Retail beer vendor licenses are issued by the LGCA to hotels that meet prescribed requirements. Please contact LGCA directly for information regarding a retail beer vendor license.
General Information and License Information
Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries (MBLL) is the exclusive wholesaler of beverage alcohol in Manitoba and sells to authorized private retailers. Retailers can only purchase beverage alcohol through MBLL.
MBLL through written agreement may authorize the sale of liquor at a location if it is not economically advisable to operate a Liquor Mart in an area.
Application Criteria - Rural Liquor Vendors - All criteria must be met in order to be considered
- MBLL will enter into an agreement with one (1) retailer per community and surrounding trade area provided all the following condition are met:
- Greater than 30 KM’s from Winnipeg; must be 15KM’s away from a current liquor vendor.
- Within 30 KM’s of Winnipeg; must be 10KM’s away from a current liquor vendor.
- Minimum population of community of 300 permanent residents.
- Must be in an established retail core business (grocery, pharmacy, hardware store preferred).
- Applicant must demonstrate financial capacity to support inventory requirements
- Applicant must be eligible to hold a retail license form the LGCA.
- Applicant must have support of community/municipality.
Application Process - Rural Liquor Vendors
In order to become a liquor retailer, applicants must successfully complete the application process and enter into a Liquor Vendor Agreement with MBLL. Applicants must also be issued an applicable retail licence from the Liquor, Gaming and Cannabis Authority of Manitoba (LGCA). Individual application processing times will vary depending on (among other things) MBLL processing time/volume/resources, LGCA processing time/volume/resources, and the individual processing/response time of the Applicant.
Circumstances that may prolong an application timeline include but are not limited to the following:
- Complexity of the ownership structure
- Incomplete application submissions requiring additional and/or multiple discussions with the Applicant
- Applicant delays in responding to either MBLL or LGCA when requesting clarifications or further information
- Applicant delays in providing MBLL with a signed Liquor Vendor Agreement and supporting documents
- The location/site is not ready/does not meet initial MBLL requirements
Applicants will work with both MBLL and LGCA throughout their application process.
All aspects of all applications are subject to ongoing reviews by MBLL and LGCA.