As you may be aware, on February 11, 2026, the federal government announced the annual excise duty rate increase of two per cent for the coming fiscal year, starting April 1, 2026. The adjusted excise rates are listed in the Appendix (page two of the letter posted below). The rates of excise duty are adjusted annually to the Consumer Price Index on April 1 every year.
Please note that the B.C. wholesale prices will automatically be updated on April 1, 2026, to reflect the annual excise duty increase. A list of impacted SKUs is available now for downloading from the vendor website.
The BC Liquor Distribution Branch (LDB) price change deadline for Period 1 (effective April 1, 2026) is 11:59 p.m. (PST) Wednesday, February 25, 2026, for agents and suppliers to submit any price change requests. This deadline will apply to both Wholesale Price Changes and Promotions and price change requests can be made using the self-service online Wholesale Price Management (WPM) application.
The LDB’s Wholesale pricing calculator tool with the updated excise rates is available on WPM and the vendor website now to reassess wholesale costing and pricing information. Please note: if you have already submitted price changes for Period 1 in WPM, you may wish to revisit your submission to make sure your wholesale price takes into account the adjusted excise rates using the updated wholesale pricing calculator tool.
The approved wholesale price list for Period 1 (effective April 1, 2026) will be published on Monday, March 2, 2026.
More information about these excise duty rate changes is available here:
If you have any questions related to wholesale pricing, please contact wholesalepricing@bcldb.com.