Hotel Industry Welcomes Clarity on Legal Blood-Alcohol Limit

Last spring Federal Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould announced the government was considering lowering the federal legal blood-alcohol limit from 0.08% to 0.05%. The hospitality industry is pleased that the Minister’s office has now indicated they will not be moving forward with this proposal.

The Hotel Association of Canada engaged in a joint effort with Restaurants Canada to combat this proposed change, voicing our collective concerns through face-to-face meetings with the Minister’s office and a written submission. While both associations believe that impaired driving is a serious problem, our concern is that this measure would only discourage people from leaving their homes to enjoy a night out and would hurt Canadian businesses, without meaningfully addressing the problem of impaired driving.

After urging the government to instead focus its efforts on habitually impaired drivers, and reiterating the significant provincial deterrents that already exist in Canada, we are pleased to see the government will not be moving forward with this proposal and will instead focus on other key measures to keep our roads safe.

HAC would like to recognize Scott Jocelyn, President & CEO of the Manitoba Hotel Association, who raised this issue as a major concern for members.

The hotel industry takes seriously its role in preventing impaired driving by having safe service policies in place and ensuring responsible serving practices and procedures. HAC will continue to work with its partners and industry advocates to encourage responsible behaviour when it comes to the consumption of alcohol.