Finance committee  That's a good question. Getting a frame of reference for how big is big and how small is small is really challenging. There are a lot of different business models. Some people have tap rooms and just plan to trade out their front door. One of Canada's largest multinational craft breweries does 620 million hectolitres.

Finance committee  Yes, that's correct. The employment numbers are correct, but the profitability threshold is around 20,000 hectolitres. The vast majority of Canadian craft brewers actually produce 10,000 hectolitres or below. You've put so much capital up front and you're growing so rapidly, and because of the inefficiency of our sector, it takes a lot of people, and you buy in small quantities, so the expenses really are pretty grand.

Finance committee  Yes, there are export markets. Export becomes a bit of a challenge for our sector just because of the shelf durability, since we're a fresh food, and it can be an expensive market to access. In terms of our own market, while beer as a whole is declining, craft beer in Canada is growing.

Finance committee  We'd lose a lot of that innovation. We'd lose a lot of the vitality. I look at Alberta, which is out my front door. A lot of our small communities now have craft breweries that are representing community hubs. They're a place for people to gather and a place for people to do fundraisers.

Finance committee  That's correct—rightsizing the hectolitre growth, because 75,000 hectolitres in the grand scheme of things actually isn't very large, and we'd like to protect and give room to grow for these brewers so that they don't fall off a tax cliff.

Finance committee  Thank you for having me present to the committee today. My name is Brad Goddard. I am the chair of the Coalition of Canadian Independent Craft Brewers, an organization representing 16 of Canada’s leading independent craft brewers. In 2021, under the advice of the government, our group undertook to engage MNP, a large national accounting firm, to conduct the first-ever economic impact study of our unique manufacturing sector.