Supporting you to shop local

Ontario and Canada have a long history of beverage alcohol makers offering innovative products for people’s enjoyment. We take pride in helping customers discover the best products from our own backyard – not only because we have outstanding products, but also because these businesses are a vital part of strengthening local communities.

For the good of Ontario and as part of our unwavering commitment to support local year-round, we want to help you understand the different ways to ‘shop local’.

Wine

VQA wines

We’re proud to offer our customers the largest selection of Ontario VQA wines with 600 wines available in store and online. VQA stands for ‘Vintners Quality Alliance’ and it's a designation managed by an independent body of the same name that monitors Ontario’s appellation of origin system. To receive this designation, a wine must be made from 100% Ontario-grown grapes and the grapes must be approved through the VQA’s strict quality assurance program. To learn more about this organization, you can visit vqaontario.ca.

Customers can identify if a wine is VQA in our stores and online by the VQA logo on the bottle, typically found on the label or the bottle cap. To make it easier for our customers to identify VQA wines in LCBO stores, they can also be found on shelves labeled as “Ontario VQA”. When customers search for these wines on our website, they can find “VQA Wines” and “Made in Ontario” icons under “Product Details” on a given product’s page.

If you’re particularly curious about these sub-categories of wine, you can visit 21 Ontario Wine Boutique locations inside LCBO stores that offer the look and feel of a trip to wine country. These stores offer an expanded selection of VQA wines, including hard-to-find, niche, and ultra-premium products. Best of all, our in-store product consultants are on hand to help guide you through any questions and clarifications.

Ontario and Product of Canada Wine

In addition to VQA wines, we also offer 88 Ontario-made wines.

While the number of offerings we have from these categories may fluctuate season to season, what remains consistent is how we define these sub-categories of wine.

All VQA wines are from Ontario, but not all Ontario wines are VQA. Ontario wine means wine produced from agricultural products grown in Ontario

International-Domestic Blends

Finally, there are wines made across Canada that are crafted in Ontario or the rest of Canada with a blend of Canadian grapes and imported grapes from other countries. LCBO carries 150 International-Domestic Blends and these wines are identified in stores as “International Domestic Blends” and on our website as “Made in Canada.” These wines must carry the label designations “International blend from imported and domestic wines”.

Beer, Cider and Ready-To-Drink Beverages (RTD)

Our province and country is so rich in the natural resources and technical know-how required to make craft beer and cider, but what is it? While there is no official definition, craft is generally understood to mean that the producer is often independently-owned, local, and typically small in size.

Craft breweries may make styles that run the gamut from lagers, pilsners, and kolschs to pale ales, IPAs, sours, and more! Some beers may be more seasonal than others, making certain styles of beer, such as porters and stouts, more readily available during different parts of the year, like fall and winter.

Likewise, with large-scale, multinational or “macro” brewers, they offer a variety of beer styles and they have operations in Canada that produce beer under various household brands.

Ciders have different flavour profiles depending on the apples used. There are dry and sweet styles, and some ciders are flavoured with other fruits, as well. Local craft ciders are made with Ontario-grown apples.

Ready-to-Drink products include pre-made cocktails, coolers, seltzers, and more. They’re one of our fastest-growing categories at the LCBO – approximately 90% of the products sold at the LCBO are made in Canada. Of those, about 80% are made right here in Ontario, making it easier than ever to support local.

Spirits

Locally produced spirits are a growing trend with new distilleries popping up all around Ontario and Canada. These distilleries are innovative and experimenting with things like barrel finishes and on-trend flavours. They’re crafting everything from gin to vodka to whisky to liqueurs. These spirits are great on their own, over ice, mixed with water, or mixed with other ingredients to create cocktails. There are so many different flavours to explore from across our wonderful country that you can find at the LCBO.

Regardless of the occasion you’re looking to celebrate, local Ontario and Canadian products offer accessible pricing, variety, innovation, and flavour. We are making it even easier for customers to shop more than 3,000 local products with our curated assortment called “The Eh List” in LCBO stores and online. If ever in doubt, find one of our VQA, Beer or Spirits Ambassadors in select stores to help you find the perfect local pairing.

Let’s raise a glass to buying Canadian and enjoying responsibly of course!