BOW VALLEY – The Alberta government wants to set “Alberta Whisky” apart on the shelves and a Canmore distillery is on board.
The Alberta Whisky Act, or Bill 24, introduced on March 31, would outline what can be labelled as “Alberta Whisky,” in an effort to give the product more recognition in Canada and around the world.
“It’s fantastic for our industry,” said Matt Widmer, co-owner of Canmore Wild Life Distillery. “It’s nice to get some government recognition for the work that a lot of the craft industry and the larger scale industry, as well, has been doing.”
If passed, the act would distinguish Alberta-made whisky with a unique label, indicating the product meets quality standards, including a minimum aging period, use of local ingredients and a distinct distilling process.
“Just like Kentucky is known for bourbon and Scotland is known for scotch, we want Alberta to be known for great whisky,” said Dale Nally, minister of service Alberta and red tape reduction.
Using water sourced from the Rockies and Alberta grain, Widmer says Wild Life Distillery’s whisky already meets every quality standard outlined in the act but the proposed law would still help create more credibility for their products – and for other Alberta distillers – across Canada and internationally.
“We’re from this place. We want to support regional agriculture and we want to support farmers. We want to produce products that make sense in Alberta,” Widmer said, noting the distillery earned two of the top titles at the 2026 Canadian Whisky Awards.
“There’s a lot of smoke and mirrors in terms of what producers put into a bottle,” Widmer added. “[The act] is going to build consumer confidence and that has been a huge issue because there’s nobody auditing that.”
Widmer hopes the government’s plans would also help bring clarity and support education around what defines quality whisky.
“It’s only been 10 years or 12 years in Alberta where craft distilleries have even been a thing and inevitably there’s just a lag with understanding, like people call us a brewery all the time … so it’s an uphill battle with education,” said Widmer, who also sits on the Alberta Craft Distillers Association board.
“I think this act moves in a really positive step to gain the government’s trust, which will then gain the public’s trust and will then flow into international recognition, which we’re going to do our best to support.”
Beyond the bottle, the province says the act could also mean a boost on the tourism front, pointing to a proposed industry-led “Alberta Whisky Trail,” similar to the Kentucky Bourbon Trail.
If it went ahead, Widmer says he would hope to see Wild Life Distillery and the Bow Valley on that map.
“We’ll definitely be putting our hand up to be on that route,” he said.
“I don’t think people come to Alberta just for spirits at this point, but I think the whisky act and the whisky trail could change that, so that’s the new traveller, the new visitor that I think it’s going to accomplish if they get it right.”
The government says the trail would be another avenue to meet the province’s goal of reaching $25 billion in annual visitor spending by 2035.
“We’re lucky; we’re in Canmore. The mountains draw lots of visitors anyway, annually, but I think for some of the more rural producers, the trail will be the significant lever where they struggle a little bit with location for visitation,” Widmer added.
During third reading of the bill on April 16, Banff-Kananaskis MLA Sarah Elmeligi thanked Bow Valley distillers, naming Park Distillery in Banff, Wild Life Distillery and Bragg Creek Distillers for enhancing the “overall Bow Valley tourism experience.”
“For these distilleries it’s about a lot more than whisky. These are small business owners in rural communities creating community, providing opportunities for people to spend time and to connect with each other. It’s about growing local business, it’s about innovation, like the crabapple gin, it’s about diversifying our rural economies,” she said, pointing to one of Wild Life Distillery’s initiatives to reduce human-bear conflicts in the Bow Valley by collecting crabapples from fruit trees, that often draw bears into town, and making gin out of them.
“All of them make great whisky and they all have potential for growth to distribute and share their product more.”
While in support of the bill overall and noting its “potential,” Elmeligi said, during the debate, she would like to see the proposed legislation go a step further.
“I sure wish the bill was accompanied with some economic strategy and some economic and capital investments in helping to make Alberta whisky the strong and reliable brand that it could be that will effectively attract tourists to Alberta,” she added.
“I’m not convinced that an ingredient list is the same as intentionally creating a tourism program around Alberta whisky.”
While the bill is still under review, if passed, distilleries could choose to participate in the designation or not, meaning they could still produce whisky that does not meet “Alberta Whisky” criteria.
The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada. This position covers Îyârhe (Stoney) Nakoda First Nation and Kananaskis Country.
By Leah Pelletier, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Original Published on May 08, 2026 at 08:16
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