New 2023 guidance on alcohol consumption and health

January 23, 2023

The Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA) has released new guidance on the consumption of alcohol and health.

Canada’s Guidance on Alcohol and Health is based on the latest research on alcohol-related risks. It is an update of Canada’s Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines, published over a decade ago. Extensive evidence confirms that when it comes to drinking alcohol, less is better. The new CCSA guidance helps people make informed decisions about alcohol use and their health and puts forward a clear continuum of risk, where the risk of harm from alcohol is:

  • Low for individuals who consume 2 standard drinks or fewer per week
  • Moderate for those who consume between 3 and 6 standard drinks per week
  • Increasingly high for those who consume 7 standard drinks or more per week
  • Consuming more than 2 standard drinks per drinking occasion means an increased risk of harms to self and others, including injuries and violence
  • When pregnant or trying to get pregnant, there is no known safe amount of alcohol use
  • When breastfeeding, not drinking alcohol is safest

Health risks, costs and regulations

Alcohol is a widely consumed drug. It is a socially accepted drug that is heavily promoted and readily available, contributing to alcohol being a normal part of our culture. Unfortunately, the majority of Canadians are unaware that alcohol is classified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a Class 1 carcinogen (i.e. same class as tobacco smoke and asbestos). A Class 1 carcinogen means that there is strong and convincing evidence that a food, drink or toxin causes cancer. It does not mean that everyone who drinks alcohol above the low-risk threshold will get cancer.

The evidence that informed the new guidelines shows that consuming alcohol increases the risk of seven types of cancer1, most types of cardiovascular diseases, liver disease and violence.

Alcohol use can harm not only drinkers but those around them (assaults, impaired driving, etc.) and has significant costs and impacts on health and social services. In Ontario, total alcohol-related costs due to healthcare and enforcement costs exceed provincial alcohol revenues. In 2017, the cost of alcohol in Ontario was $6166 million for healthcare, criminal justice, lost productivity and other direct costs.2

As stated by the CCSA, Canadians “deserve access to the best available information on the risk of alcohol consumption.” No one is telling Canadians to not drink. The goal of the new guidelines and York Region Public Health are to help people/residents understand he new evidence that makes it clear that the more an individual drinks, the more an individual increases risks to their health.

The new Canada's Guide on Alcohol and Health also makes recommendations to strengthen government regulations around alcohol advertising and marketing and the adoption of minimum prices for alcohol. The Guide also recommends mandatory labelling of all alcoholic beverages to list the number of standard drinks in a container, health warnings and nutrition information, among others.

For more information

For Canada's Guide on Alcohol and Health as well as background information and supporting documents, please visit ccsa.ca/canadas-guidance-alcohol-and-health

1 The most recent available data show that the use of alcohol causes nearly 7,000 cases of cancer deaths each year in Canada, with most cases being breast or colon cancer, followed by cancers of the rectum, mouth and throat, liver, esophagus and larynx. Update of Canada’s Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines: Final Report for Public Consultation (CCSA, 2022)

2 Canadian Substance Use Costs and Harms https://csuch.ca/publications/CSUCH-Canadian-Substance-Use-Costs-Harms-Ontario-Infographic-2021-en.pdf