February 5, 2019

By David Coletto

At the start of 2019, we explored public attitudes toward liberalizing alcohol sales in Ontario. The provincial government expanded store hours in December and has started a consultation to look at other ways of changing the way alcohol is sold in the province. Note, this survey was not commissioned or paid for by an organization.

SUMMARY: Overall, we find broad support for liberalizing alcohol sales. Despite widespread satisfaction with the LCBO, most Ontarians support expanding grocery sales to include spirits, allowing convenience stores to sell wine and beer, and allowing private wine shops to open across the province.

THE CONTEXT

Four in ten Ontario adults drink alcohol at least once per week while 24% say they do not drink alcohol at all. Another 37% drink alcohol less than once a week. Men and older Ontarians are more likely to consume alcohol frequently. There is little variation across provincial party support. Consumption habits are highly correlated to support for liberalizing alcohol sales in Ontario.

Most Ontarians have shopped at the LCBO and a large portion has bought beer or wine from a grocery store. 40% shop at the LCBO regularly or occasionally while 1 in 5 Ontarians say they buy wine or beer at grocery stores regularly or occasionally.

In a very short period of time, many Ontarians have taken advantage of the wine and beer now available in many grocery stores across the province. Despite limited selection, there’s already wide take-up of the channel as a source for alcohol.

Ontarians are also generally satisfied with their experience at the LCBO. Satisfaction with the LCBO is particularly high with its selection, overall shopping experience, and the staff available to help customers. Most also say they are satisfied with the selection of new and interesting products and even the price.

Views about the experience buying wine and beer at grocery stores similar to that at the LCBO. Most Ontarians who have purchased those products at a grocery store report being generally satisfied with all aspects of the experience, although the intensity of satisfaction is more muted than with the LCBO suggesting there may be a desire from consumers for more choice and a better experience within grocery stores.

REACTION TO IDEAS TO LIBERALIZE ALCOHOL SALES IN ONTARIO

We wanted to gauge support or opposition to a number of ideas being floated around by the Ontario government and stakeholders to liberalize alcohol sales in the province. For all ideas, a majority of respondents either strongly support or support the idea demonstrating broad acceptance and support for liberalizing alcohol sales.

For example, two in three support the provincial government’s decision to extend the hours the LCBO and private alcohol retailers can sell alcohol in the province. There’s no political divide on this idea and finds support across age groups, regions of the province and among both men and women.

Six in ten Ontarians would support adding spirits onto grocery store shelves along with beer and wine with strong support four points higher than those who strongly oppose the idea. Support for allowing grocery retailers to add spirits to their shelves crosses all age groups (although younger Ontarians are more supportive) and party supporters.

Most Ontarians would also support allowing private, specialty wine shops to open in Ontario. This idea found the broadest support with 3 in 4 supportive and only 8% strongly opposed.

Although more divisive, one in two Ontarians (51%) support expanding alcohol sales into convenience stores with support highest among Ontarians under 45, regular consumers of alcohol, and among PC and Liberal party voters.

UPSHOT

As the Ford government consults with stakeholders and the public on its plan for liberalizing alcohol sales in Ontario, our research finds broad support for many forms of liberalizing alcohol sales.

Expanded hours, expanded selection at grocery, extending beer and wine sales to convenience stores, and allowing specialty wine shops to open are supported by at least a majority of Ontarians, and in some cases, large majorities.

Younger Ontarians and men are particularly keen to see more liberalization but support is broad across all demographic, regional, and political groups.

It seems that this is a policy idea with legs as consumers seek more choice, customization, and competition in the province’s alcohol market.

For more information about this survey, please contact David Coletto at david@abacusdata.ca

and follow him on Twitter @colettoD.

METHODOLOGY

Our survey was conducted online with 800 Ontarians aged 18 and over from January 11 to 14, 2019. A random sample of panelists was invited to complete the survey from a set of partner panels based on the Lucid exchange platform. These partners are double opt-in survey panels, blended to manage out potential skews in the data from a single source.

The margin of error for a comparable probability-based random sample of the same size is +/- 3.5%, 19 times out of 20. The data were weighted according to census data to ensure that the sample matched Ontario’s population according to age, gender, educational attainment, and region. Totals may not add up to 100 due to rounding.

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