Canadian Alcohol Policy Evaluation

• Background: M-61 National Warning Label Strategy for Alcoholic Products (June 2022)
• Letter: Prince Albert & Area Community Alcohol Strategy Steering Committee (CASSC) Re: Support for ‘M-61 Warning Label Strategy for Alcoholic Products’ (September 2022)
• Letter: Support for M-61 Warning Label Strategy for Alcoholic Products from Durham Region (November 2022) 
• Letter: Support for M-61 Warning Label Strategy for Alcoholic Products from Canadian Cancer Society | Appui à la motion M-61, Stratégie nationale de mise en garde sur les étiquettes des produits alcoolisés (February 2023) 

• Background: S-254 An Act to amend the Food and Drugs Act (warning label on alcoholic beverages) (November 2022) 
• Letter: Support for cancer warning labels on alcoholic beverages (Bill S-254) from Radiation Oncologist (February 2023)  
• Letter: Support for Bill S-254 An Act to amend the Food and Drugs Act (warning label on alcoholic beverages) from Durham Region (December 2022) 
• Letter: Alcohol Health Warning Labels from Timiskaming Health Unit (January 2023) 
• Letter: Endorsement of Timiskaming Health Unit’s Motion (#6R-2023) calling on the Government of Canada to amend the Food and Drug Act to make mandatory that all alcohol beverage containers have enhanced alcohol labels affixed and supporting in principle, Bill S-254 and Motion 61. (May 2023) 
• Letter:Support for Bill S-254 An Act to amend the Food and Drugs Act (warning label on alcoholic beverages) from Canadian Cancer Society | Appui au projet de loi S-254, Loi modifiant la Loi sur les aliments et drogues (étiquette de mise en garde sur les boissons alcoolisées) (February 2023)
• Letter: Ontario Public Health Association: Support for S-254, An Act to amend the Food and Drugs Act (warning label on alcoholic beverages) (March 2023)   
• Letter: Support for Bill S-254 from Halton Regional Council (May 2023) 
• Letter: Support for Bill S-254, An Act to amend the Food and Drugs Act (warning label on alcoholic beverages) from KFL&A Board of Health (May 2023) 

• Background: Evidence-based Recommendations for Labelling of Alcohol Products in Canada (CAPE team, June 2022) 
• The potential of alcohol labelling to promote public health and safety in Canada: A Rapid Review (2019) 
• Letter: Ontario Public Health Association: Public interest in labels with health warning, guidelines on alcohol and health, number of standard drinks, and nutrition information being required on alcohol containers sold in Canada (September 2022) 
• Letter: New Brunswick CMOH Standard drink and health warning labels for alcohol containers sold in Canada | Nouveau-Brunswick Verre standard et étiquettes de mise en garde sur la santé pour les contenants d’alcool vendus au Canada (June 2023) 
• Letter: Canadian Cancer Society: Mandatory warning labels on alcohol containers sold in Canada | L’étiquetage obligatoire de mises en garde liées à la santé sur les contenants d’alcool vendus au Canada (February 2023)  
• Letter: Public Health Association of New Brunswick and PEI Re: Public interest in labels with health warning, guidelines on alcohol and health, number of standard drinks, and nutrition information being required on alcohol containers sold in Canada (October 2022)
• Letter: Nova Scotia Health Re: Public interest in labels with health warning, guidelines on alcohol and health, number of standard drinks, and nutrition information being required on alcohol containers sold in Canada (October 2022)
• Letter: Recovery On Campus (ROC) Alberta Re: Public interest in labels with health warning, guidelines on alcohol and health, number of standard drinks, and nutrition information being required on alcohol containers sold in Canada (September 2022)
• Letter: Addiction researcher, educator, and person in long-term recovery letter to government Re: Public interest in labels with health warning, guidelines on alcohol and health, number of standard drinks, and nutrition information being required on alcohol containers sold in Canada (September 2022)
• Letter: Pediatrics Chairs of Canada letter re: Public interest in labels with health warning, guidelines on alcohol and health, number of standard drinks, and nutrition information being required on alcohol containers sold in Canada (September 2022)
• Letter: Physician letter to Government of Canada Re: "specific, clear, graphic, product warning labels of the risks of alcohol consumption" (August 2022)
• Letter: Researcher letter to Government of Canada Re: Public interest in warning labels, calorie information, and number of standard drinks being required on alcohol containers sold in Canada (March 2022)
  • Letter: Health Canada response RE: Public interest in warning labels, calorie information, and number of standard drinks being required on alcohol containers sold in Canada (June 2022)

