Canada is quietly but boldly rewriting its relationship with alcohol, which is a story worth celebrating. At the forefront of this cultural shift stands Upside Drinks, a Montreal-based company that has achieved a remarkable milestone: offering the world’s largest selection of alcohol-free beverages with over 2,500 carefully curated products. This achievement reflects a broader Canadian trend toward embracing sober curiosity and wellness, making space for diverse lifestyles that prioritize health, connection and authentic choice.
The Changing Canadian Drinking Landscape
The numbers tell a compelling story. In 2023, 67% of young Canadians ages 18 to 22 reported not drinking any alcohol in the past week — a significantly higher proportion than the 54% of all Canadian adults who abstained. This dramatic shift among younger Canadians signals more than a passing trend; it represents a fundamental rethinking of alcohol’s role in social life.
The transformation becomes even more striking when viewed over time. Nearly 75% of Canadian teens ages 15 to 19 drank alcohol in 2008, but by 2019, that figure had dropped to just 46% — a decline of almost 40% in just over a decade. These aren’t isolated statistics; they reflect Health Canada’s updated alcohol guidelines, which now recommend no more than two drinks per week, and a growing awareness of alcohol’s health risks that’s reshaping how Canadians approach drinking.
Upside Drinks: A Beacon of Canadian Innovation and Community
Founded in Quebec with a bold mission to democratize access to alcohol-free choices, Upside Drinks has rapidly emerged as both a reflection and catalyst of Canada’s cultural transformation. The company’s co-founder and CEO, Simon Poulin, believes in their mission “to make alcohol-free options as accessible, exciting, and celebrated as traditional drinks,” a passion that has driven the company’s explosive growth and earned Poulin recognition as one of “Maclean’s” Top 40 Nation Makers for 2025.
The company’s achievement is staggering in scope. With more than 2,500 non-alcoholic wines, beers, spirits and cocktails available for delivery across Canada, Upside Drinks offers unmatched variety that caters to every occasion and preference. Ranked No. 12 out of 400 companies in “The Globe and Mail’s” Canada’s Top Growing Companies 2025, the retailer has grown between 35% and 46% annually over the last five years.
But Upside Drinks is more than just an e-commerce success story. The company sources Canadian ingredients, partners with local craft brands, and, in September 2024, launched a B2B distribution platform to bring alcohol-free options to bars, restaurants, hotels, and retailers across the country. With plans to expand its logistics network to the West Coast for 1-2-day nationwide delivery, it’s ensuring alcohol-free options are accessible to everyone, everywhere in Canada.
Poulin explains. “We are proud to be leading this shift in drinking culture, not only by offering unmatched variety, but also by supporting businesses to adapt to consumer demand.”
The Sophistication of Sobriety
The myth that alcohol-free beverages are boring or overly sweet is rapidly dissolving. Today’s alcohol-free drinks showcase artisanal complexity and sophisticated flavor profiles that rival their alcoholic counterparts. From milk-clarified mocktails that add body and mouthfeel, to smoked Lapsang tea that provides mezcal-like smokiness without the burn, the technical expertise behind modern alcohol-free beverages is impressive.
Calgary’s Concorde Group exemplifies this elevated approach. Regional Bar Manager Makina Labrecque — herself sober — is rolling out an ambitious alcohol-free initiative across all their venues in 2025. “We’re well past the days of soda water with lime or overly sweet Shirley Temples,” Labrecque explains. “Non-drinkers deserve the same thoughtful, complex flavor experiences that alcohol drinkers have always enjoyed.”
The evolution aligns perfectly with Canadian wellness culture and the preferences of Millennials and Gen Z, who prioritize mindfulness, health and authentic social connection. These generations are redefining what celebration looks like, often choosing daytime parties, wellness events and creative outings over traditional bar scenes.
As Poulin notes: “Gen Z isn’t about getting drunk, they’re about mindful drinking, and we’re here to meet that demand.”
A Cultural Reframe with Broader Impact
This shift challenges traditional narratives around drinking in Canada and creates new social norms where sobriety is visible, valued and stylish. Communities are forming across the country to support and celebrate sober living.
