Topic quiz · The law
The law and your responsibilities: practice quiz
The law and your responsibilities: practice quiz
About 9 questions, answers explained as you go
Like the real test, you pass with 80%. A new random set every time, from 128 questions.
Key numbers
| Rule | What the law says | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Age to sell or serve liquor | 18 | O. Reg. 746/21, s. 11 |
| Legal drinking age | 19 | LLCA, 2019, s. 34 |
| Licensed hours | 9 a.m. to 2 a.m. (New Year’s Eve to 3 a.m.) | O. Reg. 746/21, s. 31 |
| Clear drinks away | Within 45 minutes after sale hours end | O. Reg. 746/21, s. 37 |
| Delivery hours | 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. | O. Reg. 746/21, s. 10 |
| Retail store hours | 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. | O. Reg. 746/21 |
| Minimum price, standard beer or wine serving | $2.00 including taxes | O. Reg. 746/21, s. 26 |
| Pregnancy warning sign | At least 8 × 10 inches, where liquor is sold | O. Reg. 745/21, s. 24 |
| Certificate term | 5 years | AGCO; Smart Serve |
Study every question
The law and your responsibilities (38)
What is the youngest age at which someone can sell or serve liquor for a licensee in Ontario?
Answer: 18
The licensee must make sure anyone who sells, serves, delivers, handles or samples liquor on its behalf is at least 18.
What is the legal age to buy, have or drink alcohol in Ontario?
Answer: 19
No one under 19 may have, drink, buy or try to buy liquor.
Who must hold a valid certificate from an AGCO-approved training course?
Answer: Everyone who sells, serves, samples or delivers liquor or takes liquor orders
The Registrar’s standard covers every person involved in the sale, service, sampling or delivery of liquor, or in taking liquor orders.
A bar hires its own security staff to work the door. Do they need certification?
Answer: Yes: security staff the licensee employs must hold a valid certificate
The training standard names security staff the licensee employs (or, at a stadium, uses) as people who must be certified.
At a golf course with a liquor licence, who must be certified besides servers?
Answer: Course marshals and staff selling liquor from motorized carts
For golf course endorsements, employees selling from motorized vending carts and course marshals must hold a valid certificate.
How long is a Smart Serve certificate valid?
Answer: 5 years from the date it’s issued
Smart Serve certificates are valid for five years from the date of issue. The AGCO set a five-year term for all liquor training certificates.
Your Smart Serve certificate expired last month. What do you need to do?
Answer: Buy and complete the course and final test again
An expired certificate can’t be renewed at the reduced rate. You repurchase and retake the course and final test.
A coworker has only a liquor retail training certificate from a grocery store job. Can they serve drinks at your restaurant?
Answer: No: retail-only certificates don’t cover service outside a retail store
The AGCO says people with only a liquor retail training certificate may not sell, serve, deliver or take orders outside a retail store setting.
When can an AGCO inspector ask for proof that a staff member is certified?
Answer: At any time
AGCO inspectors may ask a licensee for proof of a staff member’s certification at any time. Keeping copies is recommended.
On a normal day, when may a licensed bar or restaurant sell and serve liquor?
Answer: 9 a.m. to 2 a.m.
Liquor may be sold and served from 9 a.m. until 2 a.m. the next day, unless the licence sets shorter hours.
On New Year’s Eve, licensed establishments may serve until…
Answer: 3 a.m. on January 1
The regulation allows sale and service from 9 a.m. on December 31 until 3 a.m. on January 1.
After service ends, how long does a licensee have to clear away drinks and other evidence of liquor?
Answer: 45 minutes
Evidence of liquor served and consumed must be removed within 45 minutes after the end of sale hours: by 2:45 a.m. on a normal night.
Between what hours may liquor be delivered to a customer?
Answer: 9 a.m. and 11 p.m.
Liquor must be delivered only between 9 a.m. and 11 p.m. on any day.
Grocery and convenience stores licensed to sell alcohol may sell it between…
Answer: 7 a.m. and 11 p.m.
Retail licensees may make liquor available to customers only between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m.
Under Ontario law, you must not sell or serve liquor to a person who…
Answer: Is or appears to be intoxicated
No person may sell or supply liquor, or allow it to be sold or supplied, to anyone who is or appears to be intoxicated.
The required warning sign about drinking during pregnancy must be at least what size?
Answer: 8 by 10 inches
The sign must be at least 8 inches by 10 inches and posted prominently where liquor is sold and served.
Every licensed establishment must post a sign warning about…
Answer: Drinking alcohol during pregnancy
The Act requires a prescribed sign warning of the dangers of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder wherever liquor is sold or served.
What is the lowest price, taxes included, a bar may charge for a standard serving of beer or wine?
Answer: $2.00
For servings other than spirits over 14.8% alcohol, the minimum is $2.00 for a standard serving (341 mL beer, 142 mL wine), adjusted in proportion for other sizes.
A manager wants to run a contest where the prize goes to whoever buys the most pints. Is it allowed?
