An Act to amend the Food and Drugs Act (warning label on alcoholic beverages)
Bill S-254 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 all alcoholic-beverage containers sold in Canada. 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 the World Health Organization 2018 recommendations and Ireland's 2026 mandatory-warning-label rollout. Did not pass third reading.
Status
Quick learn
Would require health warning labels on alcohol containers sold in Canada, after 2023 national guidance found any amount of drinking carries risk and that alcohol is linked to about 17,000 deaths a year. A Yukon pilot was shelved under industry pressure. A Senate bill; it did not pass third reading.
Issues this bill touches
- Healthcare
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
Official source
Read full text on Parliament of Canada