Canadian Alcohol Policy Evaluation

Wednesday, November 30, 2022

The basics of alcohol pricing and taxation mechanisms: minimum unit pricing, excise tax, sales tax, and markups

Raising prices on alcohol through taxes and pricing policies remains one of the most cost-effective interventions to reduce alcohol related harm. It can also be challenging to understand! Join us for this webinar to learn about the fundamentals of alcohol pricing and taxation policies: what they are and why they are important. We will look at key concepts and terminology including minimum unit pricing, excise tax, sales tax and markups.  

Presenters: Ashley Wettlaufer, Research Methods Specialist, Institute for Mental Health Policy Research (IMHPR), Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. Tim Stockwell, Scientist, Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research. Adam Sherk, Scientist, Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research. 

Simultaneous French interpretation will be available for this event.
This is a members-only event. Not yet a member? Join the CAPE CoP  Inscrivez-vous à la CdP de l’ÉPCA

Last updated November 2022

Alcohol labelling
There has been growing interest in alcohol labelling initiatives in Canada and elsewhere. In Canada, much of this interest has stemmed from the recently updated Low Risk Drinking Guidelines, which recommend mandated labels on alcohol products. Some CAPE CoP members have engaged in writing letters in support of these initiatives (see below). These letters represent the views of the individuals who have sent them.

Terms of Reference | Acte de Mission

Alcohol policy article links circulated to CoP (English only) 

Listserv Guidelines | Lignes directrices de liste de diffusion

CoP Midpoint Evaluation | Évaluation de mi-parcours de la CdP

Frequently Asked Questions | Foire Aux Questions

Infographics 

• Infographic -Strategies to Reduce Alcohol-Related Harms and Costs in Canada:A Review of Provincial, Territorial, and Federal Policies

Presentations

• Presentation - Strategies to Reduce Alcohol-Related Harms and Costs in Canada: A Review of Provincial, Territorial, and Federal Policies (Feb 2019) | Presentation - Stratégies pour réduire les méfaits et les coûts liés à l’alcool au Canada : Une revue des politiques fédérales, provinciales et territoriales (Fev 2019)

Federal 

• Full report | Rapport complet
• Alcohol Policy Scoring Rubric 

Provincial/Territorial 

• Executive summary | Sommaire
• Full report | Rapport complet
• Policy Recommendations and Best Practice Leaders
• Alcohol Policy Scoring Rubric
• Alcohol Policy Framework | Cadre stratégique sur l’alcool

By province/territory

• Alberta
• British Columbia
• Manitoba
• New Brunswick | Nouveau-Brunswick
• Newfoundland and Labrador
• Northwest Territories
• Nova Scotia
• Nunavut
• Ontario
• Prince Edward Island
• Quebec | Québec
• Saskatchewan
• Yukon

• Executive Summary | Sommaire
• Full Report | Rapport complet

• Alberta
• British Columbia
• Manitoba
• New Brunswick
• Newfoundland and Labrador
• Nova Scotia
• Ontario
• Prince Edward Island
• Quebec | Québec
• Saskatchewan

The aim of CAPE is to encourage greater uptake of evidence-based alcohol policies and practices and thereby reduce the considerable alcohol-related health and social harms in Canada.

The CAPE project began in 2013 (CAPE 1.0) with an initial systematic and comparative review of evidence-based alcohol policies and programs across all Canadian provinces (territories were not included).

The CAPE study design was based on a similar model conceived and implemented by MADD Canada that assessed the progress of policy measures to reduce impaired driving (see 2015 Provincial Impaired Driving Report).

The second iteration of the project (CAPE 2.0) conducted in 2019, performed a rigorous assessment of the extent to which evidence-based alcohol policies were implemented in all 13 Canadian provinces and territories as well as at the Federal level. The alcohol policies assessed were grouped into domains and categorized as either:

Direct: those with evidence of direct effectiveness as a means of reducing population level consumption of alcohol and/or related harms (e.g. pricing and taxation; physical availability of alcohol; impaired driving countermeasures; marketing and advertising controls; minimum legal drinking age laws; screening, brief intervention and referral programs; liquor law enforcement); or

Indirect: those that more indirectly facilitate implementation of the direct policies (e.g. control systems for the distribution and sale of alcohol; provincial, territorial and national alcohol strategies; monitoring and reporting of alcohol related harms; health and safety messaging)

The third iteration (CAPE 3.0) being conducted in 2022, once again performs a rigorous assessment of the extent to which evidence-based alcohol policies have been implemented in all 13 Canadian provinces and territories as well as at the Federal level.

