Apply for an Auction permit

If you want to sell liquor through an auction and deliver it (for a fee), you’ll need an auction event permit. 

This permit doesn’t allow you to serve liquor at an auction event. 

The permit also doesn’t allow people who buy the liquor to drink it at the event. The auction needs to take place at a location that isn’t someone’s home (common areas of condo or apartment buildings are allowed). You can also host the auction online.

To qualify for an auction liquor permit, you need to be:

• A charitable organization
• An administrator or executor of an estate
• A police officer acting within the scope of your duties

Non-profit organizations can’t apply for an auction liquor permit.

The cost of an auction liquor permit is $75 per day.

Here’s what you’ll need to fill out the auction liquor permit application:

• The name of the person responsible for the event
• Event name and details
• Dates and times (start and end time)
• Location (online, in person or both) 

To get an auction liquor permit, you’ll first need to create an account on the iAGCO portal. Once you’ve set up your iAGCO account, you can:

• Apply for your liquor permit
• Check the status of your application
• Ask for changes and print the permit once it’s approved

Apply for a permit now

The AGCO needs at least 30 days is needed to process an auction event application.

Once approved, you need to prepare for and run your event the right way. Read the next section to make sure you follow with the standards and requirements established by the Registrar.

As a permit holder, you’re responsible for meeting all Registrar’s Standards that apply to your permit, all applicable laws and regulations (including the Liquor Licence Control Act), and any Terms and Conditions that may be applied to your permit.
 

Storing and delivering liquor

When you're selling alcohol at an auction, you need to tell bidders that the liquor they're bidding on may not have been tested by the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO). You can’t sell homemade wine and beer through auction. Manufacturers can’t donate liquor for auction. Donated liquor from a manufacturer is only allowed if the auction is for a charity event.
If you receive a multi-day auction liquor permit, you need to store the liquor according to the standards and requirements established by the Registrar.
 

Other important information

You must follow all the conditions that come with having a liquor permit. Otherwise, a police officer or an AGCO inspector can take away your liquor permit or shut your event down. 

For more information about liquor permits for auctions, and to understand what you need to do as the holder of a liquor permit, you must read:

• Liquor permit guide
• Auction event guide
• Risk-based permitting
• Ontario regulations under the liquor licence and control act, 2019, regarding liquor permits
• Registrar’s interim standards and requirements for liquor
• Monetary penalties

To make a change to the permit after it’s been issued, you’ll need to submit a change request through the iAGCO portal. You may need a new permit depending on the kind of change.

Request a change