Ontario is moving ahead with a plan to expand beer and wine sales to corner stores, big box stores and more grocery stores.
Finance Minister Vic Fedeli announced Thursday that the Progressive Conservative government will make good on a pledge made during the 2018 provincial election to offer consumers more choice when it comes to where they can purchase booze.
"Our government is actively working to expand the sale of beer and wine to corner stores, box stores, and even more grocery stores," Fedeli said during a speech to a business audience in Toronto delivered ahead of his first provincial budget on April 11.
Fedeli gave no timeline for the move but said greater competition in the sector will lower prices for consumers and expand product availability.
"Ontario currently has the lowest density of retail outlets selling beer, wine, cider and spirits in Canada, Fedeli said, "with less than 3,000 outlets selling alcohol compared to Quebec's approximately 8,000."
The minister also said the government has no plans to privatize the LCBO despite receiving a report last fall that recommended consideration of the sale of some government assets.
Fedeli called the chain of over 600 LCBO outlets a "prestige asset in Ontario" and said a sell-off would not be part of the government's plan to eliminate a deficit that the Tories have pegged at $13.5 billion.
With files from the Canadian Press