Alcohol and food advertising rules in Ontario

Ontario's liquor advertising standards, Canada's Competition Act and Ad Standards' guidelines all shape what caterers, bars and trucks can say in a promotion. Learn the rules that matter most, how to rewrite risky posts and offers, and a checklist to run before anything goes live.

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Alcohol and food advertising rules in Ontario.

Food and drink businesses are among the most regulated advertisers in the event industry.

A caterer's menu claims, a mobile bar's Instagram post, a truck's festival promotion and a venue's happy hour sign all sit under rules from more than one authority.

Who sets the rules.

The AGCO's core rules on liquor advertising.

Under Standard 2.1, no one may advertise or promote liquor or the availability of liquor except in line with the Registrar's advertising guidelines.

Those guidelines set the tone for every post, ad and menu that mentions alcohol.

Prices, happy hours and free drinks.

Licensees may advertise prices and promotions outside the premises and online, including time periods and brands, provided the advertising is responsible and does not promote immoderate consumption.

Drinks must be priced at or above the minimum, including taxes: 2.00 dollars per standard drink, with a different minimum for spirits over 14.8 percent alcohol. Standard servings are 341 ml of beer, cider or cooler, 29 ml of spirits, 142 ml of wine and 85 ml of fortified wine.

Special Occasion Permit events.

Special Occasion Permits cover events such as private parties, weddings and public festivals held outside licensed premises.

The advertising rules depend on the type of event.

Worked example: rewriting a mobile bar's posts.

Marigold Mobile Bar, a fictional bar service in Oakville used here as an illustration, drafted six posts for its spring launch.

Here is how they were rewritten.

That is the lesson. The worksheet and the quiz are just below this video.

What you will be able to do

• Explain the AGCO's main rules on liquor advertising, pricing, happy hours, contests and Special Occasion Permit events
• Rewrite common food and drink promotions so that they comply with liquor standards and Canadian advertising law
• Apply a pre-publication checklist to every menu, post, ad and offer

Food and drink businesses are among the most regulated advertisers in the event industry. A caterer’s menu claims, a mobile bar’s Instagram post, a truck’s festival promotion and a venue’s happy hour sign all sit under rules from more than one authority. The good news is that the rules are clear, and most come down to a few habits: show prices honestly, never encourage heavy drinking, never tie free alcohol to a purchase, and make sure every claim is true.

Who sets the rules

The AGCO’s core rules on liquor advertising

Under Standard 2.1, no one may advertise or promote liquor or the availability of liquor except in line with the Registrar’s advertising guidelines. Those guidelines set the tone for every post, ad and menu that mentions alcohol.

• No excessive consumption. Advertising must not promote excessive consumption or depict excessive or prolonged consumption.
• No appeal to minors. It must not appeal to people under the legal drinking age or be placed in media aimed at them.
• No promise of success. It must not link drinking to social, professional or sexual success.
• No driving or risky activities. It must not associate liquor with driving or other activities that need care and skill.
• No purchase-linked gifts. Licensees may not offer a gift, or a chance at a gift, that requires buying liquor, and frequent-buyer or multiple-purchase offers are not permitted.

Prices, happy hours and free drinks

Licensees may advertise prices and promotions outside the premises and online, including time periods and brands, provided the advertising is responsible and does not promote immoderate consumption. Several limits apply.

• Minimum prices. Drinks must be priced at or above the minimum, including taxes: $2.00 per standard drink, with a different minimum for spirits over 14.8 percent alcohol. Standard servings are 341 ml of beer, cider or cooler, 29 ml of spirits, 142 ml of wine and 85 ml of fortified wine.
• Happy hours. Prices may vary for a specified time if they stay at or above the minimum and the change is posted or given to patrons.
• Same price for everyone. Promotions aimed at groups, such as students or women, are not permitted.
• No two-for-one. Two-for-one drinks and similar purchase-linked offers are prohibited under all circumstances.
• No advertising free liquor. Under Standard 5.4, licensees shall not advertise the availability of complimentary liquor, except in limited customer-relations situations. Under Standard 5.6, there may be no contests involving buying or drinking liquor and no free liquor as a prize, with limited regulatory exceptions.

Worked example: checking a happy hour price. A bar wants to advertise a $3.25 pint from 4 to 6 p.m. A 568 ml pint is 568 divided by 341, or about 1.67 standard drinks. At $2.00 per standard drink, the minimum price for the pint, including taxes, is about $3.33. The $3.25 pint is below the minimum. The bar sets the happy hour price at $3.50 including taxes, posts the hours, and offers it to every patron.

Special Occasion Permit events

Special Occasion Permits cover events such as private parties, weddings and public festivals held outside licensed premises. The advertising rules depend on the type of event.

