Funny way to stand out! Of all Canadians, Quebecers consume the most alcohol.
Unfortunately being the most “lax” province on blood alcohol levels while driving with 0.08 g/100 ml, compared to 0.05 in the other provinces, this does not bode well for road safety.
On the other hand, this is really good news for the SAQ, the “alcohol cow” of the Quebec state.
In 2023, according to Statistics Canada, some 53.4% of Quebecers aged 18 and over have drunk alcohol, compared to 45.5% of Canadians.
What’s more, Quebec is particularly ahead of Ontario in terms of alcohol consumption, with barely 42.4% of Ontarians having consumed it.
So, compared to Ontario, we are talking here about a huge gap in alcohol consumption of 11 percentage points in “favor” of La Belle Province!
Risk assessment
Statistics Canada assessed Canadians’ alcohol consumption based on four risk levels based on the number of drinks consumed per week.
Here is how Quebecers aged 18 and over differ from Ontarians and all Canadians.
At the level of “Increasingly high risk, with 7 or more drinks per week”, there are 18.1% of Quebecers, compared to 14.0% of Ontarians and 15.1% of Canadians.
As for the level of “Moderate risk, with 3 to 6 drinks per week”, we find 19% of Quebecers there, compared to 15.2% of Canadians and only 13.5% of Ontarians.
In the “Low risk, with 1 to 2 drinks per week” group, Quebec also dominates in Canada with 16.3% of Quebecers, compared to 15.2% of Canadians and 14.9% of Ontarians.
Importantly, of all the provinces, Quebec is the only one where less than half of those aged 18 and over do not drink alcohol. In the “No risk, with zero drinks of alcohol per week” category, we find 46.5% of Quebecers, compared to 54.4% of Canadians and 57.6% of Ontarians.
The government benefits
He said Annual report of the state corporation: “Year after year, the SAQ makes every effort to maintain a financial performance allowing it to secure the sums it remits to the Government of Quebec. It is committed to doing more and better in order to ensure the sustainability of its activities, but also to meet the expectations of its approximately 9 million shareholders: Quebecers.”
During its last financial year from 1is April 2023 to March 31, 2024, the SAQ alone sold some 223 million liters of alcohol, for total sales of $4.1 billion, i.e.:
- 166.4 million liters of wine ($2.79 billion)
- 31.3 million liters of spirits ($1.15 billion)
- 25.1 million liters of beer, ciders ($163 million)
These sales from the state’s “alcohol cow” brought the Quebec government net revenues of $2.17 billion, including $1.43 billion in dividends and $746 million in provincial taxes.
The federal government also benefited, collecting $519 million with excise duties and its GST.
Regarding the quantity of alcohol sold through the SAQ, please note that the volume has remained approximately the same over the last four years.
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