Market insights – Canada
Canada ranks just outside the world’s top 10 wine markets by consumption, with an annual still wine consumption of around 447 million litres. While the dominant source of wine in the country is Canadian, imported wine accounts for more than 70 per cent of wine consumption. Go straight to report listing
Overview: Canada – one of the world’s most attractive wine markets
Wine Intelligence ranked Canada as the world’s tenth most attractive wine market in 2020, based on a range of economic and wine market indicators.
Canada is Australia’s fourth largest export market by value, while Australia is the fifth ranked country of origin in the market behind wines from Canada, Italy, France, and the United States. Australian white, rose, and sparkling wines are performing particularly well – growing by 9%, 15%, and 19% respectively in 2020.
Wine sales in Canada are regulated on a provincial level, resulting in very different market rules and restrictions between its provinces. Major markets such as Quebec and Ontario work within a government monopoly system, with provincial liquor boards acting as the sole importer and distributor of beverage alcohol. Sales to end consumers can be through a number of retail channels including government retail, grocery, convenience stores and through on-premise channels. British Columbia is a mixed-model system, with a government run distribution channel and retail stores as well as a private store network. Alberta is the only province with a completely open and private alcohol market, allowing for the numerous, privately owned shops to work with importers and distributors or on their own to source imported products.
The four biggest provinces for wine sales are, in order, Quebec, Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta. The majority of Australian wine sales are in Quebec and Ontario, accounting for 70 per cent of total Australian wine sales in Canada in 2020.
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Reports listing
: Restricted to levy payers and wine exporters. Some reports are available for purchase - find out more
Wine import market reports
Latest update: 17 May 2022Summarises wine imports for various markets by three categories - bulk wine, bottled wine and sparkling wine. The report assists Australian wine exporters understand trends in global wine trade.
View moreCanada Wine Sales Report
Latest update: 17 Feb 2022This report summarises wine sales in Canada by volume, country of origin, province, and variety - including separate figures for Australia compared with the market as a whole.
View moreBritish Columbia (Canada) Wine Sales Report
Latest update: 24 Feb 2017This two-page summary report provides information on wine sales in the British Columbia province of Canada by price point, country of origin and distribution channel as well as by wine style. It compares Australia’s performance in the market with the market as a whole.
View moreFurther reading
