The sale and distribution of beverage alcohol in Alberta had been conducted privately, under
licence until 1916 when, during the height of
Canada's Prohibition during the First World War, the
Liberal government called a
referendum in which Albertans voted in favour of the
Liquor Act, which closed private liquor stores and the sale of alcohol beverage other than weak beer in privately owned bars. (Alcohol was still available from willing pharmacists.) Prohibition achieved the result that family savings doubled within a short time, and the use of mental asylums and prisons dropped. The policy of prohibition was affirmed in a 1920 referendum. Meanwhile, the
Royal North-West Mounted Police (RNWMP) passed over enforcement to the newly created
Alberta Provincial Police (APP). However, there grew a hard-core of bootleggers who used guns against police enforcing the lawresulting in the death of two policemen, George Osgoode and Stephen O. Lawson, in Alberta. The
United Farmers government that replaced the Liberals in 1921 called a referendum to allow voters to show their determination to continue with prohibition, bring back the pre-war wild times or establish government-owned stores and allow increased sales through tightly regulated taverns. The referendum was conducted in November 1923 and Albertans chose a government-controlled system. Responsibility for domestic beer warehousing was transferred to the
Alberta Brewers' Agents Limited in 1973. The 1980s saw restrictions relaxed further, with the first
wine stores licensed in 1985 The report was publicly released in March 2007.
Today Although Alberta has deregulated its retail liquor industry to a greater extent compared to any other province, its Connect Logistics–administered monopoly on the wholesaling of wine and distilled spirits is comparable to the systems which in the U.S. would be considered an
alcoholic beverage control state. This means that by U.S. standards, Alberta would be defined as a "control" jurisdiction. When the U.S. abolished prohibition in 1933 the bordering
U.S. state of
Montana modelled its own liquor control board on the one in place in Alberta. Montana has made similar changes to Alberta over the years and its present liquor distribution system is still very similar to the present Albertan system. It is considered to be one of the 18 "control" states in the U.S. In 2007–2008
disorderly conduct at and near licensed establishments was identified as a growing problem, particularly in the major cities. The province's
economic boom and the resulting affluence of its youth were identified as the root cause of the increase in
binge drinking. Some blamed inadequate restrictions on alcohol sales in establishments (compared to other provinces) as contributing to the problem. In July 2008, the Alberta government responded to complaints by police and other groups by introducing new regulations to restrict the sale of alcohol in restaurants and bars. Among other things, as of August 1, 2008: •
Happy hours are still allowed, but they can no longer run past 8 p.m. Proserve covers symptoms of intoxication, liquor law, identifying minors, dealing with intoxicated people, and other issues that a licensed establishment may face. As of January 1, 2010, all people selling and serving liquor must be certified. On November 26, 2010, AGLC temporarily halted registration of beers with an alcohol content higher than 11.9% (while allowing current retail stocks to still be sold). The restriction was lifted three weeks later on December 16, once a new policy had been developed to deal with a potential influx of ultra-high alcohol beers. The new policy equalized markup rates so that high-alcohol beers were treated the same as other liquor products with similar alcohol levels. On February 6, 2018, Premier
Rachel Notley ordered AGLC to cease importing wine from British Columbia, as an
economic sanction against the province's decision to perform further environmental reviews over a proposed expansion of the
Trans Mountain Pipeline. ==Organization and mandate==