Healthy Society

One of the most effective ways to support reduced individual alcohol consumption and alcohol-related harms in our communities is the implementation of best practice healthy public policies.

Evidence shows that the more informed the public is, the more they will support alcohol policies. These best practice policies are important to reduce alcohol-related harms and to change the complex cultural norms that already exist when it comes to alcohol consumption in PEI.

Canadian Alcohol Policy Evaluation (CAPE) Project

The Canadian Alcohol Policy Evaluation (CAPE), which has a track record of strengthening Canada’s response to alcohol-related harm, is an ongoing project that systematically evaluates the degree of implementation of provincial, territorial, and federal alcohol policies under 11 evidence-based alcohol policy domains.

CAPE was initially developed and implemented in 2013 (CAPE 1.0), then updated, refined, and expanded in 2019 (CAPE 2.0). CAPE 3.0 launched in 2022 alongside a national alcohol policy community of practice. Results for CAPE 3.0 were released in May 2023. 

PEI has received three failing CAPE Report scores, including the most recent CAPE 3.0 Report for PEI. 

Canadian Substance Use Costs and Harms Report

The Canadian Substance Use Costs and Harms (CSUCH) Report summarizes key findings about the costs and harms of substance use in Canada from 2007 to 2020, based on the latest evidence available. The report includes the costs of various substances, such as alcohol, tobacco, opioids and cannabis. Costs are also broken down into four categories: lost productivity, healthcare, criminal justice and other direct costs. 

Alcohol is the leading cost of harms in Canada and PEI, compared to all other substances (including tobacco, cannabis and opioids). In 2020, substance use cost PEI more than $280 million, with $131 million of this (47%) being attributed to alcohol-related costs and harms. 

Explore the data on the CSUCH visualization tool. 

Alcohol Policy in PEI

PEI's first Provincial Alcohol Policy Forum was hosted in January 2023 by the Health Promotion Unit as a learning and networking opportunity on alcohol policy best-practices and alcohol-related harms in PEI. 

More information and resources (including a summary report and presentation slides) from the forum can be found in our Learning Opportunities section. 

Campus Alcohol Policy Project

In October 2023, SHEA Lab released a report on "Strengthening Alcohol Policies on Atlantic Canadian Post-Secondary Campuses". Similar to the CAPE Report, this report provides a comparative analysis of the current state of alcohol policies relative to best practice using data from 12 Atlantic Canadian Universities. 

UPEI was a participant in this project.