Canada's Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines are meant to help you make informed decisions about how much to drink and the impacts alcohol can have on your health.
Guideline #1
Follow these guidelines to reduce your risk of long-term harm from alcohol:
- Women should not drink more than 2 standard drinks per day, and no more than 10 standard drinks per week.
- Men should not drink more than 3 standard drinks per day, and no more than 15 standard drinks per week.
Guideline #2
Follow these guidelines to reduce the risk of short-term harm from alcohol:
- Women should not drink more than 3 standard drinks on any single occasion.
- Men should not drink more than 4 standard drinks on any single occasion.
Guideline #3
It is safest not to drink any alcohol if you are:
- Less than 19 years old
- Pregnant or planning to get pregnant
- Driving a motorized vehicle (car, truck, skidoo, quad, etc.)
- Operating a machine or using tools
- Taking medication or any other drug that interact with alcohol
A standard drink
Beer, wine, and spirits are different types of alcohol, and each one has a different amount of alcohol. This makes some types of alcohol stronger than others, so the size of a standard drink is different for each.
Each of these standard drinks has the same amount of alcohol:
- 12 oz. (1.5 cups) of beer with 5% alcohol
- 5 oz. (0.6 cups) of wine with 10 to 12% alcohol
- 1.5 oz. (0.2 cups) of liquor with 40% alcohol
It is important to understand what one standard drink is. If you decide to drink, it will help you to keep track of how much alcohol you drink so that you know when you have reached your limit.