• Letter: CISUR and CAMH researchers re: Canadian position on Ireland’s Public Health (Alcohol) Act and related labelling regulations in World Trade Organization Technical Barriers to Trade Committee (July 2023) 
• Letter: Canadian Cancer Society: Canadian position on Ireland’s Public Health (Alcohol) Act and related labelling regulations in World Trade Organization Technical Barriers to Trade Committee (October 2023) 
• Update: Statement from Alcohol Action Ireland on Health Information Labelling of Alcohol Products (January 2023) 
• Letter: CISUR and CAMH researchers re: Notification of Draft Regulations Under Section 12 of the Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018 (September 2022)
• Letter: Digby and Area Community Health Board re: Notification of Draft Regulations Under Section 12 of the Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018 (September 2022)
• Letter: Yarmouth County Community Health Board re: Notification of Draft Regulations Under Section 12 of the Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018 (September 2022)
• Letter: Ontario Public Health Association’s position on Notification of Draft Regulations Under Section 12 of the Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018 TRIS NOTIFICATION 2022/441/IRL Ireland (September 2022)

January 19, 2022: This public launch event featured an overview of CAPE research, an update on alcohol policy changes in Canada, a look ahead at CAPE 3.0 and introduced the CAPE Community of Practice (CoP).

• Event recording
• Presentation slide deck | Diapositives de presentation
• Event Summary | Résumé de l’événement 

March 16, 2022: This webinar featured experts in Canada and beyond presenting current initiatives and lessons learned regarding implementing alcohol warning labels, legal considerations for Canadian jurisdictions, and discussion of potential next steps. 

• Event recording
• Presentation slide deck | Diapositives de presentation 
• Highlights and key takeaway questions | Résumé des faits saillants juridiques
• Event Summary | Résumé de l’événement 

Roundtables are not recorded. High level discussion summaries are available upon request from capecopcoord@uvic.ca

Les tables rondes ne sont pas enregistrées. Des sommaires de discussion de haut niveau sont accessibles sur demande à l'adresse suivante: capecopcoord@uvic.ca

March 30, 2022: AWLs Roundtable: Exploring the Legal Issues. 
An exploration of the legal issues and considerations around implementation of warning labels in Canadian jurisdictions.

April 13, 2022: AWLs Roundtable: Advocacy Approaches - Australian Perspective
Team members from the Foundation for Alcohol Research & Education (FARE) in Australia provided an overview of the process of developing pregnancy warning labels in Australia and the advocacy approaches used to support their implementation in 2020.

May 4, 2022: AWLs Roundtable: Advocacy Approaches - Canadian Perspective
An exploration of advocacy approaches to support the implementation of alcohol warning labels in Canada.

June 8, 2022: This webinar explored how health promotion intersects with private alcohol interests. Alcohol companies employ a range of strategies that contribute to the normalization of alcohol including actively promoting their product through marketing as well as undermining evidence-based alcohol health information through alcohol industry corporate social responsibility (CSR) bodies. Presenters from the UK and Canada provided an overview of how industry CSR bodies operate and highlighted some specific examples of alcohol marketing and CSR activities in the Canadian context.

