The Newfoundland sugar tax no longer exists. The Newfoundland and Labrador government eliminated its sugar-sweetened beverage tax effective July 1, 2025, after nearly three years in operation.1Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. Sugar Sweetened Beverage Tax From September 1, 2022 until June 30, 2025, the province charged $0.20 per litre on drinks with added sugar, making it the first Canadian province to adopt this kind of levy. Consumers no longer pay the surcharge at the register, and businesses no longer collect or remit it.
What the Tax Charged and on What
The rate was a flat $0.20 for every litre of taxable drink sold in the province. A 500-millilitre bottle added $0.10 to the price. A two-litre container added $0.40. The same per-litre cost applied to fountain and dispensed drinks as to bottled ones.2Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly. Statutes of Newfoundland and Labrador 2021 Chapter 16 – An Act to Amend the Revenue Administration Act No. 3 Concentrates and powders were taxed on the total volume of finished drink they produced when prepared as directed, so a frozen concentrate that made two litres carried $0.40 of tax.
The tax applied to any ready-to-drink product, concentrated mixture, or dispensed beverage where the manufacturer had added sugar. That covered soft drinks, energy drinks, sports drinks, sweetened iced teas, fruit-flavoured drinks that were not pure juice, sweetened flavoured waters, and fountain or slush drinks. Carbonation was not the trigger; added sugar was. A flat sweetened fruit punch was taxed the same as a cola.
Several categories fell outside the tax. One hundred percent fruit and vegetable juices with no added sugar were exempt, as were milk and plant-based milk alternatives, drinks sweetened only with non-caloric artificial sweeteners, infant formula, and beverages formulated for medicinal purposes. Alcoholic drinks were also outside the scope because they sit under separate provincial liquor taxation.
Retailers usually folded the charge into the shelf price rather than showing it as a separate line. According to one evaluation, fewer than one in four taxable products had the tax explicitly shown on the shelf tag, so many shoppers never saw it broken out.
What the Tax Did During Its Three Years
Research published after the tax took effect found real shifts in buying. Per capita sales of taxable sugar-sweetened beverages fell by about 12% in Newfoundland and Labrador, compared with a 7% decline in the Maritime provinces where no tax existed. Regular pop specifically dropped 13% per capita in the province against 8% in the Maritimes.3National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). Evaluating Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Tax Effects: Online Price and Sales Analysis Diet beverage sales rose slightly in the province while declining elsewhere, and plain water sales also rose.
On the consumption side, the likelihood of a person drinking any taxable sugary beverage in a given week fell by 24% after implementation, while the likelihood of consuming non-taxable drinks rose by 52%. The effect was uneven by income. People above the poverty threshold cut back more, and households experiencing food insecurity showed less change in their drinking habits.
On price, the tax raised regular shelf prices of taxable beverages by about 9% on average and sale prices by about 12%. It brought in roughly $11 million a year for the province, totalling about $35.5 million over its lifespan.
Why the Tax Ended and What It Means Now
On May 12, 2025, the government announced in the House of Assembly that it was eliminating the sugar-sweetened beverage tax. The province amended the Revenue Administration Regulations to make all sugar-sweetened beverages exempt, effective July 1, 2025.1Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. Sugar Sweetened Beverage Tax Wholesalers and retailers were directed to stop charging it on that date.
For shoppers in Newfoundland and Labrador, the practical effect is simple. Sugary drinks in the province no longer carry the $0.20-per-litre charge that applied between September 2022 and June 2025. For businesses that had been registered to collect and remit the tax, the obligation ended on the same date.