SAQ partners with Uber Eats, expands dépanneur mini-shops

Quebec's provincial liquor board is making moves to meet drinkers where they are—whether that's their couch or their corner dépanneur.

The SAQ announced this week that it will partner with Uber Eats to pilot one-hour alcohol delivery on the island of Montreal starting late February. The service will offer around 150 products during regular store hours, with plans to expand province-wide if the trial proves successful.

The timing raises eyebrows given the current political climate. The Legault government directed the SAQ to pull all American products from shelves last March as part of Quebec's response to trade tensions with the United States. Yet here's the Crown corporation handing its delivery business to a San Francisco-based platform.

SAQ vice-president of marketing Sandrine Bourlet drew a clear line between the two decisions. The product ban was political; the Uber partnership is commercial. When the SAQ put out its call for proposals, the only collaborative delivery platforms that applied were American or American-adjacent. Uber got the nod partly because of its existing alcohol delivery experience with Ontario's LCBO.

The choice didn't sit well with everyone. Eva, a Quebec-based delivery company that already handles logistics for the SQDC, had been in talks with the SAQ but wasn't surprised to be passed over. The liquor board wanted a marketplace model—customers ordering through Uber's app—rather than Eva's approach of embedding delivery directly into retailers' own websites.

Concordia researcher Éric Baril called the decision surprising, noting that local alternatives exist with better labour conditions for delivery workers. He speculated the SAQ may be chasing younger consumers who already live on platforms like Uber Eats.

Meanwhile, the SAQ is also pushing ahead with its Zone SAQ concept—compact displays of 30 to 40 products tucked into urban grocery stores and dépanneurs. After pausing the expansion last fall for consultations (the SAQ employees' union had raised concerns about privatization and responsible sales practices), the corporation now plans to open 92 new locations across Montreal, the South Shore, and Quebec City by summer. Eight pilot sites have been operating since spring.

The moves come as the SAQ grapples with declining consumption—volumes have dropped two to three percent annually over the past two fiscal years. Two more stores are closing, both in shopping malls: Champlain Mall in Brossard and Centre Eaton in downtown Montreal.

The corporation also quietly shuttered SAQ POP, its five-month-old tasting room experiment on Mont-Royal Avenue, back in December. That one was never meant to make money, officials said, just to test ideas and learn.