thriving and supporting their communities, or seeing Ontario-made beers disappear from store shelves altogether.

  • A recent analysis found that with the right tax system, the craft beer sector could grow 40% over the next decade, creating 1,000 jobs and adding $2.35 billion on economic activity.

Over the last decade, Ontario’s craft beer taxes have increased at three times the rate of the beer taxes paid by the foreign-owned big breweries. This unfair tax system is making it impossible for local craft brewers to make the investments necessary to get their beer onto the shelves of neighbourhood stores.