Montreal’s Le Sober Club, co-founded in 2022 by Katherine Caisse-Roy and Simon Charbonneau, creates a welcoming space for people who are sober or sober-curious. Starting with a witchy afternoon meditation in a Montreal park, the club has grown to include thousands of Instagram followers, an active Discord community and monthly discussion groups. Their mission is simple: facilitate connections between sober people and prove that it’s possible to have fun without alcohol.
Sarah Kate, publisher of “Some Good Clean Fun” magazine, stopped drinking in April 2020 after recognizing her evening wine was turning into three or four glasses. Now she supports sober-curious and alcohol-free lifestyles through her publication. “Our culture revolves around alcohol — that has not changed,” Kate acknowledges. “However, the sober-curious movement recognizes you don’t have to hit ‘rock bottom’ to make a serious lifestyle change. It has started the conversation about our relationship with alcohol and how we use it, and abuse it.”
Interestingly, over 80% of traffic to Kate’s website comes from women, who she says are far more open to having tough discussions around alcohol than men. “The doors have opened on the relationship between alcohol and wellness,” she notes. “Women, especially, are questioning what role the substance is playing in their lives.”
Digital platforms, influencers and community groups are normalizing sober lifestyles, making them aspirational rather than stigmatized. While challenges remain, Canadian pioneers are steadily transforming perceptions and proving that choosing not to drink can be just as exciting and social as having a traditional cocktail.
Looking Forward: Pride and Possibility
Canada’s leadership in alcohol-free innovation is a source of national pride and global inspiration (at least for us Canucks!). It is proof that a nation known for inclusivity and innovation can also lead in reimagining wellness and social life.
From coast to coast, the evidence is undeniable: alcohol-free options are exploding in popularity. Calgary’s One for the Road Brewing reports 35% to 46% annual growth. Online and offline retailers like The Sobr Market — whose purpose among others is to de-centralize alcohol from social situations and eliminate the stigmas associated with alcohol-free options — are expanding. Events like OktSOBERfest raise money for addiction and mental health services while celebrating sobriety proudly.
As Jayme Minor — four years sober and founder of OktSOBERfest — explains, the movement encompasses multiple groups: “There’s people who are sober proud like me. Then we have people who are sober curious. Then you have the awakeners, the young people who are seeing the damage alcohol has caused and how life is good without it. And then you have the strugglers, people in desperate need of help.”
Upside Drinks & The Sobr Market invite everyone to explore their unprecedented collections, discover new favourites (we gotta spell it the Canadian way, eh!), and join a movement transforming what celebration and connection mean in Canada and beyond. With their combination of scale, quality and consumer insight, they’re setting their sights on international expansion, ready to share Canada’s alcohol-free revolution with the world.
The sober-curious journey is no longer a fringe path. It’s the new mainstream, and Canadians are leading the way with pride, purpose and an inspiring world of choice.
Ready to explore the world’s largest selection of alcohol-free beverages? Visit Upside Drinks and discover over 2,500 products that prove sobriety can be sophisticated, social, and decidedly Canadian. Or maybe you are in a city in Canada that has a sober bottle shop by The Sobr Market.
Sources:
Sober curious and alcohol-free, young Canadians are changing drinking culture – The Globe and Mail
Sober lifestyle choices rising in popularity in Calgary
How daytime parties are fuelled by the wellness movement and a need for community | CBC News
For Gen Z and Millennials, it’s cool to be sober
The Sober Curator Celebrates Four Years Of Revolutionizing Sober Pop Culture
Sober curiosity: A movement away from alcohol | Watch News Videos Online
Spirit Horses, Spooks And Sobriety In Ottawa | The Sober Curator
Exploring Canada’s Drinking Culture
22 Women Get Real About How Much They’re Drinking in Lockdown
The Rise of the Sober-Curious – The Lunenburg Barnacle
Fat Tony: How the sober movement is set to transform nightlife | Field Notes | The Upside
Sober curious: Why these Canadians said goodbye to booze – National | Globalnews.ca
Why Gen Zers are growing up sober curious
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