Liquor Control Board of Ontario
 |
|
| Crown corporation | |
| Industry | Retail (Department & Discount) |
| Founded | 1927 |
| Headquarters | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
|
Number of locations
|
651 stores (2014-15) |
|
Key people
|
Edward J. Waitzer - Chair of the Board of Directors |
| Products | Liquor sales and distribution to both consumers and businesses |
| Revenue | $5.214 billion CAD (2014-15) |
| $1.818 billion CAD (2014-15) | |
|
Number of employees
|
3,680 (full-time as of May, 2012) |
| Website | lcbo.ca |
The Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) is a Crown corporation that retails and distributes alcoholic beverages throughout the province of Ontario, Canada. It is accountable to the Ontario Ministry of Finance. It was established in 1927 on the advice of Ontario Premier Howard Ferguson, to sell liquor, wine, and beer. Such sales had been banned outright in 1916; thus, the creation of the LCBO marked an easing of the province's temperance regime (see Prohibition in Canada).
The LCBO maintains a "quasi-monopoly" on alcoholic beverage sales in Ontario — Canada's most populous province with over 13 million people, or almost 40% of the nation's population — and as a result is one of the world's largest purchasers of alcoholic beverages. LCBO stores are the only retail outlets licensed to sell alcohol in Ontario, with a few notable exceptions: beer is also sold by The Beer Store (which has a monopoly on retailing 12- and 24-bottle cases of beer), and a number of local wine, beer and alcohol producers are licensed to sell their own brands outside the purview of LCBO stores. Many of these outlets are located at the wineries, breweries or distilleries themselves; certain wine retail shops are located within grocery stores. The LCBO has also authorized some supermarkets to sell cider, wine and beer within their grocery aisles.As of 9 December 2016, nearly 130 grocery stores had been licensed to do so; by 2020, a full 450 may be licensed.
The LCBO is also the chief supplier of alcoholic beverages to bars and restaurants in Ontario, which are generally required by law to purchase their alcoholic products through the LCBO, The Beer Store, or directly from Ontario wineries and breweries. Beverages sold at bars and restaurants must be consumed on the establishments' premises.
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