Sask. allowing restaurants to sell alcohol with takeout, delivery orders

Saskatchewan restaurants that have liquor permits now can sell alcohol with takeout or delivery orders.

The provincial government announced Monday that recent regulatory changes will allow those restaurants to sell drinks to patrons who aren’t eating their meals in the establishments.

“The pandemic hit the service industry particularly hard,” Jim Reiter, the minister responsible for the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority, said in a media release.

“These regulatory changes will provide additional service options for liquor-permitted restaurants and retailers to consider.”

The province’s 900 restaurants with liquor permits now can deliver alcoholic beverages such as beer, wine and mixed cocktails with food orders without needing a separate home delivery permit.

As well, more than 600 retail store permit holders can offer home delivery of alcohol without having a home delivery permit.

“Customers have new expectations about access and convenience when it comes to the way alcohol is sold in the province,” Reiter said in the release. “We will continue to look for ways to modernize liquor regulations while also balancing social responsibility and acknowledging the roles of the province’s different liquor permittees.”