Liquor Services - business guide

Alcohol beverage manufacturer

A business manufacturing alcohol requires a municipal licence in addition to an Alberta Gaming & Liquor Commission (AGLC) licence. No additional licence is required to serve or sell alcohol produced on the same premises. If a business plans on serving alcohol produced elsewhere for consumption on site, then an alcohol beverage sales licence is required. If selling alcohol produced elsewhere for off-site consumption then a liquor store licence is required.

Examples of Liquor Services businesses

Businesses where the primary business activity is to manufacture liquor require an alcohol beverage manufacturer licence (e.g. breweries, distilleries and wineries)

Alcohol beverage sales

Businesses where the primary business activity is liquor sale and consumption on the same premises require an alcohol beverage sales licence. These businesses do not require an additional licence to sell alcohol made on the same premises. The intention of this business is for the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages on the same premises and may included the retail sale of alcohol manufactured on site (e.g. licensed restaurants, bars, brew-pubs, drinking establishments).

Liquor store

Businesses where the primary business activity is to sell alcohol for off-site consumption require a liquor store licence. Liquor stores are not permitted to sell and serve alcohol for on-site consumption. Tobacco products are not permitted to be sold from a liquor store.

Businesses that do not require a municipal licence for liquor sales but do require an Alberta Gaming & Liquor Commission (AGLC) licence:

• Gift baskets that include one or two bottles of alcohol, as long as it is only being delivered with the gift basket and not sold separately. Gift basket manufacturers will require a manufacturer licence type.
• Liquor/manufacturer agents and representatives.
• Liquor delivery services.
• Special events, either private (e.g. weddings) or public (e.g. festivals) with liquor sales do not normally require a municipal licence to sell liquor and will instead require a private resale special event licence from AGLC. An exception would be a licenced restaurant holding a special function that includes off-sales.
• Hotels selling alcohol for consumption on site do not require a separate liquor store licence. If the hotel operates an off-sales room, a liquor store licence will be required.

New - Brewery, Winery, Distillery use

Amendments include:

• allowable public area of 10 square metres for entertainment
• increase to the maximum allowable public area from 75 square metres to 150 square metres
• permitting the sale of collaboration beverages

A collaboration beverage is made when two producers collaborate to create a new beverage. In this situation, the beverage may not necessarily be produced on-site.

As part of The City’s efforts to accelerate the business license approvals process, customers with a myID business account can receive a digital copy of their business licence via email. This is available to customers applying for a new business licence or renewing an existing licence. To learn more about the benefits of a myID business account and to sign-up today, please visit myID business account (calgary.ca).

Ancillary Sales

Anytime alcohol is being served, snack items (e.g. chips, pretzels) must be provided to customers. Because of this, any business serving alcohol must also have a food service – premises category added to their licence. A business may sell non-liquor products, however, these products must be liquor-related products approved by the AGLC. Some examples include soft drinks, juice, water, non-food items used in the preparation of cocktails, ice, flasks, decanters, beverage containers, glassware and bottle openers.

Land Use Bylaw

Liquor stores cannot be located within 300 metres of any other liquor stores, nor can they be located within 150 metres of a school.

Care facilities

Provincial government owned and operated facilities, where no private company is operating the facility under a management agreement, would not require a municipal licence. Provincially-owned facilities that are operated under a management agreement by a private company require a licence for alcohol beverage sales. Privately owned and operated businesses or societies require a licence for alcohol beverage sales, even if they are only selling and serving alcohol beverages to residents of a facility.

Distilleries

The distillation process to produce alcohol has specific requirements for construction and building occupancy. To avoid application delays or location conflicts, please contact the planning services center before finalizing a location.

Additional licence requirements

All alcohol beverage manufacturer, alcohol beverage sales and liquor store licences require licensing from the AGLC.

A health inspection is not required for a liquor store unless ice is being packaged and sold on-site.

Once you apply for your business licence, outstanding approvals must be completed before the business licence is issued.

A business licence will often have multiple licence types associated with it. Below is a chart of all the related licence types that fall under this business activity. If your business requires multiple licence types, approval processes are only generated once per licence. For example, only one fire inspection is required even if multiple licence types require that inspection.

Required approvals