Marketplace and Modernization changes

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In 2023, the provincial government announced the modernization of the marketplace to create more convenience and choice for consumers. In addition to more retailers selling alcohol, it was announced that LCBO will become the exclusive wholesaler for all retail, bars and restaurants selling alcohol, and a new ‘cost-plus’ wholesale pricing would be developed that was consistent for all retailers.

At the same time, LCBO has embarked on a multi-year program called Future State Modernization (FSM) that will strengthen our IT systems, and streamline our business processes, improving our operations for our company and our stakeholders.  

Staying updated on Future State Modernization Release R1b

This page provides a weekly update on key known issues related to the launch and update of several LCBO systems on April 1, as part of LCBO’s Future State Modernization. 

It includes the status of key known issues and the work underway to resolve them, assuring hospitality licensees have the latest information. Transparency is important to us, as is your feedback. If you experience issues, not reflected on this page, please continue to connect directly with your Account Manager. 
 

Ongoing improvements: As of May 22, 2026
  

Data & access permissions: 

- Hospitality licensees that received their licence on or after April 1 are not yet able to be onboarded with LCBO as we work through a backlog of data to be updated. While we work to get these customers online access as soon as possible, we encourage them to shop our retail stores. Our store employees can put a special measure in place so your in-store orders can be processed going forward. Coming soon: improved in-store solution to facilitatie hospitality licnesee sales.

- There have also been some data issues that are preventing a small group of customers from accessing wholesale@lcbo.com; this is being prioritized for resolution and we are communicating with customers as access is granted.  In the meantime, please shop in any LCBO or TBS store.

Wholesale pricing: 

- There have been some instances of price differences of certain products in wholesale.lcbo.com. We expect pricing to stabilize over time.  

Invoices details:

- We recognize that your invoices do not include some information including invoice number and company name. Our team is working on the issues related to company name and we will keep you posted when this will be fixed. For other invoice details, they will be included when we launch the next release of FSM in the coming months. 

Reminders:

- Shopping in store: Thank you for ongoing patience during the pricing override process at checkout. We understand that this adds time to in-store shopping at our stores. We are exploring solutions to improve your experience over the coming months. 

- Inventory visibility: We recognize that LCBO inventory availability is no longer visible until checkout, which may result in additional time spent reconciling your cart. While we’ve enabled drop shipping with nearly 300 suppliers—increasing choice and flexibility for licensees—this change means our system is not currently able to validate inventory across all supplying sources throughout the buying journey. We are actively listening to your feedback and will continue to explore opportunities to improve your experience. 

LCBO is now the exclusive wholesaler of record

- LCBO is now the wholesaler of record, which means that hospitality licensees must purchase alcohol from the LCBO or through a distributor that is authorized to facilitate sales on LCBO’s behalf. Authorized distributors may include The Beer Store, import keg distributors or suppliers participating in LCBO’s Direct Delivery Program. 

What should I know or do?

- Brewers must now be authorized by LCBO to sell directly to hospitality licensees, or be listed at the LCBO or The Beer Store. Hospitality licensees should make sure that they are purchasing from an authorized representative – the list can be found here.

- Hospitality licensees can now purchase any beer from the LCBO or The Beer store (based on available SKUs).

What’s not changing? 

- You may continue to shop at the LCBO – in store or online

- You may continue to shop at The Beer Store – in store or online

- You may continue to purchase from suppliers (wine, spirit and RTD) if they are authorized under the LCBO’s Direct Delivery Program.

- You may continue to purchase from authorized agents under LCBO’s Specialty Services. 

New wholesale pricing model introduced

As directed by the provincial government, LCBO has implemented a new wholesale pricing model based on a formula that adds taxes, mark-ups, and fees to the supplier’s quote. The new pricing model closely aligns with industry standard best practices and will streamline and simplify the current wholesale pricing model.

Hospitality licensees should be aware that it may take longer to process in-store orders since our Point of Sale (POS) system will be unable to support new wholesale pricing until early 2027, and manual workarounds will be required. We encourage you to allow more time when shopping in store and we thank you in advance for your understanding as we transform our business.  

If you’re looking for a more seamless experience that will save you time, we encourage you to shop on wholesale.lcbo.com, where you have the option to deliver to your business or pick up the order in store. Click here to learn more about ordering online.

If you’re unable to order online, you have the option of emailing or calling your regular LCBO store in advance to place an order for pick‑up, allowing the order to be prepared for you. Please note that while we can prepare your order in advance, we no longer accept credit cards over the phone.  

Information and resources

- FAQs

- Training module: Claims submission and key FSM changes

You can contact your Client Service Coordinator with any questions or email  licensee@lcbo.com.