How to Start a Brewery in Quebec

The short answer

*A brewery in Quebec needs three things in order: a federal brewer's licence from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), a manufacturer permit from the Régie des alcools, des courses et des jeux (RACJ), and QST registration with Revenu Québec before the first sale. The federal licence is the base — it authorizes the manufacture of beer under the Excise Act. The RACJ permit is the Quebec permission to make and distribute alcohol, and the permit class decides where the beer can be sold. The QST registration is separate from both, and it must be in place before the first sale of alcoholic beverages, whatever the amount of sales. The Société des alcools du Québec* (SAQ) is the province's alcohol retailer, and it is also a sales channel: both permit classes can sell to the SAQ.

French permit and body names appear once in this guide, in italics, with English throughout. The rest of the guide is in English.

Step 1: Get the federal brewer's licence

A brewer's licence is required to manufacture beer, malt liquor, wort, or yeast. A licence is required for each physical business location where any manufacturing process takes place, where any manufacturing apparatus or equipment suitable for producing beer is kept or used, or where any products of brewing or fermentation are kept or stored. An individual who manufactures beer or malt liquor for personal use does not need a licence, and a brew-on-premises operation does not need one either — but a commercial brewery does.

Apply with the following, for each physical business location:

• Form L1, Application for a Brewer's Licence.
• Form E110, Description of Premises to Accompany Application for Licence.
• Form E111, Description of Vessels and Utensils.

Also submit a floor plan with references to the areas described on Form E110 and to the equipment listed on Form E111, a business overview describing the business, the location, the activities at the brewery, the beer or malt liquor products to be manufactured, and the package sizes, an operating plan describing day-to-day operations, the manufacturing processes, the point of production at which excise duty will be declared, the methods of determining volume and alcohol content, and the 24-month projections for beer production in hectolitres and packaging, a sales plan outlining the distribution channels and sales prices, a financial plan with start-up costs, sources of funding, and 24-month financial projections, and a copy of the partnership agreement if the applicant is a partnership, or of the certificate of incorporation or amalgamation if the applicant is a corporation.

Sign the forms and submit them to your regional excise office, electronically using Submit documents in My Business Account or by mail. You must provide financial security in the form of a surety bond before a licence is issued. If the application is approved, the CRA will issue a brewer's licence and charge a licence fee of $51.10.

A brewer's licence is valid for one year from April 1 to March 31 and is automatically renewed. An annual licence fee of $51.10 is due each year by March 31 for the year beginning April 1. Notify your regional excise office of any change to the information in the application — a change of floor plan, legal name, physical location, or ownership each has its own filing, and a change of ownership or legal entity ends the existing licence, so a new application must be approved before the new entity starts brewing. Licensees must file returns and pay excise duties on time, keep adequate books and records, and give CRA excise officers access to the premises for inspection or audit.

One limit to note: beer or malt liquor with a final packaged alcohol strength over 11.9% is considered spirits for excise duty purposes, and producing it may require a spirits licence instead. Check the strength of what you plan to brew before applying.

Budget the federal excise duty

The licence fee is small; the duty on what you brew is the recurring federal cost, and it is not in the licensing circular. The CRA's excise duty rates, effective April 1, 2026, are charged per hectolitre of beer: $3.128 for beer containing not more than 1.2% absolute ethyl alcohol by volume, $18.85 for beer over 1.2% up to 2.5%, and $37.69 for beer over 2.5% — the rate that covers ordinary beer. Beer with not more than 0.5% alcohol is not subject to excise duty.

Domestic brewers pay reduced graduated rates on the first 75,000 hectolitres brewed in Canada each calendar year, and the rates on the first 15,000 hectolitres remain cut by half for two years under the Bill C-30 amendment, which received royal assent on June 18, 2026. Rates are adjusted every April 1 on the Consumer Price Index, with the annual adjustment capped at 2% for two years. Build the duty into the price of every hectolitre from the first batch — it is due on what you produce, not only on what you sell.

