The federal Canadian law that restricts the interprovincial shipment of alcohol has been further amended, effective last Thursday. The Importation of Intoxicating Liquors Act (the \”IILA\”) previously contained an absolute prohibition on the interprovincial direct to consumer shipment of all alcohol products. The IILA was amended in 2012 by Bill C-311 which created an exemption for the shipment of wine between provinces for personal use, subject to provincial laws. The IILA has now been amended again so as to extend the exemption for wine to also include beer and spirits. The new amendment was contained in the omnibus federal budget Bill which received royal assent on June 19th. The provisions related to IILA can be viewed here: IILA Amendment. Of course, it remains to be seen how effective these changes will be as the provinces have, for the most part, created numerous restrictions to try to prevent Canadians from ordering alcohol from other provinces: see Shipping Law Update here.
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