Some Calgary wine shops sound alarm over Alberta’s new wine tax
Posted Mar 17, 2025 6:51 pm.
Happy hour will soon cost a little more for Alberta wine lovers and some Calgary wine shops are sounding the alarm about an increase in fees for some bottles.
Starting Apr. 1, a new Alberta tax will mean higher prices for what the Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Commission (AGLC) calls “high-value” bottles of wine.
The increase in fees will see wines priced between $15 and $20 hit with a 5 per cent markup, wines between $20 and $25 getting a 10 per cent markup, and anything above $25 a 15 per cent increase.
“This is going to hit small businesses, this is going to hit consumers, this isn’t really going to hit the multinational companies that are going to do business here,” says Matt Stortz, general manager of Cork Fine Wind Liquor & Ale in downtown Calgary.
“Consistently in Alberta, this has been an advantage that the price of a bottle is a flat tax. We’re also very curious trying to understand that it might be a tax on a tax.”
The officer of the Minister of Red Tape Reduction says, in a statement to CityNews, that the adjustments are being made to better align with markup rate and with actual alcohol content instead of product type.
The ministry says the changes will only impact around 16 per cent of all wines sold in Alberta and small producers will see almost no change.
Stortz says the tax could push some high-end collectors to look for more inexpensive bottles which could mean a deep cut to revenue for retailers.
Last month, the AGLC introduces a new $1.25 per litre fee for beer makers that produce more than 180,000 hectoliters per year. Previously, breweries could produce more than double that amount before being charged.
Calgary’s Big Rock Brewery says the hike means it will hand over $1.4 million in additional taxes annually.
