On Tuesday, bartenders, servers and certain festival staff serving alcohol across the province were given a deadline of Dec. 1 to complete the Serve Right Responsible Beverage Program, offered by the Nova Scotia Tourism Human Resource Council.
The Serve Right program costs $69-$85 to complete online. It can also be made available in person, Service Nova Scotia minister Colton LeBlanc tells The Coast, through either restaurants and bars coordinating this for their staff or mandating that their employees request and complete it outside of work. Either way, all 2,400 licensed bars and restaurants in the province will be required to ensure all their staff have received this training at the start of December.
The course description says trainees will learn how to manage their business’ bottom line “while implementing best practices in the sales and service of alcohol.” It teaches “responsible beverage service and cannabis, energy drinks, and other surrounding factors that may increase the element of risk,” as well as how staff can prevent overservice, up-sell non-alcoholic beverages and refuse service when dealing with intoxicated guests.
“With this change, we're aligning ourselves with every other province and territory—except Newfoundland and Quebec,” says LeBlanc. Tuesday’s announcement comes on the heels of the province’s new training and criminal record check requirements for all cabaret bouncers, mandated last May, following the death of Ryan Michael Sawyer outside of the Alehouse in December 2022, which resulted in an Alehouse bouncer being charged with homicide.
Both new provincial training requirements will be monitored and enforced by the Alcohol, Gaming, Fuel and Tobacco Division of Service Nova Scotia (AGFT) and Internal Services, who oversee compliance with the Liquor Control Act and Liquor Licensing Regulations, province-wide.
Says LeBlanc, “I don't think anybody wants to see someone getting hurt when they're out enjoying themselves.” He says the reason behind mandating Serve Right training is “to ensure that those serving alcohol to bar patrons are aware of what intoxication looks like and what overservice looks like [because] it all comes down to patrons' safety.” That, and aligning the province with the rest of the country.
LeBlanc says the Restaurant Association of Nova Scotia has been supportive of the newly mandated training requirements.
LeBlanc says that some servers at festivals or special events will also be required to have completed the training, which will depend on the risk of the event and will be determined when they complete their special occasion license application.
As to how Service Nova Scotia will enforce this new mandate, LeBlanc says the AGFT performs over 10,000 inspections annually of licensed bars and restaurants and that, over the last five years, there have been 150 investigations into overservice intoxication. “We take these investigations very seriously, and when there are conditions or penalties to be put in place, we'll certainly follow up with that.”
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