CAPE 3.0 is currently underway with project results to be released in early 2023.

• Health Canada, Substance Use and Addictions Program (CAPE 3.0 & 2.0)
• Public Health Agency of Canada (CAPE 3.0 & 2.0)
• Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Connection Grant (CAPE CoP)
• Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CAPE 1.0)

• Evidenced-based Recommendations for Labelling of Alcohol Products in Canada CAPE team, 2022
• Alcohol, Health Warnings in Yukon and Canadian Law, Presentation given by Professor Robert Solomon, 2019
• Yukon/Northern Territories Alcohol Labels Study, Project Page
• Enhanced Alcohol Container Labels: A Systematic Review, Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction, 2022
• Influencing and implementing mandatory alcohol pregnancy warning labels in Australia and New Zealand, (Heenan et al., 2022 Health Promot Intl)
• Big Alcohol v Pregnant Mums, (Australian Democracy Network, 2021)
• Communicating risks to drinkers: testing alcohol labels with a cancer warning and national drinking guidelines in Canada, (Hobin et al., 2020)
• Cancer Warning Labels on Alcohol Containers: A Consumer’s Right to Know, a Government’s Responsibility to Inform, and an Industry’s Power to Thwart (Stockwell et al., 2020, Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs)
• The arrogance of power: Alcohol industry interference with warning label research, (Babor, 2020, JSAD)
• Examining the impact of alcohol labels on awareness and knowledge of national drinking guidelines: A real-world study in Yukon, Canada, (Hobin et al., 2020, JSAD)
• Testing alcohol labels as a tool to communicate cancer risk to drinkers: a real-world quasi-experimental study (2020) (Hobin et al., 2020, JSAD)
• Effects of strengthening alcohol labels on attention, message processing, and perceived effectiveness: A quasi-experimental study in Yukon, Canada (2020), (Hobin et al., 2020, Intl J Drug Policy)
• Use as directed: do standard drink labels on alcohol containers help consumers drink (ir)responsibly? Real-world evidence from a quasi-experimental study in Yukon, Canada, (Schoueri-Mychasiw et al., 2020, DAR)
• Baseline assessment of alcohol-related knowledge of and support for alcohol warning labels among alcohol consumers in northern Canada and associations with key sociodemographic characteristics (2020) (Vallance et al., 2020, JSAD)
• News media and the influence of the alcohol industry: An analysis of media coverage of alcohol warning labels with a cancer message in Canada and Ireland, (Vallance et al., 2020, JSAD)
• Testing the Effectiveness of Enhanced Alcohol Warning Labels and Modifications Resulting From Alcohol Industry Interference in Yukon, Canada: Protocol for a Quasi-Experimental Study (Vallance et al., 2020, JSAD)
• Improving Knowledge That Alcohol Can Cause Cancer Is Associated with Consumer Support for Alcohol Policies: Findings from a Real-World Alcohol Labelling Study, (Weerasinghe et al., 2020, Env Res and Public Health)
• The effects of alcohol warning labels on population alcohol consumption: An interrupted time series analysis of alcohol sales in Yukon, Canada, (Zhao et al., 2020, JSAD)
• Mandated alcohol warning labels in Australia and New Zealand, Food Standards ANZ, 2020
• At-a-glance – The alcohol deficit: Canadian government revenue and societal costs from alcohol (Sherk, A., 2020, Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention in Canada)
• The Efficacy of Warning Labels on Alcohol Containers for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Prevention (Morrison et al., 2019, CanFASD)
• Testing the Efficacy of Alcohol Labels with Standard Drink Information and National Drinking Guidelines on Consumers’ Ability to Estimate Alcohol Consumption, (Hobin et al., 2017, Alcohol and Alcoholism)
• “We Have a Right to Know”: Exploring Consumer Opinions on Content, Design and Acceptability of Enhanced Alcohol Labels, (Vallance et al., 2017, Alcohol and Alcoholism)

• Association Between Changes in Alcohol Consumption and Cancer Risk (Yoo et al., 2022, JAMA Network Open)
• Alcohol policies and Cancer, Canadian Partnership Against Cancer
• International Agency for Research on Cancer, World Health Organization
• Raising awareness of the link between alcohol and cancer, World Health Organization
• Alcohol can cause cancer, so why don’t most Canadians know that?, CBC The National
• American Cancer Society guideline for diet and physical activity for cancer prevention (Rock et al., 2020, CA)
• Alcohol and Cancer: A Statement of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (LoConte et al., 2017, Journal of Clinical Oncology)
• Alcohol-Attributable Cancer Deaths and Years of Potential Life Lost in the United States (Nelson et al., 2013, Am J Public Health)
• Causes of cancer in the world: comparative risk assessment of nine behavioural and environmental risk factors (Danaei et al., 2005, Lancet)

