The tax is based on litres and type of beer [1] but it does in fact work out to be around 45% for something like Coors Light. There's a lower tax for draft beer

The tax is based on litres and type of beer [1] but it does in fact work out to be around 45% for something like Coors Light. There's a lower tax for draft beer, and a lower tax for microbreweries. The average Canadian apparently drinks about 79L per year [2] (which is 230 bottles a year, or 4.5 bottles a week), and this works out to between $28.40 and $70.89 in tax (depending on what you drink). For perspective, if that was all bottles of Coors Light, that is going to cost about $376 total (of which about $70 is tax). If it's all microbrew draft, you're probably going to spend a lot more overall but only pay $28.40 in tax. Personally I don't see this is a major burden. If the money doesn't come from an alcohol tax, it comes from somewhere else (either in cuts to services, or increases in other taxes). Even if you want to argue "less taxes" (and less services) should be the goal, I'd still rather prioritize the tax cuts on income taxes, or general sales tax -- "sin" taxes would be the lowest priority taxes I think should be reduced, since drinking is not an essential activity (in the way buying food is) and for average or below levels of drinking it's a pretty minimal burden (especially compared to the amount of income tax most people pay). [1] https://www.fin.gov.on.ca/en/tax/bwt/index.html https://www.fin.gov.on.ca/en/tax/bwt/index.html [2] https://justbeerapp.com/article/beer-drinking-in-canada https://justbeerapp.com/article/beer-drinking-in-canada