How to Get a Liquor Licence in Alberta

In Alberta, any business, organization, or individual that wants to sell or supply alcohol must have a liquor licence from Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC), according to AGLC, Apply for a liquor licence. The licence class depends on what you will do: serve drinks on site, sell bottles for customers to take home, manufacture liquor, or run a one-off event. This guide walks through the classes, the fees, and the five-step application. This guide is process information, not legal advice: where a figure was not verified on an official page, this guide states a check instead of a figure.

1. Pick the licence class that matches what you will do

AGLC issues six classes of liquor licence, plus special event licences, according to AGLC, Apply for a liquor licence:

• Class A — sale and consumption of liquor on the premises. There are two variants: minors allowed, where food is the primary source of business, and minors prohibited, where liquor is the primary source of business, on the same page. Manufacturers that serve their products at the manufacturing facility need a Class A licence, including a taproom licence, according to AGLC, Apply for your licences.
• Class B — sale and consumption where people pay an entrance or user fee or buy a ticket, such as a recreational facility, tourist facility, race track, sports stadium, convention centre, theatre, or certain types of transportation, or a business whose primary purpose is not the sale of food or liquor, according to AGLC, Apply for a liquor licence.
• Class C — sale and consumption inside a facility that is not open to the public but is primarily for the use of members, such as a clubhouse, on the same page.
• Class D — sale of liquor to be consumed off site, such as a retail liquor store or off-sales, on the same page. Manufacturers need a Class D Manufacturer's Off-Sales licence to sell their products directly to the public for consumption off the premises — for example, filling and selling growlers from a taproom or selling at farmers markets, according to AGLC, Apply for your licences.
• Class E — manufacturers with a permanent facility, such as distillers, vintners, or brewers, according to AGLC, Apply for a liquor licence. The facility cannot be a residence, such as a garage, basement, or shed, according to AGLC, Apply for your licences.
• Class F — production of beer, wine, and cider at a ferment-on-premises facility, according to AGLC, Apply for a liquor licence.

Special event licences cover one-time events: public special event licences for events open to the public, such as a beer garden, theatre event, or food and wine fair, and private special event licences for events open to members and invited guests only, such as weddings or awards banquets, on the same page. AGLC also issues licences for industrial use, competitions, and hospitality rooms, on the same page. Pick the class by what you will actually do with the liquor, not by what the business is called — a brewery that manufactures, serves on site, and sells growlers to take home needs Class E plus Class A plus Class D.

2. What the licence costs

AGLC sets the fees, and the amended fee schedule below is effective June 1, 2026, according to AGLC, Fee Schedule. The application fee for a liquor licence other than a special event licence is $200, on the same page. Licence fees are:

• Class A: $400
• Class B: $350
• Class C: $50 for a senior citizens residence, $200 for other premises
• Class D: retail liquor store $700, general merchandise liquor store $300, off-sales $100, delivery service $300, commercial caterers $300
• Class E: $1,500
• Class F: $500
• Duty free store: $700
• Liquor agency registration: $200

All figures above are from the same page. If you apply for several licences at the same time, you pay only one application fee, but you still have to pay the licence fee for each licence, according to AGLC, Apply for your licences. A manufacturer applying for Class E, Class A, and Class D together therefore pays one $200 application fee plus $1,500 plus $400 plus $700 in licence fees under the current schedule.

Special event licence fees are separate, according to AGLC, Fee Schedule: a private non-sale licence is $10, a private resale licence for one event is $25, a private resale annual licence is $4 for each event to a maximum of $200, a public resale commercial licence is $1,000 for more than 150 attendees and more than 4 hours or $250 for a smaller event, and a public resale community licence is $50, $100, or $200 per day depending on the value of liquor purchases under the licence, on the same page. Hospitality, competition, industrial use, and auction licences are $100 each, on the same page.

