Without remedial action from Parliament, federal beer excise duties will increase by 4.7% on April 1, 2024
November 1, 2023, Toronto, Ontario - Beer Canada is calling on the Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, to include federal beer excise duty relief in the upcoming Fall Economic Statement.
Without remedial action from Parliament, federal beer excise duties will increase by 4.7% on April 1, 2024, under a rigid inflation-indexing formula embedded in the Excise Act since 2017.
“We appreciate the critical importance Minister Freeland and the government places on affordability, stabilizing prices and supporting hard working middle-class Canadians”, said CJ Hélie, President of Beer Canada. “Freezing or capping beer tax hikes in this era of sticky high inflation is a practical, sensible policy lever that should be included in the upcoming Fall Economic Statement”, added Hélie.
Last year’s federal Budget “A Made-in Canada Plan: Strong Middle Class, Affordable Economy, Healthy Future”, replaced the previously scheduled 6.3% inflation-tied federal beer tax increase with a cap of 2% for the current year with the expectation of a quick return to a stable and low inflation environment.
“We had tremendous support from Members of Parliament from all parties last year to ensure we avoided a catastrophic 6.3% tax hike, but unfortunately persistent higher than expected inflation means a damaging 4.7% beer tax increase next year unless Parliament takes appropriate action again”, said Hélie.
Canadian brewers of all sizes and regions are joined by our unionized workers, and supply chain partners from the barley field to our hospitality and tourism partners, in a united call to spare the sector from the single biggest beer tax increase in 40 years.
A freeze in federal beer taxes would also support the Bank of Canada efforts to reign in CPI inflation and help in its objective to restore price stability for Canadian families.
ABOUT BEER CANADA
Beer Canada is the sole national inclusive voice advocating on behalf of Canadian brewers of all sizes and regions and Canadian beer consumers.
Beer Canada’s member companies brew 90% of all beer consumed by Canadians annually. The production, distribution and sale of beer supports 149,000 Canadian jobs, generates $13.6 billion in Gross Domestic Product and $5.7 billion in government tax revenues.
Beer Canada promotes moderate and responsible consumption by those of the legal age and is the authoritative source for data & information on the Canadian beer industry.
MEDIA CONTACT
Karine Cousineau
Vice President, Strategic Communications
Beer Canada
kcousineau@beercanada.com
