For generations, turning 19 came with a familiar rite of passage: going to a bar and ordering your first legal drink.
However, businesses and restaurants are now expanding their non-alcoholic options to meet demand for zero-proof drinks.
The percentage of Canadian post-secondary students who reported drinking alcohol in the previous year dropped from 84.3 per cent in 2019-20 to 74.9 per cent in 2024-25, according to the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction.
Statistics Canada also reported an increase in Canadians who don't drink. The proportion of Canadians aged 12 and older who reported no alcohol consumption in the previous year increased from 23 per cent in 2015 to 29 per cent in 2024.
For second-year University of Guelph-Humber student Jennifer Ashley, the price of drinks at bars and clubs means she and her friends often drink before going out.
“If we're going out, we'll usually get drinks from the LCBO and pre-drink because buying drinks at a bar all night is just too expensive,” Ashley said. “Once we actually get there, I might only buy one drink or not buy one at all.”
Barbara Chiechi, a second-year University of Guelph student, said she also usually drinks before going out.
“I usually pregame before going out, so I don't really buy drinks once I'm going out,” Chiechi said. “Maybe I'll buy one or two, but it really just depends on the night.”
Businesses in the non-alcoholic beverage industry say consumers are also looking for more options.
Gail Lynch, CEO and experience designer of ZERO Cocktail Bar in Toronto, has been alcohol-free for more than 10 years. Lynch created ZERO after experimenting with non-alcoholic cocktails during the pandemic.
However, Lynch said the growth of alcohol-free drinks shouldn't necessarily be interpreted as people giving up alcohol completely.
“I would dare say the majority of people are consuming alcohol,” Lynch said. “What they're saying is, you're mindfully consuming alcohol. So we're not going to drink alcohol every day. We're not going to be excessive.”
ZERO isn't marketed specifically toward people who are sober. Lynch said the goal is to give people who aren't drinking the same experience as someone ordering alcohol.
“If I can have an alcoholic Negroni, the other person should be able to have a non-alcoholic Negroni,” Lynch said.
Jesse Halliburton, co-founder of The Sobr Market, said demand for non-alcoholic products is becoming more mainstream.
The Sobr Market sells alcohol-free beer, wine, spirits and ready-to-drink beverages and works with restaurants and other businesses looking to expand their non-alcoholic offerings.
“We are finding this is becoming more and more mainstream. People want these options,” Halliburton said. “People want to be able to go for dinner, or go to an event and not be stuck with pop and water.”
Halliburton said younger customers tend to gravitate toward convenient options, including ready-to-drink cocktails, non-alcoholic beer and functional beverages.
“So many people are still looking for, in some way, the effects of alcohol, but without the negative impacts of alcohol,” Halliburton said.
Non-alcoholic options are not necessarily cheaper. Halliburton said some zero-proof spirits and dealcoholized wines can cost as much as or more than their alcoholic counterparts because of the ingredients and production involved.
“A lot of people put value on a beverage having alcohol, and they shouldn't,” Halliburton said. “It really should be the care and craft that goes into it.”
Lynch said ZERO's cocktails are similarly priced to traditional cocktails because they require comparable ingredients, preparation and expertise.
“You have to recognize that a cocktail is the crafting of flavours, not the introduction of alcohol,” Lynch said.
Halliburton said restaurants and bars are increasingly looking to add zero-proof drinks to their menus, with some designing cocktails as non-alcoholic by default and allowing customers to add alcohol.
For Lynch, the shift is less about eliminating alcohol and more about having a choice.
“The foundation of all of that is mindfulness,” Lynch said. “We are mindfully drinking.”
