Nova Scotia selling off its American booze, donating proceeds to charity

Advertisement

Advertise with us

HALIFAX - Nova Scotia is selling off its remaining stock of alcohol products from the United States and donating the proceeds to charity.

Read this article for free:

or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Monthly Digital Subscription

$0 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*No charge for 4 weeks then price increases to the regular rate of $19.00 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

Monthly Digital Subscription

$4.75/week*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*Billed as $19 plus GST every four weeks. Cancel any time.

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles
Start now

No thanks

*Your next subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $16.99 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $23.99 plus GST every four weeks.

HALIFAX – Nova Scotia is selling off its remaining stock of alcohol products from the United States and donating the proceeds to charity.

The province pulled American booze from its liquor store shelves earlier this year in response to tariff threats from U.S. President Donald Trump. Premier Tim Houston said Thursday that Nova Scotians already paid for the products and he doesn’t want it to go to waste.

“We remain committed to a Team Canada approach to tariffs and trade. We will not be ordering any more from the United States once this inventory is gone,” Houston said in a news release.

FILE - This June 16, 2016, file photo, taken with a fisheye lens, shows bottles of alcohol during a tour of a state liquor store, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)
FILE - This June 16, 2016, file photo, taken with a fisheye lens, shows bottles of alcohol during a tour of a state liquor store, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

The provincial government said the inventory of mostly wine and spirits is worth about $14 million. Its sale would return about $4 million to the province once expenses were deducted.

Accordingly, the government will donate roughly $4 million in the coming weeks to Feed Nova Scotia and other charity food organizations, the release said.

“There’s no profit to be had for the province of Nova Scotia selling this,” Houston told a cabinet meeting Thursday. “We want to get rid of it, and we think Nova Scotia should benefit.”

Provinces’ refusal to sell U.S. liquor has been a “thorny issue” at the bargaining table between Canada and the United States, he added.

The booze will be back on sale beginning Monday in provincial liquor stores.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 27, 2025.

— By Sarah Smellie in St. John’s

— With files from Lyndsay Armstrong in Halifax

Report Error Submit a Tip

Uncategorized

LOAD MORE