Legal Drinking Age in Canada by Province and Territory

Canada has no single national legal drinking age: the age is set province by province and territory by territory, and it is 18 in Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec while every other province and territory sets it at 19.

Information last verified on 2026-09-24. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

This article covers the minimum age to purchase, possess for personal consumption, and be served liquor under each Canadian province's and territory's own liquor control legislation. Liquor licensing is a matter of provincial and territorial jurisdiction, not federal law, so there is no Criminal Code age for drinking. This article does not cover the separate cannabis minimum age, which is set by a different set of statutes and is often a different number in the same province; see Cannabis Laws in Canada for that topic. It also does not cover public drinking, open container rules, or municipal park bylaws, which vary too locally to summarize accurately here.

The 18 Versus 19 Split

Three provinces set their legal drinking age at 18: Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec. Every other province and territory, ten jurisdictions in total, sets it at 19. This split has been stable for decades and does not track population, region or any other obvious pattern; it is simply each province's and territory's own policy choice under its own liquor statute.

In Alberta, the Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Act defines an adult as a person 18 years of age or older and a minor as a person under the age of 18 years, so 18 is the operative threshold for buying, possessing and being served liquor.

In Quebec, the drinking age of 18 comes from the general age of majority. The Act respecting offences relating to alcoholic beverages uses the terms minor and full age without setting its own number, so it inherits the Civil Code of Quebec's definition directly:

« L'âge de la majorité est fixé à 18 ans. La personne, jusqu'alors mineure, devient capable d'exercer pleinement tous ses droits civils. » (Code civil du Québec, art. 153)

LegisQuébec's English version of the article reads: "Full age or the age of majority is 18 years. On attaining full age, a person ceases to be a minor and has the full exercise of all his civil rights." The French text is the original; the English is provided here as a translation for reference.

In Manitoba, The Liquor, Gaming and Cannabis Control Act does not set a separate liquor-specific age in its definitions section, so the liquor age also tracks the general age of majority of 18. Manitoba's Age of Majority Act, C.C.S.M. c. A7, s.1, states: "Every person attains the age of majority, and ceases to be a minor, on attaining the age of 18 years."

Every other jurisdiction sets its liquor age at 19 by its own statute, independent of that province's or territory's general age of majority (see the divergence discussed below).

Legal Drinking Age by Province and Territory

Each of the ten 19 jurisdictions defines the restriction in its own words. A representative sample, each quoted from that jurisdiction's own current statute:

"No liquor of any kind shall be bought by, sold to or given a person under the age of nineteen years or consumed by him while he is within licensed premises except as provided for in this Act." (New Brunswick, Liquor Control Act, RSNB 1973, c. L-10, s.126(4))

"minor" means an individual under 19 years of age. (Northwest Territories, Liquor Act, SNWT 2007, c.15, s.1)

"Except as provided under this section, no person under the age of 19 years shall consume, purchase, or attempt to purchase or otherwise obtain or be in possession of liquor." (Yukon, Liquor Act, RSY 2002, c.140, s.90(1))

The Drinking Age Is Not the Same as the Age of Majority

A common assumption is that a province's drinking age is simply its general age of majority. That is true in Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec, where the liquor statute either states 18 directly or borrows the province's general age of majority, but it is not true everywhere, and getting this wrong is an easy mistake to make when comparing provinces.

Ontario is the clearest example. The Age of Majority and Accountability Act sets Ontario's general age of majority at 18 (already covered in detail on Emancipation in Canada), but the Liquor Licence and Control Act, 2019 sets a separate, higher age of 19 specifically for buying and being served liquor. The two numbers answer different legal questions and simply do not match in Ontario.

British Columbia does not have this split. Its Liquor Control and Licensing Act defines a minor by reference to the Age of Majority Act, and that Act itself sets British Columbia's age of majority at 19, so the liquor age and the general age of majority happen to be the same number there.

Saskatchewan has the same kind of split as Ontario. The Government of Saskatchewan's own summary of The Age of Majority Act states: "In Saskatchewan the age of majority is 18." The same publication notes that "under The Alcohol and Gaming Regulation Act, 1997 an individual is considered a minor until they have reached the age of 19."

The practical rule: never assume that knowing a province's age of majority tells you its drinking age, or its cannabis age. Each is set by its own statute and has to be checked on its own terms.

What "Minor" Means Under These Statutes

Most of these liquor statutes use the word minor rather than stating a bare number in every section, then define minor once in an interpretation section. The Northwest Territories' Liquor Act is typical: it defines minor as an individual under 19 years of age, and every operative section (sale, service, entry to licensed premises, possession) is written in terms of that defined term. Newfoundland and Labrador's Liquor Control Act takes a different drafting approach: it does not carry a standalone minor definition in its own interpretation section, but reaches the same 19 year threshold operationally through provisions like the prohibition on a licensee allowing a person who has not reached the age of 19 years to enter or work in a licensed premises.

Being a minor for liquor law purposes in a 19 year jurisdiction is a separate legal status from being a minor for general purposes in a province where the general age of majority is 18, such as Ontario or Saskatchewan. An 18 year old in Ontario is legally an adult for most civil purposes but is still legally a minor for liquor purposes specifically, until turning 19.

Related Topics Not Covered Here

This article does not cover cannabis, which has its own, separate minimum age that is sometimes different from the liquor age in the same province; see Cannabis Laws in Canada. It also does not cover the age of majority generally, which governs contracts, voting age eligibility for some purposes and other civil rights separately from liquor; see Emancipation in Canada for how the age of majority itself is set in Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec. For the age at which a person can be held criminally responsible as a young person, see The Youth Criminal Justice Act in Canada. Public drinking, open container rules on roads and in vehicles, and municipal park liquor bylaws are set at a more local level than a single province wide answer can responsibly summarize and are not addressed in this article.

Disclaimer: This article provides general information about the legal drinking age under each Canadian province's and territory's own liquor control legislation, current as of September 2026. It is not legal advice. It does not cover cannabis minimum ages, the general age of majority, public drinking or open container rules, or municipal liquor bylaws. Consult the relevant provincial or territorial liquor authority, or a lawyer licensed in your province or territory, for advice on your specific situation.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the legal drinking age in Canada?

There is no single national drinking age. Each province and territory sets its own liquor age under its own statute: 18 in Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec, and 19 in British Columbia, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

Is the drinking age the same as the age of majority?

Not always. In Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec the liquor age matches the general age of majority. In Ontario, the age of majority is 18 but the liquor age is 19, since the Liquor Licence and Control Act, 2019 sets its own higher threshold. British Columbia's age of majority and liquor age are both 19.

Is the drinking age the same as the cannabis age in the same province?

No, and the two ages can differ in either direction. Manitoba's liquor age is 18 while its cannabis age is 19. Quebec's liquor age is 18 while its cannabis age is 21, the highest of the five provinces covered on the cannabis laws page. See the cannabis laws page for the full provincial cannabis table.

Are there any exceptions for someone below the drinking age to consume liquor?

Some provinces and territories recognize narrow exceptions in their own liquor statute, such as consumption supplied by a parent or guardian in a private residence. This article does not attempt to summarize every provincial exception; check the relevant province's or territory's own liquor statute for the exact conditions.

Does turning 18 make someone old enough to drink everywhere in Canada?

No. Turning 18 only satisfies the liquor age in Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec. In the other ten provinces and territories the liquor age is 19, so someone who is a legal adult generally in a province with an 18 age of majority, such as Ontario, is still under that province's separate liquor age until turning 19.