Over the past year, I have spent a lot of time talking about Canadian wine, international trade and the barriers that continue to make it unnecessarily difficult for Canadian wineries to do business within our own country. With the United States now moving from tariffs to an outright ban on Canadian wine imports, that conversation has taken on a new urgency.
For Painted Rock, the immediate financial impact of losing the U.S. market is relatively small. The United States represents only a small percentage of our total sales. But reducing its importance to the number of cases we sell there misses the point. We have invested years in building relationships in the United States because it is an important and influential wine market. Those relationships give Canadian wineries access to sommeliers, critics, competitions, media and consumers, all of which help build the international reputation of our wines and our regions.
I believe Canadian wine belongs on the international stage, and I want to see our industry continue to pursue those markets. But the events of the past year have also reinforced something I have believed for a long time: Canadian wineries need to be able to build strong Canadian businesses here at home.
It should not be easier for me to sell a bottle of Painted Rock in London than it is to sell that same bottle to a restaurant or consumer in another Canadian province. Yet our system still places significant barriers between Canadian producers and Canadian customers.
Canadian consumers have been extraordinary throughout this trade dispute. The renewed interest in buying Canadian has introduced people to wines and wineries they may not otherwise have discovered. More importantly, we are seeing consumers return to those wines because they genuinely enjoy them. I have complete confidence in the ability of Canadian wine to compete on quality.
But consumers can only do so much. Wine operates in a particularly unusual environment because provincial governments are not simply our regulators. In many cases, they are also our wholesalers, distributors and largest retailers. That makes government policy enormously influential in determining which products reach consumers, how they are priced and how effectively Canadian wineries can compete.
In British Columbia, I believe that should begin with the mandate of the BC Liquor Distribution Branch. Profitability is obviously important, but it cannot be the only measure of success for a government-owned liquor business. When an international supplier heavily discounts wine in an effort to gain market share, that product can look very attractive when considered purely through the lens of margin. What that calculation fails to recognize is the much broader economic impact of selling a Canadian bottle of wine.
Canadian wine creates value throughout the economy. It begins with agriculture, but extends into employment, hospitality, tourism, transportation, warehousing, logistics and countless other businesses. The economic value of a Canadian bottle does not end at the cash register. I would like to see the BCLDB formally measure the broader economic contribution of Canadian products as part of its mandate and its KPIs.
We also need to finish the work of removing interprovincial trade barriers. Canadian wineries should be able to sell Canadian wine directly to Canadian consumers across the country. We need more that patchwork direct-to-consumer frameworks that change province-to-province and bury small businesses under paperwork and fees. We need restaurants and private retailers to also be able to purchase Canadian wine across provincial borders without unnecessary layers of liquor-board taxation and markup.
This does not mean eliminating the role of agents or local distributors. Quite the opposite. They are invaluable partners for wineries attempting to sell across a country as large as Canada. They know their markets and maintain the relationships that make national distribution possible. Removing unnecessary government barriers would allow those businesses to do more, while creating further opportunities for Canadian companies in logistics, warehousing and transportation. The objective should be simple: make it easier for Canadian businesses to do business with one another.
At the federal level, the Wine Sector Support Program should be renewed, although I would very much like to see it renamed. The word “support” suggests an industry being propped up by government. That is not an accurate description of either the Canadian wine industry or the reason the program exists.
Canadian wine was historically exempt from federal excise duty. When that exemption was removed, the program was introduced in response to the resulting cost imposed on Canadian producers. I see it as an economic competitiveness program. Major wine-producing countries around the world have policies that incentivize their domestic industries and help their producers compete against imports in their home markets. Canada should be equally intentional about creating an environment in which Canadian wineries can invest, grow and compete.
Finally, I believe we need to become much more national in the way we think about Canadian wine. We are understandably proud of our individual wine regions, whether British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec or Nova Scotia, but we are also part of a Canadian industry. Provincial VQA programs currently incentivize qualifying sales within their home provinces. I believe that recognition should follow a Canadian wine when it is sold anywhere in the country. A bottle of BC VQA wine sold in Ontario is still supporting Canadian agriculture, Canadian employment and a Canadian business.
None of these ideas requires keeping American wine off Canadian shelves indefinitely. At the end of the day, I support what is best for Canada as a nation. If resolving the broader trade relationship means American wine eventually returns to our shelves, so be it. I have always assumed that would happen at some point.
What I do not want to see is a return to the status quo.
When American wines return, their producers and distributors will understandably work aggressively to regain the market share they have lost. I don’t fault them for that. It is business. Our responsibility is to make sure Canadian businesses are competing in a market that recognizes their economic value and does not place unnecessary obstacles in their way.
The events of the past year have given Canadian wine an extraordinary moment of visibility. Consumers have discovered what is being grown and produced in their own country, and governments have been forced to confront the very real consequences of our dependence on international trade while barriers continue to exist within Canada itself.
We should use this moment to make lasting changes.
Canadian wine does not need to be sheltered from competition. It needs the opportunity to compete.
Cheers,
Lauren Skinner Buksevics
For media inquiries, contact me at laurenskinner@paintedrock.ca
In the Media
U.S. executive order severs relationship-building with B.C. wine
Vancouver Sun | Derrick Penner | September 10, 2026
https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/us-executive-order-severs-relationship-building-with-bc-wine
Okanagan wine producers brace for U.S. ban on Canadian alcohol imports
Global News | Victoria Femia | September 9, 2026
https://globalnews.ca/news/12053349/okanagan-wine-producers-brace-us-ban-canadian-alcohol-imports/
B.C. winemaker expresses ‘frustration’ over trade barriers within Canada amid tariff war
CBC News Network | Asha Tomlinson | August 25, 2026
Watch the interview
A ‘Buy Canadian’ consumer’s guide to fighting Trump’s 50% tariffs
Financial Post | August 25, 2026
https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/buy-canadian-consumers-guide-fighting-143848161.html
Vancouver Sun coverage of new U.S. tariffs on Canadian wine
Vancouver Sun |Oksana Shtohryn | July 22, 2026
https://vancouversun.com/news/wine-notebooks-bc-businesses-tally-cost-50-per-cent-us-tariff
CBC interview on U.S. tariffs and Canadian wine
CBC News Network |Natasha Fatah | July 25, 2026
Watch the interview
Mark Carney vowed free trade within Canada by this month. It’s still not happening
Financial Post | July 3, 2026
https://financialpost.com/news/economy/mark-carney-free-trade-canada-still-not-happening