By Emily Stewart
Broken Rail Brewing, a craft brewery in St. Marys, is advocating for lower taxes on craft breweries amid the launch of a new Ontario Craft Brewers campaign.
Ontario Craft Brewers launched the Save Local Craft Beer campaign on Oct. 16, advocating for tax relief for craft brewers across the province. The campaign follows the Keep Craft Beer Local campaign and underscores the fact Ontario’s craft breweries are struggling because of high taxes. Ontario Craft Brewers said Ontario breweries pays about eight times as much in beer taxes as Alberta.
"It's a major sticking point for all small breweries and even mid-sized, larger breweries as well,” said Ryan Leaman, co-founder and head brewer of Broken Rail Brewing. “It consumes a very large portion of your can price in retail to your customer."
The Ontario Government’s beer and wine tax webpage lists the tax rate for microbreweries as 35.96 cents per litre for draft beer and 39.75 cents per litre for non-draft beer. There is also a beer-volume tax listed at 17.6 cents per litre and an environmental tax of 8.93 for each non-refillable container like a beer can.
"It's a very complex system,” Leaman said. “It's not simple like, say, HST where you pay 13 per cent.”
The Ontario Government’s website also indicates the current tax rates are effective until Feb. 28, 2026, with the next scheduled adjustment on March 1, 2026. However, Ontario Craft Brewers is calling for an immediate decrease.
“Quite frankly, a lot of small craft breweries are really, really struggling right now,” Leaman said, “because we see a bit of a downturn with people just being mindful of their spending. Some are trying to be a little more health conscious.
“It's been a tough time in this industry. A lot of guys are really struggling. Some tax relief would go a long way.”
Leaman said times have been tough for Broken Rail Brewing from the beginning. The brewery, which was also envisioned as a social hub, opened during COVID-19 restrictions when social gatherings were either not happening at all or limited. For Broken Rail Brewing, tax relief could mean saving tens of thousands of dollars annually. The brewery could also bring in more equipment and workers.
Leaman said the Save Local Craft Beer campaign website has an option where concerned craft-beer drinkers and brewers can email their local MPP, including Perth-Wellington MPP Matthew Rae. He also said visiting craft breweries such as Broken Rail, Stratford’s Black Swan Brewing Co. and Woodstock’s Upper Thames Brewing Co. will greatly help the breweries.
"There's a lot more margins in house, so that definitely goes a very long way rather than some other retailer. Quite frankly, a lot of the small craft breweries can't get into those retail spaces,” Leaman said. “It's critical to have people come and shop in house."
More information about the Save Local Craft Beer campaign can be found by visiting www.savelocalcraftbeer.ca.
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