THANK YOU for keeping the pressure on! Your voices are being heard. We’re pleased that Minister of Agriculture and Food, Lana Popham, has responded to our #ProtectBCCraftBeer campaign and we look forward to meeting with her in September to discuss the urgent need to change BC’s outdated tax system and create sustainability for our 219 member breweries.This long weekend, let’s keep showing our support for BC’s local craft breweries. Every purchase supports local jobs, strengthens communities, and shows government that craft beer matters to British Columbians.
This long weekend, let’s keep showing our support for BC’s local craft breweries. Every purchase supports local jobs, strengthens communities, and shows government that craft beer matters to British Columbians. Keep sharing, keep tagging your MLAs, and keep choosing craft. Together, we’re making a difference! #ProtectBCCraftBeer
Media Coverage
MLA Support Letters
In response to numerous requests, we’ve created a sample letter you can personalize and send to your local MLA. Every voice counts — and yours can help make a real difference. Sample Letter
View the official Media Launch at Main Street Brewing on our Instagram
Q: Are tariffs playing a role? We understand the government is facing complex challenges, but we’ve been advocating for tax equity for 15 months—tariffs only started in February. These tariffs are actually increasing costs for our craft breweries, making tax reform more urgent than ever. We’ve lost 20 breweries this year and more are at risk every month. At a time when every tax dollar should support local BC communities and jobs, it makes no sense to keep sending millions in rebates to foreign-owned mega brewers.
Other provinces have found ways to protect their craft brewers during difficult times. We’re asking BC to do the same with our revenue-neutral proposal that will help local breweries survive without costing taxpayers. We need to work together on this before we lose more of these vital community businesses.
For Immediate Release
BC CRAFT BREWERS GUILD LAUNCHES ‘PROTECT BC CRAFT BEER’ CAMPAIGN TO FIGHT TAX INEQUITY
July 31, 2025, Vancouver, British Columbia — The BC Craft Brewers Guild today launched the grassroots
“Protect BC Craft Beer” advocacy campaign, rallying beer lovers across the province to demand a fairer
tax system that stops favouring foreign-owned beer conglomerates and instead support BC’s craft
breweries, which employ more than 6,000 people in 70 communities.
“For over a year, B.C.’s craft brewing industry has been calling on government for urgent reforms to a tax
structure that unfairly benefits foreign-owned mega brewers while leaving local craft brewers behind,”
says Ken Beattie, Executive Director of the BC Craft Brewers Guild, which represents over 219 breweries
across the province. “Without change, many of our members won’t make it, some have already closed
their doors. This reform isn’t just about fairness; it’s about survival.”
For context, BC’s outdated tax structure hands foreign-owned giants more than $9 million in tax rebates
every year – netting upwards of $60 million in rebates since 2016! – with no markup increases in nearly a
decade. Meanwhile, local craft breweries face a 30% rise in costs since 2020, new U.S. tariffs on
aluminum and ingredients, and get penalized for success with escalating tax rates as they grow.
Corporate Breweries? They have paid a flat rate for since 2016, no matter how big they get
The result: More than 20 BC craft breweries have closed this year alone. In some cases, the closure
meant the loss of the only brewery in a community, and with it, a beloved gathering place for locals.
Many more are hanging on by a thread and will close if this backwards tax system isn’t reformed
imminently.
BC craft brewers call for fairness from the Government of British Columbia, who are essentially sending
millions of taxpayer dollars south of the border and overseas.
A Solution that Works for BC
The Guild’s proposed tax reform is revenue-neutral for government and could save BC craft breweries
$16.3 million annually, money to reinvest in local jobs, ingredients, and growth to combat U.S. tariffs.
Other provinces like Ontario, Alberta, and Saskatchewan have already taken steps to support their craft
brewers, and BC can too.
Quick Facts
Foreign-Owned Giants Get Taxpayer Dollars: Since 2016, large foreign-owned breweries have
faced no markup increases and received $60 million in rebates. Yet their profits leave the
country, going to head offices and shareholders in the U.S. and around the world. Why are BC
taxpayers subsidizing them as local craft brewers struggle?
Unfair Tax Curves
In BC, local craft breweries get penalized for growing with escalating tax rates.