Step 2: Pick the RACJ permit class

Under the Act respecting the Société des alcools du Québec, every person other than the SAQ who wants to operate an establishment for the making or distribution of alcoholic beverages must obtain from the RACJ a small-scale production permit, an artisan producers cooperative permit, a small-scale beer producer's permit, or one of the five industrial permits: a brewer's permit, a beer distributor's permit, a distiller's permit, a wine maker's permit, or a cider maker's permit. A warehouse permit may also be issued. The board may issue a permit, allow its transfer, or authorize its temporary use by another person if it considers the issue, transfer, or authorization is not contrary to the public interest and the applicant has an establishment in Quebec.

For a brewery, the choice is usually between two classes:

Small-scale beer producer's permit (permis de producteur artisanal de bière). It authorizes the holder to make beer and bottle it, to make alcoholic beverages by combining beer with other non-alcoholic substances and bottle them, and to purchase alcohol from the SAQ to blend with the beer it makes. Unless the beer is shipped outside Quebec, the holder may sell what it makes only at the place where it is produced, for consumption on the premises or elsewhere, and only if it also holds a permit under the Act respecting liquor permits authorizing alcoholic beverages to be sold for consumption on the premises. It may also sell to the holder of an event permit, sell and deliver to the holder of a grocery permit, and sell and deliver to the SAQ. It may not sell to the holder of a permit issued under the alcohol acts, except as set out above. A small-scale beer producer may not hold a small-scale production permit authorizing it to make alcohol or spirits from cereal grains, unless the beer is produced entirely from grains it grows.

Brewer's permit (permis de brasseur). It authorizes the holder to make beer and bottle any beer it is authorized to sell and deliver, to make alcoholic beverages with beer and other non-alcoholic substances and bottle them if authorized to sell and deliver them, and to purchase alcoholic beverages provided for by regulation to blend with the products it makes. It may not sell and deliver the beer it makes to anyone but the SAQ, a public transportation carrier, or a person holding a permit authorizing them to sell it, unless it ships the beer out of Quebec. It may also sell beer it makes at the place where it is produced, in a room or on a terrace where a permit under the Act respecting liquor permits authorizes sale for consumption on the premises. A brewer's permit also authorizes the holder to carry on any operation authorized under a beer distributor's permit.

The small-scale permit fits a brewery that sells mostly at its own taproom and through grocery permit holders. The brewer's permit fits a brewery that sells volume through the SAQ and other permit holders. Pick the class from the sales plan, not from the size of the brewhouse.

Step 3: Apply to the RACJ and pay the duties

Apply to the RACJ for the permit class chosen in Step 2. The duties payable for the issue of a permit, and annually after that, are set in the Regulation respecting the duties and costs payable under the Act respecting the Société des alcools du Québec, indexed as of April 1, 2026:

• Small-scale beer producer's permit: $447.
• Brewer's permit: $4,481 for a first application or a transfer, and annually after that where the holder's annual volume of worldwide sales is 200,000 hectolitres or less; $8,960 where worldwide sales are more than 200,000 hectolitres.
• Warehouse permit: $360.

The costs for examining an application are $169 where the application does not have to be published, or $335 where it must be published. The duties and costs are adjusted on April 1 of each year based on the percentage change in the All-Items Consumer Price Index for Canada for the preceding year, and the adjustment can never be less than zero. A brewer's or beer distributor's permit holder must send the RACJ a declaration of annual worldwide sales in hectolitres at least 90 days before the annual duties are due, unless the holder agrees to pay the maximum duties.

Step 4: Register for QST before the first sale

If you produce, import, or sell alcoholic beverages, you are generally required to register for the GST and the QST. Whatever the amount of your annual taxable supplies, you must register for the QST before you start selling alcoholic beverages, and then collect the QST and the specific tax on alcoholic beverages. A small supplier does not have to register for the GST. This is the point where Quebec differs from the rest of Canada: the QST is a separate registration from the GST, handled through Revenu Québec, and for alcohol there is no small-supplier threshold for the QST.