• Event Summary | Résumé de l’événement

September 28, 2022: This webinar explored the process and progress of alcohol strategies and action plans in Canada. Several Canadian jurisdictions have strategies or action plans under development, active or on-the-shelf. Presenters and panelists discussed their experiences in relation to planning, development, implementation and review of strategies and actions plans, highlighting the challenges and opportunities at the regional, provincial/territorial, and federal levels.

• Event recording | Enregistrement de l’événement
• Presentation slide deck (French translation available upon request) 
• Event summary | Résumé de l’événement 

November 30, 2022: 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! This webinar explored the fundamentals of alcohol pricing and taxation policies: what they are and why they are important including key concepts and terminology such as minimum unit pricing, excise tax, sales tax and markups.  

• Event recording | Enregistrement de l’événement
• Presentation slide deck (French translation available upon request) 
• Key terms and references | Termes-clés et références

February 1, 2023: An overview of the newly released and updated alcohol drinking guidance (replacing Canada’s Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines). Presenters discussed the development of the new guidance, key messages, and next steps for raising awareness among Canadians. 

This session was not recorded. 

April 19, 2023: Substance use cost the Canadian economy $49.1 billion in 2020, with alcohol accounting for more than 40% of this cost. This webinar presented the latest findings of the Canadian Substance Use Costs and Harms (CSUCH) project including costs in terms of lost productivity, healthcare, criminal justice and other direct costs. This session covered all substances with a special focus on alcohol.  

• Event recording (simultaneous French interpretation was not available for this event) 
• Presentation slide deck (French translation available upon request) 

May 17, 2023: CAPE results provide updated information about the degree to which federal, provincial, and territorial governments in Canada are implementing policies proven to reduce harm from alcohol use. This webinar covered project rationale, methods and presented results from key alcohol policy domains with specific examples and comparisons of policies currently in place in various jurisdictions. Recommendations for strengthening Canada’s policy response to alcohol harms were also provided.

• Event recording | Enregistrement de l’événement 
• Presentation slide deck | Diapositives de presentation 

October 4, 2023: This webinar explored alcohol policies in Quebec, particularly in relation to labelling, sponsorship and advertising in public spaces. Consuming alcohol in small, medium or large quantities or not at all is not just a matter of individual choice. The environment that surrounds us, which is influenced by laws, regulations and public policies in force, also influences our decisions and our desires, often without our knowledge. In order to better understand and identify possible solutions, the Public Health Association of Quebec (ASPQ) provided a summary of its series of five webinars that took place in spring 2023.

• Event recording | Enregistrement de l’événement 
• Presentation slide deck | Diapositives de presentation 
• Spring 2023 series of five webinars | série de cinq webinaires diffusés au printemps 2023

October 25, 2023: This webinar explored knowledge mobilization activities supporting Canada’s Guidance on Alcohol and Health. It was a follow up to the CAPE CoP event held in February 2023, shortly after the Guidance was launched. At this event, presenters shared updates and described some of the knowledge mobilization activities, tools and resources that have since been developed as well as ongoing plans.

• Event recording | Enregistrement de l’événement 
• Presentation slide deck | Diapositives de presentation

November 29, 2023: This webinar explored policy options available to municipalities to help reduce harms and costs associated with increased alcohol availability in their communities. Presented data on prevalence of alcohol consumption, deaths, emergency department visits and hospitalizations in Ontario; expansion of alcohol availability and impacts; and shared the experience of one local health unit who partnered with their municipality and utilized sociodemographic and health data to prevent the expansion of alcohol retail availability in a neighbourhood experiencing low socio-economic factors.

• Event recording (simultaneous French interpretation was not available for this event) 
• Presentation slide deck (French translation available upon request) 

• Event recording | Enregistrement de l’événement
• Presentation slide deck (French translation available upon request)

April 30, 2024: This roundtable provided an opportunity to revisit the Alcohol in Parks policy report and reflect on changes in the policy landscape since released in 2021; hear from CAPE CoP members about their experience of planning, assessment, implementation and/or evaluation of alcohol in parks initiatives; explore how the topic is being discussed in various jurisdictions, organizations and settings; who is advocating for and against various policies; what processes and powers are in place in various jurisdictions (e.g. bylaws) and connect with others working on this topic and share resources (e.g. data sources, surveys, evaluation reports).

