{"id":57528,"date":"2026-06-30T10:37:52","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T10:37:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/my.legal500.com\/developments\/?post_type=legal_developments&p=57528"},"modified":"2026-06-30T10:37:52","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T10:37:52","slug":"can-i-see-your-id-quebec-limits-energy-drinks-to-16","status":"publish","type":"legal_developments","link":"https:\/\/my.legal500.com\/developments\/thought-leadership\/can-i-see-your-id-quebec-limits-energy-drinks-to-16\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cCan I see your ID?\u201d: Qu\u00e9bec limits energy drinks to 16+"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Written by:<\/span>Amy Pressman<\/a>Fran\u00e7ois Tremblay<\/a>Miles Schaffrick<\/a><\/div>\n
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On June 11, 2026, Qu\u00e9bec\u2019s National Assembly passed\u00a0Bill 9<\/a>,\u00a0An Act to prevent the harmful effects of energy drinks on the health of young people\u00a0<\/em>(collectively, the Bill and the Act), making Qu\u00e9bec the first jurisdiction in North America to restrict access to energy drinks by age. The legislation, which received Royal Assent the same day, prohibits the sale of energy drinks to anyone under 16 and will come into force six months after assent.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The bill was introduced on June 5, 2026, and moved through the legislative process on an expedited basis, passing through introduction, committee consultations, clause-by-clause study, report stage, and final adoption within six sitting days. It received near-unanimous support at every stage. The legislation has been informally dubbed the \u201cZachary Miron Act,\u201d after a 15-year-old who died in 2024 after consuming a can of Red Bull in combination with ADHD medication.<\/p>\n

Overview of key provisions<\/strong><\/p>\n

Definition of energy drinks<\/em><\/p>\n

The Act defines an energy drink as a beverage with a caffeine concentration of 150 milligrams per litre or more that contains other ingredients such as taurine, vitamins, or minerals. As of this date, no draft regulations have been published.<\/p>\n

Coffee, tea, and natural health products regulated under the federal\u00a0Food and Drugs Act<\/em>\u00a0are excluded from the definition, though the government retains regulatory authority to specify additional products or classes of products that are or are not considered energy drinks.<\/p>\n

Age-based restrictions<\/em><\/p>\n

The legislation prohibits the sale of energy drinks to persons under 16. It also prohibits the sale of energy drinks to a person 16 or older where the vendor knows the purchase is being made on behalf of a minor. Persons under 16 are themselves prohibited from purchasing energy drinks for themselves or others and from misrepresenting their age to do so. Vendors and their employees may require purchasers to produce government-issued photo identification showing name and date of birth, and must refuse the sale if the identification produced cannot prove the purchaser\u2019s identity. The provision of energy drinks at no cost is also treated as a sale under the Act, meaning that the age-based restrictions and verification requirements apply to free distribution.<\/p>\n

Online and vending machine sales<\/em><\/p>\n

The Act prohibits the sale of energy drinks other than in the physical presence of the vendor or an employee of the vendor and the purchaser, except in circumstances provided for, and in compliance with Government regulation. This could effectively ban online sales and vending machine sales of energy drinks to all consumers. That said, the provisions governing online and vending machine sales will not come into force until the first regulation under this section is made, and no draft regulations have been published as of this date, meaning there is currently no fixed date for this aspect of the legislation.<\/p>\n

Inspection and enforcement<\/em><\/p>\n

Compliance inspections lie with Sant\u00e9 Qu\u00e9bec. Inspectors may conduct compliance tests, including the use of underage persons acting as test purchasers. Inspectors may also require persons present at or leaving premises where energy drinks are sold to produce proof of age, provided the inspector has a reasonable belief that the person purchased an energy drink.<\/p>\n

Penalties<\/em><\/p>\n

The fine structure is tiered:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Offender<\/strong><\/td>\nFine<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Person under 16 who purchases for self or another, sells, or misrepresents age<\/td>\n$100<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Adult (non-merchant) who sells to a minor or sells online\/via vending machine<\/td>\n$500 \u2013 $1,500<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Merchant (natural person)<\/td>\n$2,500 \u2013 $25,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Merchant (corporation)<\/td>\n$5,000 \u2013 $62,500<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

All minimum and maximum fines are doubled for subsequent offences. A due diligence defence is available: no penalty may be imposed on a defendant who demonstrates that a reasonable effort was made to verify the purchaser\u2019s age and that there were reasonable grounds to believe the person was 16 or over. Obstruction of inspectors or investigators is subject to the same fine ranges applicable to merchants.<\/p>\n

Mandatory review<\/em><\/p>\n

The Minister of Health must publish a follow-up report within two years of coming into force and assess the appropriateness of maintaining or modifying the Act\u2019s provisions within three years.<\/p>\n

Parliamentary debate<\/strong><\/p>\n

Health Minister B\u00e9langer described the bill as the product of a transpartisan effort, noting that it built on the work of the Qu\u00e9bec Advisory Committee on Energy Drinks. She emphasized that energy drinks are easily accessible, frequently confused with conventional sugary beverages, and marketed aggressively to young people. She also announced the creation of a working group, comprising representatives from industry, the retail sector, and public health, to accompany the Act\u2019s implementation and to be consulted before any regulatory amendments.<\/p>\n

Industry response<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Canadian Beverage Association\u00a0argues<\/a>\u00a0the process of enacting the Act \u201cprecluded meaningful factual, scientific, and medical analysis,\u201d introduces a definition of energy drinks inconsistent with Health Canada\u2019s federal regulatory framework, creates confusion for consumers and enforcement authorities, and imposes restrictions that are \u201cdisproportionate and disconnected from the demonstrated level of risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Canadian Beverage Association further pointed out that experts from the INSPQ, the Ordre des pharmaciens du Qu\u00e9bec, and the Association des cardiologues du Qu\u00e9bec testified that energy drink consumption among Qu\u00e9bec adolescents is low and that the scientific evidence does not demonstrate a causal link between energy drinks and health harm, including in the context of use with medication.<\/p>\n

It should be noted that energy drinks are already subject to\u00a0regulation<\/a>\u00a0by Health Canada. The Canadian Federal\u00a0Regulations Amending the Food and Drug Regulations and the Cannabis Regulations (Supplemented Foods)<\/em>\u00a0(the Supplemented Foods Regulations) apply to supplemented foods in Qu\u00e9bec, including energy drinks. The Supplemented Foods Regulations restrict the amount of caffeine in energy drinks from all sources to a total of 180 mg per serving and contain mandatory labelling and prescribed cautionary statement requirements. Notably, caffeinated energy shots are regulated by the\u00a0Natural Health Products Regulations<\/em>\u00a0and are already age-restricted in Canada.<\/p>\n

Key takeaways and practical implications<\/strong><\/p>\n

Qu\u00e9bec is the first province to impose age-based restrictions on the sale of energy drinks. For businesses, the key practical implications are:<\/p>\n