All data effective February 2013, unless otherwise stated.

Agency stores: are operated in established retail businesses, in partnership with the LCBO, in communities too small to support regular LCBO stores. Selected through a competitive public tender process, agency stores provide beverage alcohol retail access in a cost-efficient, socially responsible manner to consumers.

Beer ambassadors: 150 LCBO employees specially trained to provide consumer beer knowledge and product information to our customers.

Brewery store (on-site): a retail store operated by a brewer at its manufacturing site.

BYID (Bring Your Identification) card: a tamper-resistant photo ID card issued by the LCBO and accepted as valid proof of age in all LCBO and Beer Stores and in licensed establishments.

Challenge and Refusal: an LCBO corporate social responsibility program in all stores that helps ensure beverage alcohol is not sold to minors, to persons who appear intoxicated, or to anyone making purchases on behalf of these groups.

Check 25: an LCBO corporate social responsibility program in which anyone appearing to be under the age of 25 is routinely asked for identification.

Classics Collection: offered by VINTAGES, the fine wines and spirits business unit of the LCBO. Each collection offers hundreds of premium-quality spirits, critically acclaimed wines from older vintages and sought-after selections from smaller producers and estates.

Combination or “combo” stores: LCBO stores selling a wide variety of domestic beers in every size as well as regular LCBO products. This format originated as a customer service initiative in smaller, usually rural communities, where there are no Beer Stores. Regular LCBO stores mainly sell six-packs and individual cans or bottles of selected domestic and imported beer.

Consignment Warehouse: a program that allows agents/suppliers to bring products not regularly sold at LCBO retail stores to an LCBO warehouse to be held for sale. Licensed suppliers’ agents are responsible for finding buyers for these products.

Corporate Social Responsibility: LCBO is committed to being a responsible retailer by promoting responsible consumption, fundraising to support Ontario communities, ensuring the products it imports and sells are safe, and lessening its impact on the environment. Social responsibility practices are considered as important as the LCBO’s mandate to provide a high level of customer service and maximize dividends for the provincial government.

CSR: an LCBO Customer Service Representative, trained to offer helpful, knowledgeable and socially responsible service.

Discover the World: the brand vision of the LCBO, designed to take customers on a journey of learning and discovery, demystifying the products we sell so that informed choices can be made more easily.

Distillery store (on-site): a retail store operated by a distiller at its manufacturing site.

Duty-free shop: a privately-operated retail shop located at an international airport in Ontario, or a bridge, tunnel or land-border exit from Ontario that sells items duty free and tax free to eligible travelers leaving Canada. They are licensed and federally regulated by the Canada Border Service Agency and authorized by the LCBO to sell beverage alcohol. There are 10 duty-free stores in Ontario: at Sarnia, Windsor (two), Fort Erie, Niagara Falls, Queenston, Prescott, Thousand Islands, Sault Ste. Marie, and Fort Frances, and four duty-free stores at Pearson International Airport in Toronto, Hamilton International Airport, Ottawa International Airport and Thunder Bay International Airport.

Essentials program: a core group of more than 200 world-renowned brands continuously available through VINTAGES.

Flavoured wine drinks: varietal wines mixed with essences of fruit and/or lightly carbonated.

FOOD & DRINK: LCBO’s free consumer publication, published six times a year, to help customers entertain responsibly and with ease.

Fortified wine: wine such as Port, Sherry and Madeira, whose alcohol level has been “fortified” by the addition of spirits.

Icewine: a dessert wine made from grapes – most often Vidal or Riesling – left on the vine until they freeze solid. Once the grapes are picked, ice crystals are removed, leaving behind an intensely sweet, concentrated juice often called “liquid gold.” Ontario Icewines are widely considered the best in the world, winning many awards in open competitions.

International-Canadian blends: a term developed by a working group comprised of members from the wine and grape growers industries and the LCBO to differentiate wines produced with a blend of foreign and domestic grapes from 100 per cent Ontario VQA wines.

LCBO Express stores: announced in December, these will be located within or adjacent to large grocery stores during the next 12–18 months and provide a wide range of products, including Ontario wine, spirits and beer. Staffed by LCBO employees, they will provide an additional convenient shopping experience for our customers.

LCBO Private Ordering Program: enables LCBO customers to obtain beverage alcohol products that may not be listed for sale in LCBO retail stores. Individuals can order case lots from anywhere in the world as long as the supplier will ship them to the LCBO.

Limited Time Offers (LTOs): month-long price discounts of up to 20 per cent on selected beverage alcohol products.

Liquor Control Act: provincial legislation passed in 1927 that gives the LCBO broad powers to control the transportation, sale and delivery of beverage alcohol in Ontario.

