Liquor Control Board of Ontario - History

History

The LCBO was created in 1927 with the end of prohibition which had been introduced in the province in 1916. The Liquor Control Act (1927) authorized the LCBO to "control the sale, transportation and delivery" of alcoholic beverages in Ontario. Brewers Retail was created to sell beer in a controlled manner while wines and spirits (as well as beer) were sold in LCBO outlets.

In the 1924 Ontario prohibition plebiscite Ontarians voted narrowly, by a margin of 51.5% to 48.5%, to retain the Ontario Temperance Act as opposed to the government-controlled sales of beverage alcohol. The Conservative government of Howard Ferguson contested the 1926 provincial election on a platform of easing the temperance law. On being re-elected, it introduced the Liquor Control Act as a compromise between the complete prohibition demanded by the temperance movement and the unregulated sale of alcohol. Premier Ferguson stated that the Liquor Control Act was "... to allow people to exercise a God-given freedom under reasonable restrictions". Ferguson was further quoted as saying the purpose of the LCBO was to, "promote temperance sobriety, personal liberty and, above all, to restore respect for the law." . To achieve these goals LCBO was mandated by Ferguson’s Government to employ an oversight mechanism in order to know “exactly who is buying and how much, and what disposition is being made of it.”

From 1927-1962 the LCBO licensed drinkers the same way that driving is licensed by the province today. People who wanted to drink had to fill in application forms and were issued individually numbered liquor permits. Between 1927 and 1957 these permits came in the form of passport sized books that consisted of two separate sections, the first which included the permit holder’s personal information and a second section which kept a record of the individual’s purchase history. In 1957 Permit books were replaced with permit cards. These cards held the permit holder’s name and their permit number and also were needed in order to purchase liquor at the LCBO. When an individual wanted to make a purchase at an LCBO store he or she had to fill in a purchase order form that included their name, address and permit number as well as the kind and volume of liquor that they wished to purchase. The purchase order form would be handed to an LCBO employee along with the individual’s liquor permit and he would “examine permit and see to what extent the purchaser has been buying liquor. If purchaser has exceeded a reasonable quantity per week, note permit number and address and refer to vendor.” Under the Liquor Control Act the LCBO was to promote temperance through facilitating education and moderation. This meant a store employee could deny a sale to a customer if his intended purchases may be considered too large for one person to reasonably consume.

Purchase order forms were also used by the LCBO as a means of tracking irregularities in liquor purchases and sales and had to be stamped by the employee who had approved the sale and had filled the order. After the liquor permits books were phased out in 1957, purchase order forms were used as a means of establishing individual’s purchase histories in cases legal investigations and the LCBO’s own control processes. Purchase order forms remained in use into the 1970s when the LCBO changed to a self serve format.

To control what it considered to be excessive purchases or other abuses of the permit privilege the LCBO employed the use of a list called the interdiction list. Although interdiction was initially a formalized legal process imposed by a judge upon those found in open court to be “drunkards,” the Board was charged with maintaining the list between 1927 and 1975 and employed its own standards in adding individuals to this list without any involvement of the justice system. The list was circulated to all liquor stores and drinking establishments, and was sent to local and provincial police forces to whom it was explained that it was a crime for listed individuals to possess or be sold any liquor. Between 1927 and 1975 the LCBO conducted its own investigations into over consumption, employing a staff of investigators that visited individual’s homes, work, banks, neighbors and even churches to determine if an individual should be restricted from purchasing liquor. From 1927-1935 the LCBO own investigations resulted in the cancellation of over 33,138 liquor permits and the names of these individuals were added to the circulated interdiction list. In 1929 the LCBO’s use of the interdiction list was expanded to include those on social assistance as well as others whom the Board felt should be prohibited from purchasing liquor permits entirely. Between 1929 and 1951, when the LCBO ceased publishing interdiction data in its annual reports, 125,218 individuals had been added to the interdiction list in this way.

In 1934 the mandate of the LCBO was expanded to include the oversight of by-the-glass sale of alcohol in standard hotels and other drinking establishments. As part of the LCBO's regulations licensed establishments were required to adhere to a wide variety of regulations including a limitation on singing, the number of patrons allowed to sit together and most importantly the segregation of female from unmarried male drinkers (women were only allowed to drink in the presence of a “bona fide escort” in a segregated "Ladies and Escorts" room). The task of overseeing the sale of alcohol in drinking establishments was later passed in 1944 to a short lived government licensing agency and later to the Liquor Licensing Board of Ontario in 1947.

The first self-serve store where customers did not have to rely on a clerk to retrieve alcohol was introduced in 1969. In the 1970s the stores changed to become more inviting with decorative displays of alcohol, and in the 2000s many of the stores were renovated and enlarged to provide larger product selection. Most current stores have Vintages sections with rotating selections of vintage wines and premium spirits.