Checking ID in Ontario: When the Law Makes You Ask

The legal drinking age in an Ontario liquor sales licensed establishment is 19. Every ID rule below hangs off that number, and one other number sits close enough to confuse it. Staff who handle liquor must be at least 18.

Two offences, not one

Section 33 of the Liquor Licence and Control Act, 2019 turns the age into two separate offences for the person selling:

• Knowingly selling or supplying liquor to a person under 19.
• Selling or supplying liquor to a person who appears to be under 19.

The second one turns on how old the guest appears, not on the guest's real age. A guest who is 21 and looks 17 still puts you in breach when nobody checks.

Section 33 also covers your floor. A licensee, or an employee or agent, must not knowingly permit a person under 19 to have or consume liquor on the licensed premises. Permitting a person who appears under 19 to do so breaks the same section.

What the law asks of the guest

Section 34 of the Act puts duties on the young person. No person under 19 shall have, consume, attempt to purchase, purchase or otherwise obtain liquor. The offence is complete when the minor tries, whether or not you serve them.

Section 35 deals with the card they hand you. When trying to buy liquor, no person shall present as evidence of age any documentation other than documentation lawfully issued to them. A forged card breaks that rule, and so does a genuine licence borrowed from an older sister.

When the law makes you inspect

Section 9 of O. Reg. 746/21, the licensing regulation, makes the ID check a condition of every licence. The licensee must ensure that an item of identification of a person who appears to be under 19 years of age is inspected before:

• liquor is sold or served to the person
• liquor is delivered to the person
• the person is admitted to premises whose licence bars entry by under-19s
• the person picks up liquor ordered online from a grocery store, convenience store or wine boutique
• the licensee permits the person to make beer or wine at a ferment on premises facility

The trigger age is 19, the same number as the drinking age. The inspection comes before the sale, service or delivery, never after. The AGCO says the same thing in plainer words: ask every time, regardless of familiarity.

What counts as an item of identification

Section 9 of the licensing regulation defines it. The document must:

• include a photograph of the person
• state the person's date of birth
• reasonably appear to have been issued by a government or the LCBO

A photo, a date of birth, and a government or LCBO issuer make an item of identification. No photo, no item of identification, whatever else the card gets right.

The AGCO lists these common forms of identification accepted in Ontario:

• Ontario driver's licence with a photograph
• Photo card issued under the Photo Card Act
• Canadian Permanent Resident Card
• Canadian Secure Indian Status Card
• Canadian passport
• LCBO BYID photo card
• Canadian Armed Forces Identification Card
• Canadian Citizenship Card with a photograph, valid only if issued before February 1, 2012

The AGCO adds two habits. Examine the ID by hand, and check that it has not expired. Spotting a fake ID covers the rest of the physical check.

Who decides whether a guest "appears" under 19

Section 76 of the Act answers that. In a prosecution under the appearance clauses of section 33, a court may decide whether the person appeared under 19, from their appearance and from other relevant circumstances.

So a court can reach its own view of the guest you served, whatever you honestly believed. When you catch yourself guessing, ask for the ID.

Subsection 33(5) is where your protection sits. Relying on documentation of a prescribed type, with no reason to doubt it or the person holding it, clears the appears-under-19 branch. It does not cover a knowing sale to a person under 19. Thick lamination, printing that does not match, or a photo that does not match the face all give you a reason to doubt.

Section 35 makes it the guest's offence to present a card that was not lawfully issued to them. That offence is theirs, and it is not your defence.

The 18-year-old on your shift

The licensing regulation sets a different age for staff. Under section 11, any person who sells, offers for sale, serves, delivers or handles liquor on the licensee's behalf, or who provides samples, must be at least 18 years of age. The AGCO sets the same working age of 18.

Section 11 also exempts an 18-year-old from the possession offence in section 34 while working for a licensee. That exception is about possession at work. Your 18-year-old server can carry the tray and pour the pint, and cannot drink it.

The rule travels to the doorstep

Delivery moves the service point, and the checks travel with it. A licensee cannot deliver liquor to, or allow a delivery to be accepted by, anyone under 19 years of age. Where a person appears to be under 19, the licensee must inspect that person's identification, and valid ID must be current, reasonably appear to have been issued by a government or the LCBO, and include a photo of the person and their birth date.

Read the age rule again. It names the person who accepts the delivery, not only the person who ordered. A 25-year-old can pay online and the delivery still fails when a 17-year-old opens the door.

The trap to expect on the test

The test likes to swap 18 and 19. Nineteen is the drinking age. Eighteen is the minimum age to handle liquor at work, and the minimum age to deliver it.

Expect a guest who turns out to be 21 but looks 17, with nobody checking. That sale still breaks section 33, because the clause asks how the person appears. Watch for a document with no photograph among the answer options, because section 9 of the licensing regulation requires one.

Keep going

The free lessons The age rule and what counts as ID and Checking ID like you mean it go deeper on both halves of this job. When an ID fails, how to refuse service politely covers the conversation that follows.

Checking ID and minors carries 20% of the course. The Smart Serve practice test guide shows how those questions read, and the free practice test puts a set in front of you now.