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Ontario convenience stores to be allowed to sell fortified wines: source

Ontario Premier Doug Ford attends a media availability at a convenience store in Toronto, Thursday, Dec. 14, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

Convenience stores in Ontario will soon be permitted to sell fortified wines like port and sherry, CTV News has learned.

A senior government source says that the regulatory change amounts to “housekeeping” as the products could already be sold in grocery stores under existing legislation.

Thousands of licensed convenience stores in Ontario are already permitted to sell beer, cider, wine and ready-to-drink beverages.

Convenience stores are not permitted to sell wine with alcohol content that exceeds 18 per cent or beer, cider, and ready-to-drink beverages where the alcohol content surpasses 7.1 per cent.

With files from CTV News Toronto’s Siobhan Morris.