3. Before you apply: zoning first, and the federal excise licence for manufacturers

Contact your municipality before you apply for licences with AGLC — you need to be sure that municipal zoning and bylaws will allow the business at the proposed location, according to AGLC, Apply for your licences. Zoning is the most common reason an application stalls: AGLC says the end-to-end process typically takes one to three months, depending on how fast your local municipality provides the approval documents needed to open the business, on the same page. Do not sign a long lease before the municipality confirms the use is allowed.

Manufacturers have a second licence to arrange before AGLC will finish the file. You need a federal excise licence from the Canada Revenue Agency to produce alcohol in Canada, and AGLC asks for confirmation that you have applied for one as part of the initial application, according to AGLC, Apply for your licences. Under the Excise Duty Program, a brewer's licence is mandatory, security is required, an annual fee of $51.10 is payable, and the licence must be renewed annually, according to Canada Revenue Agency, EDM1-1-1 The Excise Duty Program. Apply for the federal licence early: the final AGLC documents include the federal excise licence itself, and production cannot start until after the AGLC final inspection.

For Class A to Class F applications, you must submit criminal record checks obtained within the last 90 days from the RCMP or local police for all requested directors and shareholders of the applicant company and the proposed manager, according to AGLC, Apply for a liquor licence. Online and third-party criminal record checks are not accepted, on the same page. Get the checks done late enough that they are still inside the 90-day window when you file, but early enough that a slow police service does not hold up the application.

4. The five-step application

AGLC describes five general steps to getting licensed, according to AGLC, Apply for your licences:

1. Preliminary assessment (optional). Meet with an AGLC staff member to discuss the licensing process and get started in the right direction, by phone or in person. AGLC says this step is not required but is highly recommended, because it can save a lot of time and effort later, on the same page.
2. Initial application and documents. You must provide completed application forms for your liquor licences; details about you; details about your proposed distribution, products, and packaging — that is, you should have a developed business plan; your proposed location, including a signed offer to lease, a floor plan, and equipment details; the $200 application fee; confirmation that you have applied for a federal excise licence; and a criminal record check, no more than 90 days old, for all directors, shareholders, and managers, on the same page.
3. Advertising the application. AGLC will post your application on AGLC's website for 7 days, giving affected third parties an opportunity to object — for example, a neighbour concerned about the proposed location, on the same page. If there is no objection after 7 days, you continue to the next step; if there are objections, you must apply to the AGLC Board for a hearing before you can continue, and an AGLC Inspector will inform you of your next steps, on the same page. AGLC recommends responding to objections as soon as possible, on the same page.
4. Final documents. To finish the application, you must provide the licence fee, forms about your company including your Certificate of Incorporation, a signed and witnessed Acknowledgement and Undertaking about your legal responsibilities as a liquor manufacturer, a signed copy of your lease agreement or certificate of title in your name, fire approval for the manufacturing premises and related areas, a city business licence or written approval of the municipality, and the federal excise licence, on the same page. Note the fee conflict flagged below: the walkthrough page states the licence fee as $500 at this step, while the current fee schedule lists Class E at $1,500.
5. Final inspection. When your application is complete and your site is fully functional, an AGLC Inspector will contact you to schedule the final inspection and approval, on the same page. The inspection usually takes 30 to 45 minutes, and you cannot start production until after your final inspection, on the same page. After an approved inspection, the Inspector discusses the terms and conditions of your licences with you and typically issues an interim licence at the final inspection, with a licence certificate sent later, on the same page.

Licensees can contact AGLC's Customer Care Centre for support with liquor licence reissues and payments on the online licensing portal by calling 1-800-272-8876 and pressing 2, according to AGLC, Apply for a liquor licence.

5. ProServe: who must be certified before you sell or serve

Before you can sell or serve your products, you and your staff must be certified with ProServe Liquor Staff Training, according to AGLC, Distribute your products. ProServe is Alberta's responsible liquor service and sales program, and certification is mandatory for full- and part-time workers in positions where liquor is provided under a Class A, B, D, E, F, or Duty-Free licence, according to AGLC, ProServe Liquor Staff Training. That covers licensed premises owners who directly manage a premises, managers, supervisors, retailers, bartenders, servers, greeters, hosts, delivery service drivers, limousine and bus licensees, drivers and attendants, large-format bike operators and attendants, and security staff directly employed or contracted by the licensee, on the same page.

