Can This Politician Deliver on His $1 Beer Promise?

The search for the elusive $1 beer is not limited to the United States; this is a global effort that encompasses most of the world, and the sporadic reports of beer for a buck are often tied to some sort of sale or ephemeral drink special. In the Ontario province of Canada, however, one political leader is determined to make dollar beers a reality for his constituency.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford, a Progressive Conservative whose rise to power can be credited to his populist campaign, is starting to deliver on some of his campaign promises, and one of them is “buck-a-beer.” Starting later this month, Premier Ford will enact a measure that will allow breweries, retail stores and commercial establishments that serve beer to charge just one Canadian dollar per serving, which comes out to less than one American dollar at today’s currency exchanged between the loonie and the greenback.

Before American beer lovers hop on their cars and head north towards the border checkpoints of the Ontario province, it is important to understand what Premier Ford actually means when he talks about dollar beers. As the situation stands, the Ontario province has a minimum pricing scheme on alcoholic beverages that is meant to prevent excessive drinking. To a certain extent, this measure is similar to the exorbitant taxes charged on tobacco products across all Canadian provinces.

These days, the minimum beer price per unit in Ontario is $1.25, which means that a store in Toronto may sell a 24-pack case of beer for just $30, but it does not mean that this will be the case across the province. This mininum pricing scheme has been in place since 1993, when it was introduced as part of a provincial legislative package that was meant to inject social responsibility in Ontario.

Dollar beers are far more common in Canada than in the United States. Minimum pricing mandates are not found in every province; in fact, it is not rare for people in Ontario to go on beer runs to Quebec in search of dollar beer deals. Nonetheless, Premier Ford’s campaign promise may not actually materialize all over Ontario. While the major breweries will certainly jump on this opportunity to offer retailer incentives, it is not financially feasible for craft brewers to price their products at just one loonie.

Saving $0.25 on each beer may appeal to many Ontario residents, but Premier Ford has also been the target of critics who believe he should be focusing on other aspects of his administration such as social welfare projects that currently lack funding.