Vancouver approves bylaw amendments to bring wine sales to grocery stores

Vancouver is one step closer to allowing grocery stores to stock wine after city council approved amendments to the zoning and development bylaw during a public hearing Thursday.

The city has been considering wine-on-shelf sales since April, when council voted unanimously in favour of a motion to explore the alternative to the “store-within-a-store” model.

“It’s a program that’s been very successful elsewhere," said Coun. Mike Klassen. "Judging by the response to this, Vancouverites are ready for this to come to our city as well."

Only one store-in-store location exists in Vancouver, and council says the goal of bringing wine to grocery store shelves is to improve consumer selection and convenience.

Following Thursday’s vote, Mayor Ken Sim says he’s excited for the city to join the ranks of other B.C. municipalities that allow wine-on-shelf sales.

“The convenience of purchasing wine while grocery shopping has been accessible to many British Columbians for quite some time,” Sim wrote in a statement Friday. “This decision not only makes shopping more convenient, but it also supports the province’s wine industry.”

Wine-on-shelf sales have been legal in B.C. since 2015, and 20 cities have adopted the retail model.

Under provincial requirements, grocery stores must be larger than 10,000 square feet to sell wine on shelves.

However, since the province is no longer issuing new licences, one of the 33 that already exist would have to be “relocated” to Vancouver.

"Some might have to move back to other jurisdictions, but the province has the opportunity to respond to the popularity of this program by creating new licenses,” said Klassen. “I hope that's something they do at some point."

All but one of the provincial licences have been issued to Save on Foods or Real Canadian Superstore.

Those chains own 39 grocery store locations in Vancouver that are big enough to qualify for a licence, according to city staff.

“Based on feedback from existing licensees, staff anticipate some interest in relocating to Vancouver, but not a large uptake at this time,” staff wrote in its August report.

While provincially licensed liquor stores are required to be located at least one kilometre away from each other, wine-on-shelf licensees won’t face distance requirements.

If the same restrictions did apply, staff say fewer than five of the potential 39 locations in Vancouver would qualify for a wine-on-shelf licence.

Across B.C., 17 of the 20 cities where wine is sold at grocery stores don’t have any location or distance requirements.

Staff found that most stakeholders are in favour of following suit, except for B.C.’s Alliance of Beverage Licensees and Vancouver Coastal Health.

ABLE BC argues distance and location requirements create more fairness for private liquor stores, which face similar restrictions, while VCH is concerned with the health risks of increased access to alcohol.

“This will have a negligible effect on consumers in Vancouver and I feel like it’s a bit of strange use of council’s time right now,” said ABLE BC spokesperson Jeff Guignard.

He also argued that grocery stores are already making record profits and the hospitality industry is still recovering from the pandemic.

“If you look around the city and you draw a map, where the grocery stores are compared to the liquor stores around them, most of them are in the same parking lot or in the same block. This is not about access, this is a small little change that I don’t think will have any impact,” he said.

On Thursday, all of the councillors present – except for OneCity Coun. Christine Boyle – voted in favour of the amendments.

There’s no set date for when the changes will be enacted, and no confirmation that any of the licensees plan to relocate to Vancouver.

The city will also require grocery stores to ensure any staff selling wine is at least 19 years old and has a Serving it Right certificate. Stores will also need to have an approved security plan in place.