Environmental activists say a recent agreement between the Beer Store and grocers puts the future of Ontario’s successful deposit return program at risk.
Once ubiquitous, Beer Stores have been disappearing from communities across the province. That doesn’t just affect the purchase of alcohol, it also means fewer locations for consumers to drop off empties and get back the deposit paid on alcohol containers.
Grocers with alcohol licences were expected to start accepting empties in the new year, but a new agreement means they won’t have to after all. The changing landscape has left some neighbourhoods and regions essentially Beer Store deserts, and could mean less participation in the recycling program.
“That’s a big problem,” said Karen Wirsig, a senior program manager with advocacy group Environmental Defence.
“The Beer Store program has been essential for 100 years in getting containers back that can actually be washed out and refilled.”
In an emailed statement to CBC Toronto, Ministry of Finance spokesperson Scott Blodgett called the agreement “a win for businesses and consumers.” The ministry did not answer questions about reduced access to return points and the potential for lower participation.
The Beer Store would not comment on whether it intends to close more stores in 2026.
The Beer Store has operated a deposit return program for its own products since 1927, and for all packaged alcohol since 2007. A deposit ($0.10 to $0.20 for most containers) is built into the price of alcohol. Consumers can return their cans and bottles and receive a refund, with the containers either refilled or recycled.
According to the Beer Store’s website, eight out of 10 beer containers sold in Ontario are returned for a deposit refund. In 2024, the company says it collected 1.6 billion alcohol containers.
But the alcohol market in Ontario has changed.
The Ford government’s expansion of alcohol sales to grocery and convenience stores ended the Beer Store monopoly. Since 2024, the Beer Store has closed 119 stores across Ontario. The company has also announced four more stores that will close in the new year: in Haliburton, Schomberg, Whitby and Oshawa.
Grocery stores with alcohol licences located more than five kilometres from a Beer Store were already supposed to be accepting empty returns, though in reality few are. The rest, meanwhile, were supposed to start accepting them in January.
Many grocers had been lobbying against that requirement, and a new agreement announced last month means they won’t have to. The agreement-in-principle between grocers and the Beer Store will give grocery stores the option of paying the Beer Store to administer the deposit return program instead.
The president of the union representing Beer Store employees says the agreement is good news, as it will mean continued demand for Beer Stores for returning empties.
“I’m pleasantly surprised. You know, without that, I think we’d be in danger of a lot more Beer Stores closing,” said John Nock.
But Nock acknowledges the changing retail landscape will likely result in fewer bottles and cans being returned.
The Beer Store is tight-lipped on the details of the agreement-in-principle.
Reporting by the Canadian Press, and a statement from a Progressive Conservative MPP both confirm the agreement includes a commitment from the Beer Store to ensure a deposit return point within 10 kilometres of the “vast majority” of Ontarians.
That’s twice the distance the province appeared to be aiming for previously, and, as the union president notes: “the keyword is majority.”
“That’s, you know, probably excluding the north, unfortunately,” said Nock.
Indeed, many northern Ontarians already have to travel well over 10 kilometres to return their empties. The closure of the Beer Store in Chapleau, for example, means the nearest return location – according to the Beer Store’s directory – is now a general store in Foleyet, 99 kilometres away.
Wirsig, with Environmental Defence, says she’s concerned about access in urban centres, too.
“With traffic in Toronto, I mean, you’re not going to go out of your way to return empties,” Wirsig said.
About two dozen Beer Stores in Toronto have closed since 2024, and close to 50 across the GTA. A swath of Toronto, from midtown to North York is now devoid of return locations altogether. In Markham meanwhile, the closure of two Beer Stores has left the city of more than 300,000 people with only a single return location. From certain locations downtown, there are no places to return empties within a 10 kilometre radius.
“Definitely, we’ve been inconvenienced,” said Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti.
“It is much more challenging for people to participate in the program. There’s no doubt about it.”
Wirsig expects many people will simply put their bottles and cans in their blue bins, tossing away with them the deposits they paid.
“That money is going to be in the pockets of brewers and the LCBO,” she said. Wirsig argues unredeemed deposits should be used to expand deposit return infrastructure.
CBC Toronto asked the ministry of finance if it would consider that. Its response did not address that question.
Meanwhile more closures could be on the horizon.
The province’s 2024 agreement with the Beer Store required the company to keep at least 300 locations open until the end of 2025. As of 2026, the agreement states, the Beer Store can close as many locations as it chooses at “its sole and absolute discretion.”
The Beer Store wouldn’t say if the agreement with the grocers would change that.
“We do not speculate on future decisions, including any potential changes to our retail footprint,” wrote communications manager Bradley Hammond in an emailed statement.
