Federal taxes on beer sales are set to rise by 6.3 percent on April 1. This will be the largest increase in 40 years. 

“I think it’s going to hurt breweries at a time when they’re already struggling,” commented Brad McInerney, marketing manager at Wellington Brewery. “It’s been a challenging time for a lot of small businesses.”

“The sting is pretty strong considering we’re dealing with price increases across the board,” added Jon Laurencic, co-founder/co-owner of Elora Brewing Company. “Having this come up as well, it’s a little bit frustrating.

“Parliament should have a vote on these things,” he said. “It’s just such a challenging period for the hospitality sector and here they are, the government, instead of helping is going to make things worse.”

The increase would result in a $45 million jump in collective beer tax revenues.

“We’re hoping the government listens,” Laurencic said of the requested tax freeze. “Every brewery in Canada is going to get hit with this.”

“That’s a really difficult thing in a challenging market,” said McInerney, pointing not only to the presence of several local breweries, but international corporate interest in acquiring smaller brands, such as the recent purchase of Waterloo Brewing by Carlsberg.

“Hopefully it doesn’t have a large impact on sales,” Laurencic said.

SOURCE: GuelphToday