The legal drinking age in Saskatchewan will remain at 19 years.

“We have heard from stakeholder groups and from people across the province that government should not change the drinking age in Saskatchewan,” Minister responsible for Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority Donna Harpauer said.  “While there were also some people that supported reducing the age to 18 years, it became clear that the majority urged government to maintain the status quo.”

The legal drinking age in Saskatchewan is consistent with the majority of other provinces.  Only Manitoba, Alberta and Quebec have lower drinking ages (18 years).  The issue of possibly lowering Saskatchewan’s legal drinking age to 18 was considered by government as a result of a resolution passed in November at the Saskatchewan Party’s annual convention.

“The decision to maintain the current legal drinking age is the right one and supported by police chiefs across the province,” Saskatchewan Association of Chiefs of Police Executive Member Dale Larsen said.

“We know that young people are already involved in a disproportionate amount of incidents involving alcohol so allowing young people to legally consume alcohol earlier would only make it worse.”