TORONTO

Ontario is tapping into the economic potential of small and craft homegrown brewers by allowing them to set up a second retail outlet to sell their beer, Finance Minister Charles Sousa says.

“We want our craft brewers and our micro brewers to have opportunities to sell their beer at their locations,” Sousa said during a stop at Bellwoods Brewery in Toronto west end Friday. “That’s been restricted in the past to 25,000 hectolitres of production. That’s a lot of beer.”

The Ontario government will remove the production limits on small breweries that currently prevent them from establishing a second location to sell beer.

Bellwoods Brewery CEO Mike Clark called it a significant reform.

“It will be a huge help to small brewers that want to expand all across this area in the future,” Clark said.

The Ontario budget released by Sousa Thursday confirms the government’s intent to allow beer sales in designated grocery stores, with 20% of shelf space available for beer devoted to craft products.

Craft brewers have long complained about the retailing opportunities available to them through The Beer Store, which is owned and operated by three brewers - Anheuser-Busch, Molson Coors and Sapporo.

The Beer Store was set up as a co-operative for brewers, Sousa said.

“The co-operative nature of that store has become more restrictive, more monopolistic,” he said. “That is being done away with. Micro brewers, craft brewers, all brewers now have opportunity to have ownership of The Beer Store.”

Progressive Conservative MPP Lisa MacLeod said the reforms don’t go far enough because the government continues to prohibit the sale of alcohol in corner stores, giving a huge economic advantage to some businesses over others.

Both Sousa and Premier Kathleen Wynne put visits to breweries on their agenda Friday to highlight the high-profile changes to the alcohol retailing system.

MacLeod said the budget also introduces new tax and fee hikes that will be a burden on Ontarians.

“We have teachers on strike, nurses being fired, hydro bills increasing, we’ve seen now a carbon tax increase, we’ve seen a job-killing payroll tax increase,” MacLeod said. “Naturally the premier and the finance minister of Canada’s largest province will be at a brewery the day after the budget.

“We need be talking about major issues — not where you can buy a six-pack in downtown Toronto,” she said.

Thursday’s provincial budget calls for a review of user fees in the province, and MacLeod said residents should be prepared for changes in the cost of a number of services “and they won’t be going down.”

antonella.artuso@sunmedia.ca