• Light and heavy drinking in jurisdictions with different alcohol policy environments (Foster et al., 2019, International Journal of Drug Policy)
• Rapid evidence review of the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of alcohol control policies: an English perspective. Burton, R. et al. (2017)
• A Comparison of Measures and Policies to Prevent Alcohol Problems among Youth across Canadian Provinces (Simpson et al., 2014, Canadian Public Policy)
• Efficacy and the Strength of Evidence of U.S. Alcohol Control Policies. Nelson, T. et al. (2013)
• Alcohol: No ordinary commodity – research and public policy – Revised edition. Babor, T. et al. (2010)

• The Impact of Alcohol Consumption on Cardiovascular Health: Myths and Measures, World Heart Federation (2022)
• Alcohol, Health and Well Being YouTube video, World Health Organization (2020)
• Harm to others from drinking: Patterns in Nine Societies, World Health Organization (2019)
• Status report on alcohol consumption, harm and policy responses in 30 European countries, World Health Organization (2019)
• Global Status Report on Alcohol and health, World Health Organization (2018)
• Alcohol Harm in Canada: Examining Hospitalizations Entirely Caused by Alcohol and Strategies to Reduce Harm, Canadian Institute for Health Information (2017)
• Alcohol and inequities: Guidance for addressing inequities in alcohol-related harm, World Health Organization (2014)
• Health Impact Assessment, World Health Organization

• The International Model of Alcohol Harms and Policies (InterMAHP)
• Canadian Substance Use Costs and Harms (CSUCH)
• Alcohol consumption interactive data visualization tool (CISUR) BC only
• Alcohol and other drug interactive data visualization tool (CISUR) BC only
• Global Information System on Alcohol and Health (WHO)

• COVID-19 alcohol and cannabis retail regulation, Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA)

• Distilling the curriculum: An analysis of alcohol industry-funded school-based youth education programmes, (van Schalkwyk et al., 2022, PLOS ONE)
• Manufacturing doubt: Assessing the effects of independent vs industry-sponsored messaging about the harms of fossil fuels, smoking, alcohol, and sugar sweetened beverages, (Maani et al., 2022, SSM – Pop Health)
• The Origins and Purposes of Alcohol Industry Social Aspects Organizations: Insights From the Tobacco Industry Documents (McCambridge et al., 2021, JSAD)
• Corporate ventriloquism undermines action on alcohol harms, (van Schalkwyk et al., 2021, BMJ)
• Dark Nudges and Sludge in Big Alcohol: Behavioral Economics, Cognitive Biases, and Alcohol Industry Corporate Social Responsibility, (Petticrew et al., 2020, Milbank Q)
• Pregnancy, Fertility, Breastfeeding, and Alcohol Consumption: An Analysis of Framing and Completeness of Information Disseminated by Alcohol Industry–Funded Organizations, (van Schalkwyk et al., 2019, JSAD)
• How alcohol industry organisations mislead the public about alcohol and cancer, (Petticrew et al., 2017, Drug Alc Rev.)
• Digital alcohol marketing, (Nicholas Cara, GAPC 2020)
• Big Alcohol v Pregnant Mums, (Australian Democracy Network, 2021)

• At a glance: the eight steps to developing a healthy public policy, Public Health Ontario (2013)
• Building Municipal Alcohol Policy, Alberta Health Services

• Not Just a Walk in the Park: Unsupervised Alcohol Consumption on Municipal Properties in BC [Policy brief], Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research (2021)
• Not Just a Walk in the Park: Unsupervised Alcohol Consumption on Municipal Properties in BC [Full report], Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research (2021)

• Un prix minimum par verre d’alcool standard pour le Québec : estimation de l’impact sur les décès et les hospitalisations, Institut national de santé publique du Québec
• La consommation d’alcool : qu’en pense la population du Québec?, Institut national de santé publique du Québec
• L'efficacité des mises en garde sur les contenants de boissons sucrées en promotion de la saine alimentation, Institut national de santé publique du Québec
• Plan d’Action Interministériel en Dependence 2018-2028 Prevenar, Require et Traitor les consequences associates à la consummation de substances psychoactive, à la pratique des jeux de hazard et argent et à utilization internet (2018).
• Mise à jour de l’ÉPCA 3.0 et événement de lancement de la communauté de pratique, 19 Janvier 2022 (diapositives de presentation), Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research