An Act to amend the Food and Drugs Act (warning label on alcoholic beverages)
Bill S-202 in 45-1 was a Senate Private Member's Bill amending the Food and Drugs Act (R.S.C. 1985, c. F-27) to require health warning labels on alcoholic-beverage containers, the 45-1 reintroduction of 44-1 Bill S-254 + 44-1 Bill S-290. The Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction estimates approximately 17,000 alcohol-related deaths annually in Canada per their 2024 report. The 2023 CCSA Canadian Guidance on Alcohol and Health recommended that any alcohol use carries health risks (a shift from the 2011 low-risk drinking guidelines). Yukon piloted alcohol warning labels at the Whitehorse Liquor Store in 2017-2018 but the federal-government industry-pressure response shelved the pilot. The proposed federal labels would have followed Ireland's 2026 mandatory-warning-label rollout under EU Regulation 2024/1143.
Status
Quick learn
Adds a small health warning to alcohol containers sold in Canada, similar to the warnings on cigarette packs. Public-health groups support it; the alcohol industry has resisted previous versions of the same idea.
Issues this bill touches
- Healthcare
Requires federal health warning labels on alcoholic beverage containers, following the 2023 CCSA guidance update.
Legislative history
- First reading
First reading in the Senate.
View source - Second reading
Second reading in the Senate.
View source - Introduced
Tabled in the originating chamber by the sponsor.
View source - Third reading
Final debate and vote in the originating chamber.
View source
Official source
Read full text on Parliament of Canada