Despite widespread reports that Ontario grocery stores would face a strict quota when selling beer -- 279 six packs daily -- the latest news is that retailers will be able to go over their daily cap so long as they're willing to pay the government a fee/penalty that represents 1 per cent of the cost of the beer.

What that means is that most (if not all) grocery stores licensed to sell beer will choose not to close off beer sales in a given day. Additional details related to beer sales in Ontario will be announced in early October, as the Liberals fine tune the initial revisions to provincial regulations.

The actual roll out date for beer in supermarkets is still not yet known, though we'll have to wait until 2018 for full scale implementation. As for wine sales, that picture is even less clear as complications related to international trade agreements have proved difficult to navigate. A report regarding wine in grocery stores is expected by the end of the year.