Ontario to increase beer fee, hitting Beer Store, private retail, bars, restaurants [Video]

Ontario’s liquor agency is increasing a fee it charges brewers, a move that would boost the cost of beer for all retailers, restaurants and bars in the province. 

The move by the LCBO comes just days before the provincial election on Thursday. 

The LCBO posted information about the fee increase on its website Monday within hours of Ontario PC Leader Doug Ford unveiling a new campaign promise to scrap the province’s mandatory minimum prices for alcohol. 

The increase is set to take effect on April 1.

It amounts to a 4.4 per cent jump in what the LCBO calls “cost of service,” a levy that applies to all beer products — whether imported or domestic — sold at retail outlets such as The Beer Store, supermarkets, convenience stores and brewery retail outlets, as well as on beer distributed to bars and restaurants. 

For beer sold at a retailer, the fee is currently set at 74.11 cents per litre and would rise to 77.37 cents per litre in April. That translates …