“Canada’s Low Risk Drinking Guidelines have not changed.

They are still 10 drinks per week for women, 15 drinks per week for men.”

Low Risk Drinking Guidelines

Some countries, including Canada, issue “Low Risk Drinking Guidelines” (“LRDGs”) which are designed to help citizens make informed decisions about drinking and to reduce the health risks associated with consumption.

It is important to keep in mind that these are only guidelines to help you educate yourself and that each individual has different risk factors including lifestyle, diet and genetics. Only you can determine what amount of consumption, if any, is appropriate for you.

Since 2011, Canada’s LDRGs have been to limit consumption as follows.

For Women:

  • 2 standard drinks per day

  • 10 standard drinks per week

  • 3 standard drinks on special occasions

  • Avoid drinking alcohol on some days

For Men:

  • 3 standard drinks per day

  • 15 standard drinks per week

  • 4 standard drinks on special occasions

  • Avoid drinking alcohol on some days

You can read the official LRDGs on Health Canada’s web site. You can also view the LRDGs for other countries which may provide useful comparisons.

You may have read media reports or heard that Canada’s LRDGs have recently changed to significantly lower limits. This is NOT correct. The LRDGs have not changed and remain the same as they were in 2011. You can see that they have not changed by visiting the Health Canada link.

The lower limits that you may have heard about are a set of recommendations contained in a report from an advisory group that was asked to do a review of the current LRDGs. The recommendations have not been accepted by Health Canada at this time. It is the view of CARD that this set of recommendations is flawed and should not be adopted. You can read our analysis of these issues here.

In the interim, CARD recommends that you educate yourself with respect to moderate consumption and that you determine what amount of consumption, if any, is appropriate for you. Please see our Sensible Drinking Guidelines for Canadians page. If you need assistance with consumption issues for yourself or anyone else, we recommend that you speak to your doctor or consult the resources set out here.