The Ontario Liquor Licence Act and Regulations govern all aspects of liquor licencing in the Province of Ontario. In addition to establishing the process by which a business may acquire a liquor licence, the legislation also regulates the manner in which alcohol is distributed and served in licenced establishments. The failure of a licensee to comply with the legislation can lead to an imposition of a condition on a licence, a suspension of a licence for a prescribed amount of time or worse, the revocation of a licence.
Under the Act, a licensee is prohibited from “permitting drunkenness” on their licenced premises. If a patron is suspected to be “drunk”, a licensee is required to take steps to have that patron removed from the licensed establishment. “Drunkenness” however is not defined in the Act or its regulations. Instead, whether a patron was or is “drunk” is to be determined on a case-by-case basis having regard to all the circumstances and context of each case.
