Licensee Retail Store Moratorium Extended until July 2032

Dear ABLE BC members and industry colleagues, 

We are excited and proud to share some long-awaited good news: today Mike Farnworth, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General, announced the moratorium on new Licensee Retail Stores will be extended until 2032. The moratorium was originally set to expire on July 1, 2022.

Read the government news release.

Existing LRS licenses may still be transferred with approval of the LCRB. Excluded from the license freeze are existing Independent Wine Stores licensees that may choose to convert their license type to a LRS by March 31, 2025, to sell beer, cider, and distilled products in their current locations.

The government-imposed moratorium on issuing new LRS licenses has been a vital investment protection for British Columbia’s liquor retailers – and our most important LRS policy issue, next to maintaining the 1 km distance rule.

Ending the moratorium on July 1, 2022 could have led to a flood of new liquor retail stores entering the market – unnecessarily increasing competition, undermining your profitability, and putting our industry’s long-term prosperity at risk. 

For the past several years, ABLE BC’s Executive Director Jeff Guignard and our Board of Directors have been actively advocating that government extend the LRS moratorium by an additional 10 years. Today’s announcement comes as a direct result of our ongoing advocacy work.

As a sign of our productive partnership with government on these and other liquor policy issues, ABLE BC’s Executive Director Jeff Guignard participated directly in today’s announcement. We are immensely grateful that government has heard us, and our members welcome the long-term certainty this provides for BC’s liquor retailers.

Please join us in thanking Minister Farnworth for his personal involvement in extending the moratorium by writing to him at PSSG.Minister@gov.bc.ca.

While we work to support the survival of our hospitality members amid the worst financial crisis in our lifetime, ABLE BC has continued to successfully advocate for private liquor retailers. We ensured LRSs were declared an essential service so they would not be closed during the pandemic, and secured a new potential new revenue stream by ensuring LRSs may sell products to holders of Special Event Permits. We know that extending the LRS moratorium provides long-term stability for liquor retailers, particularly during this chaotic time.

If you have any other questions or concerns, please contact ABLE BC: info@ablebc.ca.