Wine-makers in Canada call for changes to restrictive regulations

Ontario winemakers are hoping for a good year for their industry — but several factors are suspending the industry in uncertainty.

The past few years have been challenging for the wine industry in Canada: the pandemic, the drop in tourism, and, most prolifically, the impact of climate change.

Ilya Senchuk, an Ontario-based winemaker, says the fluctuating variables the industry faces each year make things very unpredictable.

“We don’t really know what to expect year in and year out. Every harvest we find the swings really big … The wines themselves end up being good but its a lot of work,” he said.

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Last week, the federal government announced continued support for small wineries.

For Senchuk and his wife Nadia, it will roughly cover the cost of one employee.

“It really just gives us the opportunity to stay competitive and just grow,” she said.

Another area of concern is British Columbia.

That province’s wine industry was hit by the brutal cold this winter that killed vines and may have wiped out more than 95 percent of the province’s wine production for the year.

Ian Paton, a member of British Columbia’s legislative assembly, is fighting to get what he says is restrictive regulation that’s holding back the industry’s recovery changed.

“We need to lessen the regulations so that we can bring in some grapes from Ontario and Washington state so that our winemakers can continue to make some wine and stay in business.”

Even though the British Columbia wine industry has been hit by a disaster this year, there’s hope here that it could lead to positive changes for the entire Canadian wine industry.

“So I really hope that Ontario wines and Ontario grapes make it into B.C. and we work together as an industry,” Nadia Senchuk said.

“Any time we’re working together and Canadian provinces are working together to make better Canadian wine, I think that’s amazing.”