Is Beer Cheaper In The US Or Canada?

If you're driving north of the border, maybe you're hoping to save some cash by picking up a case of beer for a lower price. But is beer really cheaper in Canada? The answer isn't as straightforward as you'd think. With so many beers on the market and prices varying from place to place — particularly in Canada, where different provinces have different rules on how alcohol is sold — a perfectly direct comparison is tough.

That said, beer is generally cheaper in the U.S. It's hard to compare a standard domestic beer since a Canadian one like Molson (pictured above) will be imported into the U.S., and vice versa. Instead, let's compare a standard, premium-ish (and very popular) beer: Heineken. At a major Ontario retailer, The Beer Store, a six-pack of 330mL bottles (just over 11 ounces) goes for $15.49 Canadian dollars (just under $11 USD) before tax. In British Columbia's government-owned liquor store, it's $16.29 ($11.50 USD), and in a Quebec supermarket, it's $15.99 ($11.25 USD).

Meanwhile, in the U.S., you'd pay $9.99 ($14.17 CAD) for a comparable six-pack of bottles at Kroger, $9.73 ($13.80 CAD) at Walmart, and $9.49 ($13.45 CAD) at Meijer. So, it's around a dollar or two cheaper in the U.S. — more expensive, sure, but not double the price, as has sometimes been breathlessly claimed online. You're arguably getting a slightly better deal in the U.S. as well since the bottles are 12 ounces (355 milliliters), nearly an ounce more than the Canadian ones. 

In short: taxes. In fact, that $1-2 price difference gets bigger once you factor in sales taxes (which weren't included in the prices above). In America, this varies from nothing in states like New Hampshire, to around 9.5% in Louisiana; the average is around 5%. Canadian sales taxes are higher — they vary by province but are mostly from 11% to 15%, except for Alberta and some Arctic territories, at 5%. So, at the highest sales tax rate of 15%, you could add an extra $2.32 Canadian ($1.63) onto that $15.49 pack of Heineken.

But the base prices are also affected by tax — in both the U.S. and Canada, there are alcohol taxes worked into those base prices before you add sales tax. Canada's are considered to be notably higher, as the country uses these to discourage excessive alcohol consumption for public health reasons. Comparing them is awkward since Canada adds this for every 100 liters (26 gallons) of beer and sets one rate for the whole country; the U.S. does it by gallon, and it varies by state from 2 cents a gallon in Wyoming up to just over a dollar in Alaska. Most states are around the 20 cent/gallon mark. If you break down Canada's price to per-gallon, it adds up to $1.27 Canadian ($0.90 USD) — higher than most states. If you really want a good deal, try to buy duty-free when crossing the border — then you'll skip these taxes altogether.