Canadians are increasingly embracing zero-proof drinks, mocktails and sober lifestyles, according to new data that shows government revenue from alcohol has taken the sharpest dip in at least 20 years.

The

data from Statistics Canada

show adults are drinking less, with retail volumes down for the fourth straight year. The trend — partly driven by a generational shift away from boozy lifestyles — is forcing industry to come up with more non-alcoholic offerings, while governments find their revenues are on the rocks.

An ongoing trade dispute with the United States also appears to be weighing on sales, with Statistics Canada reporting that imported wine revenue has fallen for the first time on record.

Federal and provincial governments earned $13.1 billion from retail alcohol sales in the fiscal year ending in March 2025, down by four per cent or roughly $570,000 from a year earlier. It’s the steepest drop since Statistics Canada started collecting the data in the 2004-05 fiscal year.

Retailers are also taking in less, even though they are charging more. Liquor authorities and other shop owners sold $25.8 billion worth of boozy drinks in the fiscal year ending in March 2025, down 1.6 per cent from a year earlier, despite prices rising by a similar percentage.

On average, Canadian adults bought the equivalent of eight drinks a week, compared to about 10 a decade earlier.

It follows a generational trend in which younger Canadians are not drinking as much as their parents or grandparents. Beer sales, for example, have been consistently falling across Canada, while non-alcoholic suds have emerged as one of the fastest-growing categories.

Canned cocktails, meanwhile, remain a bright spot in an industry battered with falling sales. The category, which also includes ciders and coolers, occupies the smallest share of the alcohol market, but it’s also the only one with rising demand, with revenues up by close to five per cent to $2.4 billion.

With $9 billion in retail sales, beer remains the top-selling alcoholic beverage in Canada — commanding more than a third of the market — but sales were down by volume and revenue in the fiscal year ending last March.

Wine is the second-most popular drink of choice, but the category is also under pressure. Wine sales fell by roughly two per cent to $7.7 billion, driven by the first ever decline of revenue from imported wines in records going back to the early 1990s.

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The drop appears to reflect the early stages of Canada’s response to U.S. tariffs and

51st state

rhetoric. Several provinces began pulling American wines and other liquor bottles from store shelves in early March of last year, though Alberta and Saskatchewan restocked their shelves a few months later.

U.S. data shows American wine exports to Canada fell by 76 per cent in 2025.

rsouthwick@postmedia.com