Canadian liquor sales flourish in Edmonton as U.S. products return

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Published Jun 06, 2025 • Last updated 13 hours ago • 4 minute read

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american liquor A dwindling supply of a popular American whiskey brand is shown on the shelves at BSW Liquor in northeast Calgary on Thursday, March 6, 2025. AGLC has announced it will begin importing U.S. product again, allowing stores to restock American brands. Photo by Jim Wells /PostmediaArticle content

Distributors can resume U.S. liquor product sales, but Edmonton retailers say consumer preference may have already moved on.

“Is the bourbon selling? Yes. Is it selling as good as it was? No. Is Canadian selling better? Yes,” said Lionel Usunier, owner of Keg n Cork Liquor Company (3845 99 St.).

Upon returning for his second term in the White House in January, U.S. President Donald Trump put tariffs on Canadian goods, sparking outrage across the country that has lasted since early this year. While Canada has responded with retaliatory tariffs, the Alberta government took its own steps in March by directing Alberta Gaming Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC) to pause all purchases of U.S. products — an order that AGLC announced on Friday has been rescinded. While consumers may have their choice of U.S. products back, their preferences may have already changed.

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The resumption of accepting U.S. liquor products means that liquor agencies will once again be able to enter advanced shipping notices with Connect Logistics Services, which “warehouses and distributes spirits, wine, coolers and imported beer in Alberta under contract with AGLC.”

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According to AGLC’s announcement, U.S. products will still be slapped with the 25 per cent surtax on the invoice price upon importation.

The change will allow retailers to restock their U.S. products, but according to some Edmonton liquor stores, the issue lately hasn’t been the amount of U.S. products available to consumers, but rather that they simply don’t want it.

“When people are asking for recommendations, that’s one of the things they say right off the bat is, ‘I don’t want American stuff,’ ” said Keg n Cork beer manager, Reese Simoneau.

Similarly, 121 Jasper Liquor (12110 Jasper Ave.) manager, Parminder Pal, said his customers “always ask for the Canadian stuff.”

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“The most unusual thing is the U.S section is completely in stock. No one is touching the products,” said Pal.

The change over the past few months prompted Usunier to make some changes to his store to both encourage more Canadian sales, and educate his customers on what Canada has to offer.

Usunier explained that his store often hosts different scotch and whisky tastings, especially the former as part of the single-malt whisky society. Ordinarily, customers flock to the American and single-malt tastings, while the Canadian whisky tastings struggled to fill the spaces.

“We decided to do what we called an ‘elbows up’ whisky tasting. This was in May, and we sold out both nights. We’ve never sold out of a Canadian whisky tasting before,” Usunier.

The occasion gave the store a chance to expand customer base for Canadian whiskies, offering unique selections that patrons might not have tried before. Not only did the tastings sell out, Usunier said it spurred him to alter his entire whisky section.

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“I cut back four feet of my American and added four more feet of Canadian in addition to what we already had,” said Usunier.

Pal echoed Usunier’s observation, saying that his store had also seen an uptick in sales of Canadian whisky, but noted that the Canadian options weren’t the primary choice for all products for consumers avoiding American. As customers avoided American wine, activity in the Canadian section is unchanged, but other countries are seeing some more love.

“There’s actually two countries. One is Italy and one is Spain, and right next to it is Argentina,” said Pal.

The two stores said while the American aisle takes a beating, the international has been more successful with customers opting for European, South American, Australian or South African over U.S. options. But while the other countries flourish, the Canadian sections remain neglected. Usunier figured pricing played the biggest role, but said it’s not a new problem.

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“It’s been something that we’ve been concerned about for some time. So for example, let’s say that a winery in the interior B.C., sells a wine to the customer at $30, and our wholesale price coming into us is $28. How do we compete with a $30 sale from the winery?” said Usunier.

To make any profit, the retailers must increase their price of Canadian wines, which discourages customers.

According to Brandon Aboultaif, press secretary for Minister of Service Alberta Dale Nally, from a wholesale perspective, the Alberta government has seen a 26 per cent leap in sales from February to April this year. Aboultaif said they’ve also seen a rise in liquor sales for products (mostly wine) from New Zealand, scotch from the U.K. and rum from Barbados.

So, while liquor agencies may have the renewed power to buy American products, it may be too little too late for customers whose tastes have already shifted.

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