As we grow, we pay more. Meanwhile, foreign-owned beer conglomerates pay the same rate
above 350,000 hectolitres, with zero incremental tax increases, no matter how much they
produce.
Community Impact
BC is losing more than just breweries. We’re losing jobs, local gathering
spots, and economic anchors in 70 communities across the province. From urban
neighbourhoods to rural towns, many breweries are one of the few major employers and serve
as vital hubs for connection, culture, and community.
“Like other provinces in Canada, our craft breweries are facing immense financial pressure,” says
Cameron Forsyth, Co-Founder of Main St. Brewing in Vancouver. “But the difference is that these other
provinces have provided relief to their small businesses, while we continue to hope that BC will join with
provincial cousins and help our sector. We’re simply asking BC to do the same, to recognize the value of
what we bring to our communities and help us survive.”
The Protect BC Craft Beer campaign aims to raise awareness of an outdated tax structure that puts local
craft breweries at a disadvantage. The campaign calls on the provincial government to work with the BC
Craft Brewers Guild to find a sustainable solution immediately, one that supports small businesses,
removes barriers to growth, and keeps hard-earned tax dollars in British Columbia to help this
homegrown industry thrive.
We encourage British Columbians to contact their local MLAs and support tax fairness for local craft
brewers.
Below is a backgrounder with more information. Learn more about the BC Craft Brewers Guild and
our members at www.bccraftbeer.ca.
For Media Inquiries, contact:
Ken Beattie
604-306-1500
moc.reebtfarccb@nek
Backgrounder
The BC Craft Brewers Guild represents 219 member craft breweries across 70 communities in British
Columbia. Its mission is to support the growth of the craft beer industry, promote the interests of
independent breweries, and foster a sense of community.
The Guild works to advocate for favorable policies and regulations, offer business support to its
members, and educate both brewers and the public about the value of craft beer.
The BC Craft Brewers Guild has been working with the provincial government for over a year on
proposed changes to tax policies for craft breweries by adjusting the current markup structure on craft
beer to reduce financial pressures on independently owned and operated B.C. craft breweries.
While discussions have been constructive, the provincial government has not yet made any changes that
would help the sector.
This policy change would provide essential relief to local breweries facing rising input costs, such as
ingredients, aluminum and steel which have been impacted by inflation and global supply chain
disruptions. Additionally, it would level the playing field between local B.C. breweries and foreign-owned
mega brewers.
British Columbia has been one of the strongest craft brewing industries in North America in the last 15
years, with unprecedented growth in brewery openings, job creation and market share. BC’s craft
breweries currently employ more than 6,000 people in 70 communities.
The BC beer markup rates have not been amended since 2016. The BC Craft Brewers Guild engaged MNP
Accounting in late fall 2023 to facilitate an economic impact study to recommend an immediate
modernization of the BC beer markup rates with no cost to government that could save the BC craft
brewing industry.
In 2025, US-led tariffs and subsequent Canadian retaliatory tariffs have resulted in additional operation
costs on top of the already 30% average increase most BC craft breweries have incurred since 2020. In
this year alone, 20 craft breweries in B.C. have shut down because of increasing operation costs.
Unlike other industries (fuel, building supplies, food), who can pass on cost of goods increase to
consumers, BC Craft Brewers cannot as they compete with much larger foreign-owned breweries who
can absorb these severe input increases with global purchasing power, keeping their retail prices low.
The same foreign-owned breweries who have not had BC markup increase since 2016 have received over
$60M in rebates in that time yet these companies do not re-invest the majority of their profits back into
BC.
All BC-based craft breweries produce less than 100,000 HL and over 85% fall below the minimum starting
point of 15,000HL for incremental tax increases. Innovation Science and Economic Development Canada
confirmed that in 2022, 63% of the close to 900 breweries in Canada producing less than 15,000HL of
beer were not yet profitable.Regional breweries who plan for significant growth are impeded by steep tax increases once they
approach 200,000 HL. All foreign-owned breweries AWP exceed the top rate of by millions of litres,
without any tax increase since 2016.
This proposal intends to save the BC Craft Brewing industry approx. $16.3M in markup payments
which can be re-invested into future growth, create local jobs in 70 communities, and combat punitive
tariff increases from US/Canada trade war.