The certification rules are: workers must be certified within 30 days of their employment start date or before the expiration date on their certificate; certification expires five years from the completion date stated on the certificate and workers must renew before it expires; a minimum score of 80% is required to pass the exam, with five attempts given with each registration; and there is a non-refundable charge of $25.00 plus GST per course or voucher, on the same page. Staff must provide proof of SMART Programs certification at the request of an AGLC Inspector, on the same page. For a public resale commercial special event licence, ProServe is mandatory for managers, supervisors, bartenders, servers, and drink ticket sellers; for a public resale community licence, it is mandatory for the licensee and designates and a minimum of 25% of all bartenders and servers on site, on the same page. Build the certification into hiring: a new server cannot legally serve until certified, and the 30-day clock starts on their first day.

6. Selling once licensed: channels, markets, and the 18-year rule

Once licensed, a manufacturer can distribute products through the AGLC-authorized warehouse, Connect Logistics Services (CLS), directly from the manufacturing facility, through its website, and through approved farmers' markets and artisan markets and trade shows if it also holds a Class D licence with an appropriate market extension, according to AGLC, Distribute your products. With a Class D licence with a market endorsement, products can be sold at approved farmers' markets, as approved by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, and at approved artisan markets and trade shows, as approved by AGLC, on the same page.

Online sales have one hard rule: you cannot sell liquor to a minor, and it is your responsibility to ensure that the person receiving liquor products from an online sale is at least 18 years old, on the same page. You can ship products in Alberta with a common carrier such as UPS or FedEx, or with a delivery service that has a Class D delivery licence, on the same page.

You can also export liquor products outside Alberta and outside Canada, but before doing so you must contact the jurisdiction where you want to sell and follow its policies, on the same page. Exports outside Alberta must be recorded in your monthly inventory report to AGLC under the "Sent out of province" heading, on the same page.

Figures this guide does not state

• Class E licence fee conflict. The AGLC fee schedule effective June 1, 2026 lists the Class E liquor licence at $1,500, and this guide prints that figure. AGLC's own Alberta Made Liquor manufacturer walkthrough still states a licence fee of $500 at the final-documents step. The fee schedule is the newer, authoritative document, but the two AGLC pages disagree — confirm the amount in the online licensing portal before you pay.
• Number of Class A licence types for manufacturers. The walkthrough says four types of Class A licences are available to manufacturers but names three — Taproom (Community Hub), Minors Allowed, and Minors Prohibited. This guide names the three and states no count.
• Renewal terms. No renewal period or renewal fee for liquor licences is stated on the AGLC pages, so none is printed. Confirm renewal terms in the online licensing portal.
• Municipal business licence fees. These vary by municipality and are not printed here; a city business licence or written municipal approval is a required final document, but its cost is set by the city.
• Hearing timelines. If a third party objects during the 7-day advertising period, no official timeline for the AGLC Board hearing is stated on the pages, so none is printed.

Related guides:

How to Start a Brewery Business in Canada, How to Register a Business in Alberta, How to Register for GST/HST in Canada, and Food Truck Permits and Licences in Canada.

Sources

• AGLC, Apply for a liquor licence — licence classes, criminal record checks, Customer Care Centre —
• AGLC, Fee Schedule — application and licence fees, effective June 1, 2026; special event licence fees —
• AGLC, Apply for your licences — manufacturer licence classes, five application steps, 1–3 month timeline, 7-day advertising, final inspection —
• AGLC, Distribute your products — distribution channels, online sales, 18-year rule, markets, exports —
• AGLC, ProServe Liquor Staff Training — who must be certified, 30-day rule, 5-year expiry, 80% pass mark, $25 plus GST —
• Canada Revenue Agency, EDM1-1-1 The Excise Duty Program — brewer's licence mandatory, security required, $51.10 annual fee, renewed annually —