Answer: No: contests involving buying or drinking liquor aren’t allowed
Licensees must not permit contests on the premises that involve the purchase or consumption of liquor.
Can a nightclub make guests buy a minimum number of drinks to get in or stay?
Answer: No
Licensees may not require a person to buy a minimum number of drinks to enter or remain on the premises.
What must a licensed establishment offer besides alcohol?
Answer: A variety of non-alcoholic drinks at moderate prices
Licensees must have a variety of non-alcoholic beverages for sale at moderate prices compared with liquor.
A guest orders a rum and cola, but you’re out of that rum. What may you do?
Answer: Use another liquor only if the guest agrees
Licensees must not substitute one type of liquor for another in a drink unless the patron consents.
A guest who appears intoxicated wants to take home the rest of their bottle of wine. What should happen?
Answer: Don’t let them take it: the law doesn’t allow it for someone who is or appears intoxicated
Resealed wine can normally leave with the guest, but not when the patron is or appears to be intoxicated.
A restaurant sells a bottle of wine with a takeout order. Which is required?
Answer: The wine is bought with food and leaves with it in a securely closed container
Takeout liquor must be bought with food, leave together with the food in a securely closed container, and go out between 9 a.m. and 11 p.m.
Liquor ordered for delivery may be handed only to a person who…
Answer: Is at least 19, is at the order address and doesn’t appear intoxicated
Delivery must go to a person who is at least 19, located at the address on the order, and who does not appear intoxicated.
Where may liquor be delivered?
Answer: To a residence or a private place
Liquor must only be delivered to a residence or private place, unopened and untampered with.
When counting people against the capacity on the liquor licence, who counts?
Answer: Everyone on the premises, including staff
The number of persons on the premises, including employees, must not exceed the capacity stated on the licence.
Police officers arrive at your bar during their duties. What does the licensee have to do?
Answer: Give them access to the premises
The licensee must give police officers acting in their duties access to the premises, including washrooms, liquor, food prep and storage areas.
If a licensee is convicted of selling liquor to someone under 19, what also happens to the licence?
Answer: It must be suspended for at least seven days
On a conviction for selling to a minor, a licensee faces a fine and the licence must be suspended for at least seven days.
What is the maximum fine for an individual convicted of a general offence under the Act (other than selling to a minor)?
Answer: $100,000
An individual can be fined up to $100,000, jailed up to one year, or both, for most offences under the Act.
Your house policy says one thing and the law says another. Which applies?
Answer: The law: house policies don’t override the Act, regulations or standards
The AGCO says house policies are not law and do not override the Act, its regulations or the Registrar’s standards.
When may a server buy a guest a drink at the listed price?
Answer: Now and then, to mark a special occasion or make up for poor service
Staff may buy a patron a drink at the listed price for things like regular patronage, a celebration or poor service, but not as a promotion, at regular intervals or to entice more purchases.
Which of these is a licensee NOT allowed to do?
Answer: Run a “five shots in five minutes” challenge
Licensees must not engage in or permit practices that tend to encourage immoderate drinking, such as drinking contests or challenges.
How must liquor be sold and served in a licensed establishment?
Answer: Under the supervision of an employee the licensee authorizes
Liquor must be sold, offered for sale and served only under the supervision of an employee authorized by the licensee.
The bar wants to infuse a vodka with fruit and sell it. Is that allowed?
Answer: Yes, if guests are told about the change when it’s sold
A licensee may add a substance or change the flavour of liquor as long as the patron is told about it at the time of sale or service.
Which information must a licensee post or make available to guests?
Answer: The drinks available, how much liquor is in each, non-alcoholic options and prices
Licensees must list the liquor available, the amount of liquor in each drink, the non-alcoholic drinks and the prices.
A bar wants a vending machine for single cans of beer. Which rule applies?
Answer: A certified employee must be present and control access to the machine
Since September 2026, liquor vending machines are allowed indoors in supervised areas, with a certified employee present who controls access and watches them at all times.
Which device is banned in licensed premises?
Answer: A device that mixes alcohol with oxygen to make a mist you inhale
Licensees must not have or permit “alcohol without liquid” vaporizers that turn alcohol into an inhalable mist.
Questions people ask
+What time is last call in Ontario?
The law doesn’t use the words “last call”. Licensed establishments may sell and serve from 9 a.m. to 2 a.m. (3 a.m. on New Year’s Day), unless their licence sets shorter hours, and drinks must be cleared within 45 minutes after that.
Sources
- Liquor Licence and Control Act, 2019 (e-Laws) · checked October 26, 2026
- O. Reg. 746/21: Licensing (e-Laws) · checked October 26, 2026
- O. Reg. 745/21: General (e-Laws) · checked October 26, 2026
- AGCO: Registrar’s Interim Standards and Requirements for Liquor · checked October 26, 2026
- AGCO: Responsible liquor sale, service and delivery training · checked October 26, 2026
Updated October 26, 2026. Not affiliated with Smart Serve Ontario or the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO).
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