page_title: Liquor Control Board of Ontario
section_title: Mandate and accountability
hierarchical_section_title: Liquor Control Board of Ontario / Mandate and accountability
caption_attribution_description: English: LCBO, 5095 Yonge Street
context_page_description: The Liquor Control Board of Ontario is a Crown corporation that retails and distributes alcoholic beverages throughout the Canadian province of Ontario. It is accountable to the Ministry of Finance. It was established in 1927 on the advice of Ontario Premier Howard Ferguson, to sell liquor, wine, and beer. Such sales had been banned outright in 1916 as part of prohibition in Canada; thus, the creation of the LCBO marked an easing of the province's temperance regime. By September 2017, the LCBO was operating 651 liquor stores.
  The LCBO maintained a "quasi-monopoly" on the trade in alcoholic beverage sales in Ontario for nearly a century after its creation: for most of this time, LCBO stores were the only retail outlets licensed to sell alcohol in Ontario, with the notable exceptions of beer and a number of wine shops, which had once been relatively diverse but had largely consolidated into two major chains by the 2010s: the Wine Shop and Wine Rack. Many of these independent outlets were located on-site at wineries, breweries or distilleries themselves, with Wine Shop and Wine Rack locations often located within grocery stores.
context_section_description: The mandate of the Board is to supervise the business affairs of the LCBO. Among its responsibilities are:
  ensuring that the LCBO provides high-quality service to the public;
  developing and approving the strategic plan and monitoring management's success in meeting its business plans;
  approving annual financial plans;
  ensuring that the organization remains financially sound;
  assessing the management of business risks;
  submitting an annual financial plan to the Minister of Finance;
  ensuring the organization has communications programs to inform stakeholders of significant business developments;
  ensuring that the LCBO performs its regulatory role in a fair and impartial manner.
  The LCBO is accountable to its stakeholders in a number of ways, including:
  its Annual Report, required to be tabled in the Provincial Legislature and available for all Ontarians to review, either in print or online at .
  annual audits of LCBO financial statements by the Office of the Provincial Auditor, as well as internal value-for-money audits of specific LCBO programs, including store planning.
  public access to records under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
  Board Members appointed by the Lieutenant-Governor, through Orders-in-Council, on the recommendation of the Premier and the Minister of Finance.
  various statutory reporting requirements under the Liquor Control Act to the Minister of Finance.
  compliance with Management Board's Agency Accountability Directives.
  The LCBO and the Ontario Ministry of Finance, to which it reports, have no Code of Conduct.  Conspicuously absent from the LCBO's published mandate and accountability guidelines are:
  any mention of clarity in labelling and signage, particularly related to contentious issues such as "Cellared in Canada" wine.  There is also no mention of clarity in labelling on the website of the Ontario Ministry of Consumer Services.
  any mention of fair and responsible treatment of stakeholders such as wine agents, wineries and breweries. Many of them are small businesses which collectively contribute much to Ontario's economy.
caption: LCBO in Toronto
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