Federal responsibilities

Health Canada is responsible for establishing standards for the safety and nutritional quality of food under the FDA and the FDR, which are enforced by the CFIA. The CFIA is responsible for the administration and enforcement of the non-health and safety food provisions (e.g. food compositional standards) under the FDR.

Provinces and territories

Under the importation of Intoxicating Liquors Act, provinces and territories have responsibility over the importation of alcohol into their jurisdictions, including beer. Under federal jurisdiction over the sale of imported foods, imported beers for sale have to comply with the beer standard in the FDR.

The beer compositional standard in the FDR does not apply intra-provincially, unless this is required by the province or the territory. The provinces and territories regulate beer within their jurisdictions by their applicable laws and policies. Some have their own definition for beer that applies in their jurisdiction while others reference the federal regulations.