Lobby groups urge Saskatchewan to reverse ‘misguided’ U.S. product ban that includes Canadian-brewed beers

Saskatchewan is the only province to remove Canadian-brewed beer from its stores by perceiving some products to be entirely U.S. branded, say the two biggest lobby groups for restaurants and beer companies in Canada, calling the policy “misguided.”

Beer Canada and Restaurants Canada are urging an immediate reversal of Saskatchewan’s directive, which Premier Scott Moe enacted earlier this month as part of his government’s retaliatory measures against U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canadian goods and minerals.

Although multiple provinces – including British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec – had banned American alcohol from their liquor stores in response to Mr. Trump’s tariffs, leaders of the lobby groups said Friday that Saskatchewan’s initiatives have been broader. They said the moves target all U.S. beer brands without considering that many of those products are manufactured in Canada, largely using barley from Saskatchewan itself.

That includes brands such as Bud, Bud Light, Busch and Busch Light that are brewed by workers in Canada using Canadian ingredients.

“Let’s be clear: Saskatchewan clearly did not do sufficient analysis,” said Beer Canada President CJ Hélie in an interview.

“They misguidedly grabbed on this idea of an alcohol ban and didn’t even spend enough time to write down the definition of what actually is an American brand or American-brand beer.”

Mr. Hélie said Saskatchewan’s measures are affecting its own farmers, retailers and distributors – along with the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority. Beer Canada estimates that the SLGA would lose up to 50 per cent of annual beer sales and a reduction of nearly $40-million from income and transfers toward the provincial treasury should the ban remain in place.

Mark von Schellwitz, vice-president at Restaurants Canada, added that the ban is also compounding financial pressure on hospitality businesses.

“Beer is often the most profitable item on a restaurant’s menu, especially in keg form,” he said. “This policy will cause more harm than good to Saskatchewan’s small businesses, employees, and farmers.”

In a brief statement Friday, Mr. Moe’s senior spokesperson, Matthew Glover, said that the “SLGA is reviewing the current list of American-brand alcohol which they have currently paused in response to the U.S. tariffs.” He declined to provide any further comment on the matter.

Alana Ross, the minister responsible for Saskatchewan’s liquor authority, defended her government’s directives earlier this week, confirming that a total of 54 U.S. brands were being banned.

“We made the decision to stop ordering those to have more of an impact,” she told reporters, stating that she hopes it would “shorten the amount of time we’re going to have to deal with these tariffs.”

Ms. Ross said residents should look for alternatives: “There’s many Canadian brands, there’s many Saskatchewan brands.”

Mr. Hélie said he spoke with Ms. Ross Thursday afternoon. “She was very open to having these discussions and appreciative of all the information we provided,” he said, adding that he asked her if she would put a pause on the beer ban.

“But she said, ‘Well, I don’t think I can make a decision that quickly. I’m going to have to go talk to my colleagues.’ And so, I got the impression that this was not going to be resolved that quickly,” Mr. Hélie said.

Ms. Ross did not respond to requests for comment Friday.

Both Mr. Hélie and Mr. von Schellwitz stressed that they support the necessity of retaliatory responses from Canada, but they believe that Saskatchewan has undertaken a misstep that removes it from a “Team Canada” approach, which is otherwise aligned among provincial governments for U.S. alcohol bans.

“It is dangerous when governments believe they have all the answers, and they don’t have to ask any of the affected parties their views,” Mr. Hélie said. “Nobody was properly consulted here. And beer consumed by Canadians happens to be one of the only products that are almost fully made and fully sourced in Canada.”