Crave a Steam Whistle on your back deck, but you can't make it to the LCBO in person?
No problem. Ontario residents could see liquor delivered right to their doors this year if the province has its way.
The provincial government announced in its 2016 budget, announced Thursday, that it is working on an "E-Commerce Platform" that would allow customers to order LCBO products online and have them delivered to their homes.
It's expected to be operational by "mid-2016," the budget said.
The e-commerce platform would provide "broader market access" by allowing liquor suppliers from around the world to advertise on the LCBO website.
The platform would be developed in concert with a "comprehensive alcohol policy framework" that would "support the safe and responsible consumption of alcohol."
Ontario's government had previously indicated that it was working on an online function that would allow customers to order booze, but Thursday's budget brought more details, The Toronto Star reported.
"By introducing online sales to the LCBO, we are expanding convenience and choice for consumers but not at the expense of social responsibility," Kelsey Ingram, spokesperson for Finance Minister Charles Sousa, told the newspaper in April.
LCBO spokesperson Christine Bujold told CityNews that it couldn't reveal any dates about when the platform would be available.
But she stressed that it would be announced "later this year."
The platform could allow for home delivery in two to three days, although customers could also pick up their liquor in store within four to 12 days if ordered online, suggested an LCBO e-commerce trade briefing session on Dec. 9, 2015.
The session indicated that LCBO hopes to roll out the online platform's first phase in April 2016.
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