Serving It Right Study Guide (B.C.) 2026

Serving It Right and who needs it

B.C.'s liquor law is the Liquor Control and Licensing Act. The Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch (LCRB) licenses and inspects liquor businesses. Serving It Right (SIR) is B.C.'s responsible beverage service program, and it is an operating requirement for licensed businesses.

All licensees, managers and staff must have SIR before they start working in a licensed establishment.

Type of business	Who needs SIR
Liquor-primary (bars, pubs, nightclubs)	Licensees, managers, servers and bartenders
Food-primary (restaurants)	Licensees, managers, servers and anyone who may be left in charge
Catering	Licensees, managers and staff serving liquor at events
Licensee retail stores	Licensees, managers and sales staff
BC Liquor Stores	Managers and sales staff
Care facilities	Staff who serve liquor to residents, patients and guests

Special events

At Special Event Permit (SEP) events with fewer than 500 people, the permit holder, managers and servers, paid or unpaid, must complete the Special Event Server (SES) program. A valid SIR certificate also meets this requirement.

Certificates from other provinces

Servers and bartenders who move to B.C. with valid equivalent certification from another Canadian jurisdiction are exempt, although an employer may still require SIR. Licensees, managers and anyone supervising sales or service must hold SIR.

The SIR course and exam

Item	Serving It Right
Course	Free, online, about 4 hours
Exam	35 multiple-choice questions, chosen at random
Pass mark	80% (28 of 35)
Time limit	None
Attempts	3 per exam purchase
Exam fee	$40 plus tax
Language	English
Valid for	5 years
Minimum age for the certificate	None

After you pass, you print your certificate from your online account; no paper copy is mailed. If you fail three times, you buy the exam again to get three more attempts. Certificates issued before September 15, 2015 expired in 2020, and newer certificates show an expiry date five years after they were issued.

B.C. rules on minors and licences

The legal drinking age in B.C. is 19. Section 77 of the Liquor Control and Licensing Act says a person must not sell, give or otherwise supply liquor to a minor (anyone under 19).

Minors who work in licensed places

In food-primary establishments, minors 16 or older may serve liquor, but may not open, pour or mix it, and adult staff must supervise them.
Minors may not work in liquor-primary establishments unless the LCRB gives special permission.
Staff who make sales in special wine stores, and managers who supervise liquor sales in some stores, must be at least 19.

Food-primary and liquor-primary

A food-primary licence is for businesses such as restaurants, where serving food is the main purpose. A liquor-primary licence is for bars, pubs and nightclubs, where liquor is the main business. The rules for minors are stricter in liquor-primary places.

Checking ID

Ask for valid, government-issued photo ID whenever a guest looks young. Compare the photo with the guest, check the date of birth and expiry date, and refuse if you are not sure the guest is 19 or older.

Enforcement

If staff sell liquor to a minor, the LCRB can impose a licence suspension or a monetary penalty on the licensee under the Liquor Control and Licensing Regulation. Penalties are higher for repeat contraventions.

Responsible service skills

The province sets the rules, but the skills below are what keep guests safe every shift. They are also a large part of every server training test.

Standard drinks in Canada

A Canadian standard drink holds 13.45 g (17.05 ml) of pure alcohol. Drinks that are bigger or stronger than the examples below count as more than one.

Drink	One standard drink
Beer, cider or cooler (5%)	341 ml (12 oz)
Wine (12%)	142 ml (5 oz)
Spirits (40%)	43 ml (1.5 oz)

Canada's Guidance on Alcohol and Health says 2 standard drinks or less a week is low risk, 3 to 6 is moderate risk, and 7 or more is increasingly high risk. No amount is known to be safe during pregnancy.

What raises blood alcohol

Drinking quickly, or drinking on an empty stomach.
Smaller body size and less body water. Women often reach a higher BAC than men after the same drinks.
Fizzy mixers, which can speed up absorption.
Medications and other drugs, including cannabis, which can add to the effects.

The liver removes roughly one standard drink an hour. Only time lowers BAC; coffee, cold showers and food after the fact do not. BAC can keep rising after the last drink.

Signs of intoxication

Lower inhibitions: louder, overly friendly, more talkative.
Poor judgement: rude jokes, buying rounds for strangers, drinking faster.
Slow reactions: slurred speech, glassy eyes, losing track of a conversation.
Poor coordination: stumbling, swaying, spilling or dropping things.

Watch for changes from how a guest acted when they arrived, and keep count of drinks. A guest who seems far more impaired than their drinks explain may have had their drink spiked; keep them safe and get help.

Refusing service

Tell your manager and co-workers before you act.
Speak to the guest privately, calmly and firmly. Focus on the law, not on the person.
Offer food, water, a non-alcoholic drink or a safe ride home.
Do not serve drinks bought for the guest by friends.
If the guest tries to drive, offer a taxi or sober driver, and call police if they leave impaired.
Write what happened in the incident log.

Liability

Licensed businesses owe a duty of care to guests and to the public. Courts in Canada have held bars and restaurants partly responsible when an over-served guest later hurt someone. Staff and licensees can also face charges and licence penalties. Never give "one last drink" to calm an intoxicated guest.

Cannabis and impaired driving

Cannabis and alcohol together can impair a person more than either one alone. Edible cannabis can take 30 minutes to 2 hours to take effect, so guests may not realise how impaired they will become. Under the Criminal Code it is a crime to drive with a BAC of 80 mg or more in 100 ml of blood.