Bill 157 explained in plain English
Microdistillers Act, 2015
Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.
At a glance
Official Legislative Assembly of Ontario snapshot for 41st Parliament, 1st Session. Representative vote breakdowns appear when the Assembly publishes an Ayes and Nays page for the bill.
Our plain-language take, written for civic education.
Source: By PoliticalData.ca
Bill 157, the Microdistillers Act, 2015, amends Ontario's liquor laws to define and regulate microdistillers, allowing them to sell spirits under specific conditions and setting limits on mark-ups.
This bill, the Microdistillers Act, 2015, amends the Liquor Control Act and the Liquor Licence Act in Ontario. It creates a definition for 'microdistiller' and sets rules for their operations. These changes allow microdistillers to sell their spirits under certain conditions, including to the public by the glass at their manufacturing sites, and limit the mark-up the Liquor Control Board of Ontario can apply to their products. It also allows a person to hold multiple licences related to the manufacture, sale, or delivery of spirits, beer, or Ontario wine.
- Defines 'microdistiller' for the purposes of the Liquor Licence Act.
- Amends the Liquor Control Act to add a definition of 'microdistiller'.
- Amends the Liquor Control Act to limit the mark-up the Liquor Control Board of Ontario can set on spirits sold by microdistillers.
- Amends the Liquor Licence Act to allow a person to hold any or all licences related to the manufacture, sale, or delivery of spirits, beer, or Ontario wine.
- Amends the Liquor Licence Act to establish specific rules for microdistillers, including their production limits, ability to sell and deliver spirits, and to sell spirits by the glass at their manufacturing sites.
- Amends the Liquor Licence Act to specify conditions for a microdistiller's licence to sell spirits by the glass on-site, such as location, purpose of sale, and municipal support.
- Sets rules for when microdistillers can sell spirits by the glass (between 11 a.m. and 9 p.m.) and in what quantities (equal to or less than 43 ml).
- States that this Act comes into force six months after receiving Royal Assent.
- Microdistillers (manufacturers of spirits)
- Liquor Control Board of Ontario
- Individuals or businesses seeking to hold multiple liquor licences
- Consumers purchasing spirits from microdistillers
- Municipal councils (regarding on-site sales licences)
- Microdistillers have the right to sell and deliver their spirits to licensed liquor sellers.
- Microdistillers may obtain a licence to sell spirits by the glass on their manufacturing site under specific conditions.
- Microdistillers are not liable for mark-ups set by the Board in contravention of the new limit.
- A person can hold multiple liquor licences related to spirits, beer, or Ontario wine.
- Municipal councils must pass a resolution in support for a microdistiller to obtain an on-site sales licence.
- The Act comes into force six months after it receives Royal Assent.
- The mark-up on spirits sold by microdistillers at government stores or otherwise cannot exceed the mark-up equal to the tax that applies to microbrewers.
- The bill does not explicitly state new penalties for violations by microdistillers or other parties, but changes to existing acts may carry existing penalties.
- The specific 'prescribed requirements' that a person must meet to hold any or all licences related to the manufacture, sale, or delivery of spirits, beer, or Ontario wine are not detailed in this bill.
- The bill does not specify the exact mark-up percentage for beer manufacturers that microdistiller mark-ups cannot exceed, referring to 'the tax that applies to beer manufactured by a beer manufacturer that is a microbrewer'.
- The bill does not detail the 'necessary modifications' for applying subsections of the Alcohol and Gaming Regulation and Public Protection Act, 1996, to determine microdistiller status.
- The bill does not detail what constitutes 'primarily aimed at promoting the manufacturer's product' or providing an 'enhanced tourist experience or fulfilling an educational purpose' for on-site sales licences.
Adds a definition for 'microdistiller' and limits the mark-up that can be set on the sale of spirits manufactured by microdistillers.
Source: Section 1 and 3.0.1
Allows a person to hold any or all licences related to the manufacture, sale, or delivery of spirits, beer, or Ontario wine. It also creates new rules for microdistillers, defining them, setting production limits, and allowing them to sell and deliver spirits under specific conditions, including selling by the glass on-site.
Source: Section 2, 22.1, 22.2, and 22.3
Specifies that certain subsections of this Act apply to determining if a manufacturer of spirits is a microdistiller.
Source: Section 22.1 (2)
Generated using AI from official bill text. Not legal advice. It is written by PoliticalData.ca for civic education, automatically checked and spot-reviewed before publishing.
Official textProcess Snapshot
Vote Summary
This bill is still active. We only show vote counts after the legislature publishes a recorded division.
No published representative vote breakdown
This bill is still moving through the process. When a recorded division is published, representative positions can be listed here.
Official sources
Status, sponsor, votes, and timeline on this page are drawn from these official legislative sources and public records. Each summary above is attributed to its own source.
How this data is sourced