• Private, invitation-only events may not be publicly advertised, including on social media, and there can be no intent to profit from liquor sales. A private event permit holder may not advertise liquor or its availability at all.
• Public events can be advertised, but only in line with the Registrar’s standards.
• At sale permit events, drink prices must stay the same during all hours of the event, so there are no happy hours.

For a caterer or mobile bar, the practical point is this: do not post an open invitation to a client’s private event that mentions the bar, and do not run a time-limited price promotion at a permit event. Under Standard 2.3, a licensee using a caterer’s endorsement may not promote, or invite people to, an event where it sells liquor under that endorsement.

Worked example: rewriting a mobile bar’s posts

Marigold Mobile Bar, a fictional bar service in Oakville used here as an illustration, drafted six posts for its spring launch. Here is how they were rewritten.

Food claims and promotions

The same honesty applies to food. Claims such as local, organic, house-made, gluten-free or nut-free must be true every time and provable. A regular price claim, such as was $45, now $35 per guest, needs a real history at the higher price. Influencers who receive a free meal or tasting have a material connection and must disclose it. Reviews must come from genuine customers, never staff or family without disclosure.

A checklist before anything goes live

1. Does the price include every mandatory fee, with only HST added?
2. If alcohol appears, could the words or image suggest heavy drinking, appeal to minors or link drinking to success or driving?
3. Is any alcohol free, discounted for a group, tied to a purchase or offered as a prize?
4. Is any drink price below the minimum, including taxes?
5. Is the event a private permit event that should not be advertised?
6. Can you prove every food claim and any regular price claim?
7. Is every endorsement, gift or partnership disclosed clearly?

In Canada and the GTA

Where to read the rules. The AGCO’s standards are updated regularly; Standard 2.1 was amended in July 2026. Read the current liquor advertising guidelines and the pricing and promotion guidelines at least once a year, and again before any major campaign. They apply to licensees and to all permit holders, so a couple holding a Special Occasion Permit for their wedding and the bar company serving at it both need to understand them.

Special Occasion Permit hours. SOP events generally run between 9:00 a.m. and 2:00 a.m., with New Year’s Eve allowed to run to 3:00 a.m. If you advertise a public event under a permit, keep your advertised hours within the permit’s hours.

The Competition Act and its penalties. Since June 23, 2022, drip pricing has been an explicit false or misleading representation under the Competition Act; only charges imposed by law, such as HST, may be added to an advertised price. Regular price claims must meet the Competition Bureau’s tests: generally, more than half of sales at that price or higher within a reasonable period, usually within a year, or the price offered in good faith for a substantial period. The civil penalties are significant. For corporations, the maximum administrative monetary penalty is the greater of $10,000,000, or $15,000,000 for a subsequent order, or three times the value of the benefit derived. For individuals, it is the greater of $750,000, or $1,000,000 for a subsequent order, or three times the benefit. See the Bureau’s guidance on drip pricing.

Reviews and influencers. The Competition Bureau has warned that anyone who writes or permits reviews that give a false or misleading impression could be liable, and that employees must disclose their connection when reviewing their employer. Ad Standards’ influencer guidelines treat free products, discounts, gifts and invitations as material connections. A food writer or creator invited to a free tasting should disclose it at the start of the caption with a label such as #ad, #Gifted or #InvitedGuest, and in the video itself within the first 30 seconds. A brand tag or thank you alone is not enough. Brands share responsibility, so ask creators to disclose and check that they do.

Ontario consumer protection. Under the Consumer Protection Act, 2002, which applies until the 2023 Act is proclaimed, it is an unfair practice to make a false, misleading or deceptive representation to a consumer. A consumer may have up to one year to withdraw from an agreement because of an unfair practice. This sits alongside the federal rules and applies to wedding and private-event contracts.

GTA practice. Most GTA venues hold their own liquor sales licence and will tell vendors what they may and may not promote about the bar. Unlicensed spaces, such as galleries, lofts, parks and private estates, rely on Special Occasion Permits or a licensed caterer, and the rules for advertising differ. Festival organizers usually manage liquor advertising for the whole site; follow their rules and ask before posting drink prices. Many GTA communities hold alcohol-free celebrations, so a strong non-alcoholic drinks menu is both good business and easy to advertise freely.

Contests and giveaways. Even a contest with no alcohol involved can raise legal questions beyond the liquor standards, from how winners are chosen to what the rules must disclose, and each platform has its own promotion policies. Have the rules reviewed before launch, keep the prize unrelated to liquor, and never require entrants to buy a drink. Keep a copy of every promotion you run, with its dates and prices, so you can answer questions later.

This is general information, not legal advice. Check the official source or a lawyer for your own situation.

Worksheet

Download the worksheet and complete it for your own business, using Lantern & Lane as the model where it helps. Keep it with your marketing plan. It takes about 10 minutes.

Download the worksheet (PDF)