Associations

More than 800 exhibitors and 2,000 new product launches set the tone at this year's Sweets & Snacks Expo — the 22nd annual event hosted by the National Confectioners Association (NCA).

The Ontario Convenience Stores Association and its affiliate property, FreeourBeer.ca, are partnering with the Ontario Government on a new website designed to educate the public and convenience store operators about plans to expand alcohol sales in the province.

Canada is home to just shy of 12,000 fueling sites.

A report from The Retail Council of Canada maintains that Ontario’s new alcohol laws allowing people to buy booze at more locations will stimulate the economy, create new jobs and bring down the price of alcohol.The Spring 2019 Retail Perspectives report delves into deregulation of the alcohol market in British Columbia and notes that liquor licensing a grocery store increases store sales by an estimated $880,000.The report states: “That number is significant, in part because of just how under served the Ontario market is.

Quebec is within its rights to legislate on vaping, but a provision banning demonstrations of vaping products inside shops or specialized clinics goes too far, a Quebec judge has ruled.

The Convenience Industry Council of Canada recently announced the appointment of Matthew Ellis as its VP, Government and Stakeholder Relations.Ellis is from Prince Edward Island and brings with him almost 20 years of experience as a senior advisor to elected officials at all levels of government.

The Convenience Industry Council of Canada is unveiling its new website.

Canadian cigarette packs will have to be plain drab brown with standardized layouts and lettering under new rules that start this fall, Health Canada says.Manufacturers will have to begin complying with labelling rules for packages and dimensions for cigarettes by Nov.

Forcing gas station operators to display Ontario government stickers on the federal carbon tax violates their rights and freedoms, the province's chamber of commerce said April 25, as it asked the Progressive Conservatives to reverse their decision.In a letter to the Energy Minister Greg Rickford, chamber president Rocco Rossi said the group's members are concerned about the "political nature'' of the decals, which were unveiled earlier this month as part of the Tory government's fight against the federal levy."Our members—including gas station operators—have expressed concerns regarding the political nature of the stickers, viewing them as a violation of their rights and freedoms," Rossi said.Ontario has introduced legislation that requires stickers—in English and French—to be put on gas pumps showing that the tax has added 4.4 cents a litre to the price of gasoline and that will rise to 11 cents per litre by 2022.The government said earlier this month the stickers will cost taxpayers approximately $5,000 to print 25,000 decals but that does not cover the cost to distribute them to the province's 3,200 gas stations.Gas station operators who don't display the government-mandated stickers could be subject to fines of up to $10,000 per day.Rossi called on the government to scrap the section in the legislation, which mandates the stickers.“This initiative is an example of unnecessary red tape: it is both a new administrative burden and an increased cost to business thanks to the punitive and outsized fines for non-compliance,” he said in the letter.Rickford defended the stickers, saying in a statement that the federal carbon tax will have a negative impact on every one in the province.“Ontario families have the right to know exactly what the Trudeau carbon tax costs them every time they fill up at the pump,” he said in a statement.

The Canadian Carwash Association officially unveiled its Board of Directors for 2019/2020, introducing a mix of new and familiar faces.