Unfortunately for brewers, April 1 was no April Fool’s joke when the federal government’s excise beer tax increased again for the second time since the start of the pandemic and the fifth time in four years.

The tax is an automatic annual increase which was introduced in 2017.

“It is a hindrance for brewers, but also for businesses that depend on beer sales, especially considering how challenging it has been for a lot of these businesses, particularly restaurants and bars during COVID-19,” said Interim President of Beer Canada, Luke Chapman. “I’ll use Waterloo Brewery as an example, they are a mid-sized Ontario-based brewery, and with this increase alone is (roughly) an additional $130,000 that they are now remitting to the government instead of investing in their business.”

“That’s why I think this federal government decision to raise the tax this year is a bit of a head-scratcher – these businesses are going to emerge out of this shutdown in a very challenging situation, and they are going to be met with tax decisions that are ultimately going to result in (greater) costs,” Chapman said not only regarding the tax increase but in regards to how the hospitality sector will suffer with the second lockdown that was implemented in Ontario on April 3.

Beer Canada and their partners have been calling on the federal government to freeze the tax through the ‘Freeze It For Them’ campaign, which already has received over 10,000 signatures from across the country.