SNDL runs Wine and Beyond, Liquor Depot, Ace Liquor and the Value Buds cannabis stores. Revenue at SNDL fell by about four per cent to $235.8 million, according to second-quarter results released on Tuesday, July 28, 2026. Photo by Darren Makowichuk /Postmedia, file

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Canadians eased off booze and cannabis this spring, hitting an Alberta-based retailer with falling sales and a nearly $8-million loss.

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Revenue at SNDL Inc, headquartered in Edmonton, fell by about four per cent to $235.8 million, according to second-quarter results released Tuesday.

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If the name means nothing to you, the banners will. SNDL runs Wine and Beyond, Liquor Depot, Ace Liquor and the Value Buds cannabis stores, and most of them are in Alberta. It calls itself Canada’s largest private-sector liquor and cannabis retailer, which quietly leaves out government chains like the LCBO. Alberta was the first province to privatize liquor retailing in 1993.

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Those stores have been an Edmonton business since the start. SNDL bought the chain in 2022 for about $320 million, back when it was a cannabis grower called Sundial Growers Inc. in Olds.

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Liquor is still the biggest piece of the business, and it is going backwards. Sales fell about five per cent to $134.7 million in the second quarter.

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Chief financial officer Alberto Paredero-Quiros told analysts on the earnings call this is not a sole Alberta problem.

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“It’s a global phenomenon,” he said, with most markets down by low to mid-single digits. “We’re not expecting a massive turn in that performance in the foreseeable future.”

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He’s not wrong. Canadians spent $25.8 billion on alcohol last year, down 1.6 per cent, and beer volumes have fallen for nine years running, according to Statistics Canada.

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The brewers say the reason is money.

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“The main driver is Canadians are still experiencing an affordability crisis,” said Richard Alexander, president of Beer Canada, the association that represents the country’s brewers, in an interview. “Canadians have less disposable income, and when they have less disposable income, they change their purchasing behaviour.”

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That shows up first in restaurants and bars, he said, where a large share of beer is sold and where sales are also falling. He put the rest on federal tax. Ottawa has raised alcohol excise duties automatically every year since 2017, under an escalator that never goes back to Parliament for a vote.

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“Since 2017 we’ve seen that tax increase automatically by 18 to 20 per cent,” Alexander said.

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“And at the same time, we’ve seen volumes decrease 18 to 20 per cent right across Canada.”

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Canadians spent $25.8 billion on alcohol last year, down 1.6 per cent. Photo by Shaughn Butts /Postmedia, file

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Ottawa has capped that annual increase at two per cent since 2023, and on April 1, three months into the quarter SNDL just reported, the government extended the cap through 2028.

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Alberta is among the lightest-taxed beer markets in the country. Alexander said beer taxes here make up about 32 per cent of the average retail price, among the lowest in any province. SNDL’s liquor sales fell anyway.

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The two men are describing different problems. One is a global shift in drinking. The other is a Canadian squeeze. Cannabis was not much better. Store sales slipped 1.4 per cent to $83.2 million, which the company put down to shrinking markets in Alberta and Ontario.