Mocktails: refreshing drinks that do not contain alcohol.

Microbrewery: a brewery that produces less than 150,000 hectolitres of beer annually.

Product consultants: 250 LCBO employees in VINTAGES areas in LCBO stores whose expert knowledge of wines, spirits and beers helps them inform customers and colleagues about every aspect of beverage alcohol.

Product Knowledge Correspondence Course: a three-level employee training program that is mandatory for all LCBO retail staff. The program is also available to the public in booklets at select stores.

Quality Assurance (QA): the LCBO department responsible for testing products for safety and analytical purposes. It also conducts chemical tests and taste assessments for outside agencies, such as other beverage alcohol regulators or retailers or the Vintners Quality Alliance and assists in confirming whether products seized by enforcement agencies were illegally manufactured or smuggled into Ontario. The QA laboratory is a state-of-the-art testing facility used to ensure beverage alcohol products sold in Ontario are in compliance with LCBO standards, are of sound quality, authentic and safe for consumption. (LCBO standards are based on applicable federal and provincial regulations.) Quality Services, a department within Quality Assurance, monitors, investigates and resolves product quality problems, packaging deficiencies and consumer complaints.

Ready-to-drink: a category of convenient and innovative products such as pre-mixed cocktails (also known as one-pour cocktails), coolers and flavoured wines. These products are already expertly mixed and require no additional preparation prior to consumption.

Single malt: a type of Scotch whisky made in a single distillery, in a pot still, with malted barley as the principal ingredient.

SMAART (Strategies for Managing Age & Alcohol-Related Troubles): LCBO’s comprehensive video-based training program designed to educate staff about responsible service and related judgment calls, alcohol issues and how to handle problem customers. All employees who serve the public are required to take SMAART training.

Spirit cooler: a mixture of spirits and soft drinks or fruit juices. Wine and beer-based coolers are also sold in LCBO stores.

Spirits advocates: 250 specially-trained LCBO employees who share their knowledge of beverage alcohol and product information with our customers. Ongoing training is provided to keep them apprised of new product information.

Special Occasion Permit: a one-time permit issued under the Liquor Licence Act by the AGCO and available in selected LCBO stores. It allows holders to serve or sell beverage alcohol at a specific location that is not a licensed establishment or a private place or residence.

Sweetness descriptors: launched in 2012, this system categorizes LCBO’s wine portfolio based on each product’s degree of sweetness. One of five terms, ranging from “extra dry” to “sweet,” is listed on shelf bin tags as well as the actual sugar content (grams of sugar per litre).

Value-adds: bonus items attached by suppliers to a liquor product sold in LCBO stores.

Varietals: wines made from particular grape varieties, as opposed to blends. Well-known red varietals include Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir and Merlot; popular white varietals include Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling.

VINTAGES: the fine wine and spirits business unit of the LCBO offering an ever-changing assortment of premium products of unusual nature, limited production and/or niche market interest.

vintagesshoponline: a website providing consumers with an exclusive, ever-changing assortment of premium fine wines and spirits that can be ordered 24-hours a day. Products are shipped free of charge to the purchaser’s LCBO store of choice.

VQA: Vintners Quality Alliance (VQA) designation awarded to Ontario and British Columbia wines of superior quality that meet strict wine-making and taste standards, modelled on “Appellation of Origin” systems used in other wine-producing countries.

VQA destination boutiques: announced in December 2012, these specialized retail sections will be located within full-sized LCBO stores during the next 12-18 months, providing customers an expanded selection of Ontario VQA wines, including hard-to-find products from smaller producers. These boutiques will showcase premium Ontario wine and further our efforts to educate and engage customers in discovering great home-grown products.

VQA Ontario: a non-profit corporation designated by the provincial government under VQA legislation to control the use in Ontario of specified terms, descriptions and designations of wine, and to set quality standards for wines to which these terms, descriptions and designations are applied.

Wine styles: a retail tool that defines each LCBO wine product by style based on its unique traits. A term such as “full-bodied and smooth” is included on shelf bin tags to help customers define their favourite style and explore similar products.

Winery retail store: a retail store operated by an Ontario winery. Due to international trade agreements, there are two types of winery retail stores: “on-site” stores at the winery that may sell only wine made by the winery at that location, and “off-site” stores that may sell only wine made by the winery.

World of Ontario Wines (WOW): a program created by the LCBO and the Wine Council of Ontario to expand our employees’ knowledge of locally-produced wines. Subsequently, more than 300 employees in LCBO’s largest stores are designated WOW Leaders and are dedicated to promoting the sale of Ontario wine.