• Event summary | Résumé de l’événement 

This session was not recorded.

May 8, 2024: This webinar explored a highly stigmatized topic in the alcohol field; the prevention of alcohol use in pregnancy, and how action on alcohol, child welfare and related public health policy matters in FASD prevention. During the session, presenters provided the latest data on the extent of alcohol and other substance use in pregnancy, and the impact on child health from Canada’s national FASD diagnostic database; shared information on FASD prevention practice and policy work across Canada; considered how this work meets the four core principles of a public health approach to substance use; and discussed how supportive alcohol policies and related public health policy play a key role, at each level of FASD prevention.

• Event recording | Enregistrement de l’événement
• Presentation slide deck (French translation available upon request)

May 29, 2024: All manufacturers and suppliers have a general common law duty of care to inform consumers of the risks inherent in using their products. Alcohol manufacturers and suppliers (which includes government liquor authorities) have not yet been held accountable for failing to inform Canadian consumers of the risks of alcohol consumption. This webinar explored the concepts of duty to warn, standard of disclosure, legal liability and the viability and real-world challenges of taking legal action, looking at the example of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorder (FASD).

• Event recording | Enregistrement de l’événement
• Presentation slide deck (French translation available upon request)

June 26, 2024: An introduction and overview of managed alcohol programs (MAPs), including what the research tells us and future research directions. Includes a presentation from the Eastside Illicit Drinkers Group for Education (EIDGE) about their peer-led MAP and their partnership with the Canadian Managed Alcohol Program Study (CMAPS) over the study’s decade-long history. 

• Event recording | Enregistrement de l’événement
• Presentation slide deck (French translation available upon request)

September 19, 2024: This roundtable provided an opportunity to explore the types of public health policies (alcohol-related and beyond) that can support FASD prevention, and learn more about efforts currently underway in various jurisdictions, organizations and settings; hear from fellow CAPE CoP members about their experiences of working in FASD prevention and advocating for supportive public policy in their communities; connect with others working on this topic and share resources; and learn more about FASD awareness month activities and online courses.

• Event summary | Résumé de l’événement 
• Presentation slide deck (French translation available upon request)

This session was not recorded.

October 24, 2024: This webinar presented the findings of ASPQ’s municipal consultation report; described issues and needs of some of Quebec’s municipal organizations related to the consumption and sale of alcohol; and shared initiatives, tools and promising solutions to respond to these issues.

• Event recording | Enregistrement de l’événement 
• Presentation slide deck | Diapositives de presentation 

November 20, 2024: This webinar presented the Know Alcohol web app and provided an update about other knowledge mobilization activities supporting Canada’s Guidance on Alcohol and Health. Presenters described the Know Alcohol web app’s background, development, and dissemination strategy; and provided a demonstration of this tool. 

• Event recording | Enregistrement de l’événement
• Presentation slide deck (French translation available upon request)

December 5, 2024: This webinar discussed raising awareness of alcohol and cancer through public health campaigns. Presenters shared their experience with campaigns delivered regionally/locally, provincially and Canada-wide, including the strategies used, opportunities and challenges encountered, impacts reported, and insights for future campaigns and advocacy efforts towards policy change.

• Event recording | Enregistrement de l’événement
• Presentation slide deck (French translation available upon request)

March 24, 2025: This webinar presented the latest research, modelling and evaluations of minimum unit pricing (MUP). Presenters discussed impacts of the policies on alcohol consumption and harms, both population-level and for specific groups, and shared recommendations for policymakers and service providers.

• Event recording
• Presentation slide deck (French translation available upon request)