Pricing of alcohol to reduce alcoholrelated harms and costs in Canada:
A comparison of provincial policies and
harm-reduction opportunities
Public Health 2014, Toronto
May 26-29
1
Presentation overview
 Background
 Public health informed pricing practices
 Detailed results for the jurisdictions
 Overall ratings for the pricing dimension
 Opportunities for improvement
 Recent changes in pricing policies
Background
 Governments maintain control of alcohol sales for
two main reasons:


Revenue generation
Control consumption, harm & costs
 Taxation & pricing policies provide one of the most
potent means of influencing outcomes in both of
these dimensions.
 Pricing policies can serve revenue & cost goals
simultaneously (i.e., increase revenue & reduce
consumption/harm/costs).
Public health-informed pricing
practices
 Research shows that regular/heavy drinkers tend to
gravitate toward less expensive alcohol.
 The new generation of pricing policies move beyond
“blunt” interventions that increase overall prices by:



Implementing minimum (floor) prices
Indexing prices (including minimum prices) to inflation
Adjusting prices based on alcohol content
 These price policies are more targeted because they
tend to increase & maintain prices at the lower end of
the price spectrum.
Detailed results for pricing
Indicator score (% of ideal score)
Price Indicator Scores (% of ideal)
100
90
80
a. Minimum
pricing
70
60
b. Indexation
50
40
30
c. Pricing on
alcohol content
20
10
0
BC
AB
SK
MB
ON
QC
Province
NB
NS
PEI
NL
Overall results for pricing
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
er
ag
e
N
PE
I
S
L
Av
Province
N
B
N
C
Q
N
O
B
M
SK
AB
Top ranking
Middle ranking
Bottom ranking
Average score
BC
Policy score (%of ideal score)
Pricing Scores
(% of ideal)
Results (cont.)
Good practices
 Nearly all jurisdictions have implemented min. prices.
 A few jurisdictions have begun to adjust their min.
prices for alcohol content (by beverage category).
 A few jurisdictions index prices to inflation in
regulation or legislation.
Areas for improvement
 Most provinces sell products below min. prices
(e.g. delisted products, FOP sales).
 Off-premise prices from BC, AB, ON, QC and PEI,
have not kept pace with inflation since 2006.
Recent developments (positive)
 BC just conducted a review of its alcohol policies & is
talking about implementing minimum prices for bars,
clubs & restaurants for the first time.
 Manitoba in currently reviewing its alcohol policies &
intends to implement minimum prices for more
products & adjust them based on alcohol
content…may be close to the optimal policy of
Minimum Unit Price (MUP).
Recent developments (negative)
 News story from QC noting declining sales to young
adults & suggesting that prices may be too high &
should be lowered!
 Some of the policy changes implemented under
recent alcohol policy “modernization” agendas serve
to increase availability (e.g., allowing alcohol in movie
theatres & salons) so may offset some of the benefits
of improved pricing policies.
 One jurisdiction has opened several discount alcohol
outlets that specialize in the sale of delisted products
at cut-rate prices.
Contact info
Norman Giesbrecht, Ph. D. (Project P.I.)
Senior Scientist Emeritus
Social & Epidemiological Research Dept.
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
33 Russell St. Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 2S1
Phone: (416) 535-8501 ext. 6895
email: norman.giesbrecht@camh.ca
Link to the main report:
http://www.camh.ca/en/research/news_and_publications/reports
_and_books/Documents/Strategies%20to%20Reduce%20Alcoh
ol%20Related%20Harms%20and%20Costs%202013.pdf