The holidays are a great time for taking stock of what is really important: like how much alcohol Canadians consume in a year. While one would expect regional variation for drinking habits, a quick review of the 2011 consumption data by province and territory reveals some telling trends. Newfoundlanders, the heaviest drinkers of the eastern provinces, are evidently proud of their screech, while beer prevails across the rest of the Maritimes. Surprisingly, liquor sales have not declined in Nova Scotia since Trailer Park Boys came to an end.
Hopefully B.C. residents are supporting their local wine industry given the amount they’re drinking, though we’re not sure if the same can be said about Ontario. The Québecois are, no surprise here, the largest consumers of vino, but Albertans are embracing the stuff at almost twice the pace of their prairie neighbours in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The maple leaf has been turning increasing red over the last decade, as sales of red wine have grown much faster than white.
Given their presence at the top of the charts in each category of alcohol, is the Yukon populated by really fun people or sloppy drunks? Nunavut’s numbers are low either due to the number of dry communities in the territory or the cost of getting liquor there. Or maybe it has to do with the freezing point of alcohol.