Register through Revenu Québec by using the Register a New Business service, the registration service in My Account for businesses if you are already registered with Revenu Québec, or by filing Form LM-1-V, Application for Registration. If you are already registered for the GST or QST and you start producing or selling alcoholic beverages, you must modify your registration accordingly. You can track the status of the application through Revenu Québec's online services.

Also register the business itself with the Registraire des entreprises du Québec (REQ) to get the NEQ, the Quebec business number. The full steps are in our How to Register a Business in Quebec: the REQ, Your NEQ, and the French-Language Rules guide.

Step 5: Set up the sales channels the permit allows

Once the permits are in hand, sell only through the channels the permit class allows. A small-scale producer sells at the place of production, to event permit holders, to grocery permit holders, and to the SAQ. A brewer's permit holder sells to the SAQ, to public transportation carriers, and to other permit holders, plus on-premises sales in a licensed room or on a terrace. Selling outside the permitted channels is selling without a permit for that sale. If the brewery adds a taproom, that room needs its own permit under the Act respecting liquor permits authorizing sale for consumption on the premises — the manufacturer permit alone does not cover it. The full liquor permit process is in our How to Get a Liquor Licence in Quebec guide.

What the opened pages do not state

The opened pages do not state the RACJ's processing time for a manufacturer permit application, or the RACJ application form number or portal, so this guide gives none — apply through the RACJ and confirm the current form with it. They do not state the SAQ's commercial terms for listing a beer, so this guide states none. They do not state whether a taproom application will be approved for a given address, because that depends on the municipal zoning and the occupancy permit for the premises — confirm both with the municipality before signing a lease.

Related guides:

• How to Start a Brewery Business in Canada — the national brewery guide, with the general shape of the business before the Quebec-specific permits.
• How to Start a Brewery in Ontario — the same kind of province guide for Ontario, showing how the AGCO route differs from the RACJ route.
• How to Get a Liquor Licence in Quebec — the Quebec liquor permit process, including the on-premises permit a taproom needs.
• How to Register a Business in Quebec: the REQ, Your NEQ, and the French-Language Rules — registering the business and getting the NEQ.
• How to Verify a QST Registration Number in Quebec — checking a QST number, for the brewery's own registration and for suppliers.
• How to Start a Bakery Business in Canada — another food production business in Canada, for the shared ground of premises, labelling, and food safety.

Sources

• Canada Revenue Agency, ED200-1 Licensing requirements for manufacturers of beer or malt liquor, wort, yeast, or malt products — the requirement for a brewer's licence, one licence per physical location, Forms L1, E110, and E111, the floor plan and business, operating, sales, and financial plans, the surety bond, the $51.10 fee, the April 1 to March 31 validity and automatic renewal, the change filings, and the 11.9% spirits limit.
• Légis Québec, Act respecting the Société des alcools du Québec (chapter S-13) — the requirement to obtain a permit from the RACJ, the small-scale beer producer's permit and what it authorizes and where it may sell, the brewer's permit and what it authorizes and where it may sell, and the warehouse permit.
• Légis Québec, Regulation respecting the duties and costs payable under the Act respecting the Société des alcools du Québec (chapter S-13, r. 5) — the duties as indexed on April 1, 2026: $447 for a small-scale beer producer's permit, $4,481 or $8,960 for a brewer's permit, $360 for a warehouse permit, and the $169 and $335 examination costs, with annual CPI adjustment.
• Revenu Québec, Registration – Specific Tax on Alcoholic Beverages — the requirement to register for the QST before selling alcoholic beverages whatever the amount of sales, the collection of QST and the specific tax on alcoholic beverages, the small-supplier GST rule, and the registration routes including Form LM-1-V.
• Canada Revenue Agency, Excise duty rates — the April 1, 2026 rates per hectolitre ($3.128, $18.85, $37.69), the non-alcoholic exemption, the reduced rates on the first 75,000 hectolitres, the halved rates on the first 15,000 hectolitres for two years, and the annual April 1 adjustment capped at 2%.