LRDG Project 2022

Public and Stakeholder Consultations

Public and Stakeholder Consultations

People in Canada should have access to the latest evidence-based advice on alcohol to support them in making informed decisions about its use. They should also have opportunities to have their voices heard and share what matters to them when it comes to their health, well-being and alcohol consumption. Consulting throughout the guideline development process with the public, professionals and organizations concerned with alcohol, health and well-being is key to ensuring the updated Low Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines meet the diverse needs of people and organizations in Canada, and are accessible to all.

Consultation on the Canadian Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines

The Update of Canada’s Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines: Final Report for Public Consultation was guided by a public health perspective, with a focus to provide the latest evidence-based advice on alcohol to support them in making informed decisions about its use. It was released for consultation between Aug. 29 through Sept. 23, 2022.

The intent of this consultation was to ensure the readability, clarity and validity of the final products. CCSA sought comments from people in Canada on the Public Summary, the Technical Summary and the Technical Report through an online survey.

Public Consultation on the 2011 Low Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines

CCSA held a six-week, online public consultation on the current Low Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines (LRDGs) between March 8 to April 18 2021. The scope of this consultation was to understand the experiences of people in Canada with the 2011 Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines and their needs and expectations for updated guidelines. It was open to all people in Canada including the general public, professionals and representatives from organizations with an interest in alcohol, health and well-being.

A total of 4,846 people from every province and territory across Canada completed the online consultation questionnaire. CCSA’s report, Update of Canadian Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines: Summary of Findings from Public Consultation, outlines how the consultation was conducted and what we heard.  

Consultations with Representatives of Health Organizations

CCSA held virtual focus groups with representatives from public health organizations, professional associations, mental health and addictions organizations, organizations that treat chronic disease, counsellors and treatment providers, and individuals with lived or living experience of substance use. The goal was to obtain their perspective on the familiarity and understanding of people living in Canada with the LRDGs and related issues. The focus groups also discussed specific messaging and communication strategies that could increase awareness of the LRDGs among various target groups, like youth and women.

A total of 48 representatives participated in the focus groups. The results informed discussions about presenting the conclusions of the LRDG update. Read the report:  Update of Canada’s Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines: Summary of Stakeholder Focus Groups.

Related Information

For more information about CCSA, the LRDGs and our mandate, please visit:

https://www.ccsa.ca/
https://www.ccsa.ca/research-alcohol
https://www.ccsa.ca/lrdg-project-2022

Contact Us

Project Coordinator: Lauren Levett (llevett@ccsa.ca)
Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction
75 Albert St., Suite 500
Ottawa, ON K1P 5E7

 

LRDG Open Consultation FAQs

Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines Consultation: FAQs

We are updating the 2011 Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines (LRDGs) to ensure that people in Canada have the latest evidence-based advice on alcohol to support them in making informed decisions about its use.

Project Background

Project Background

Since the original release of Canada’s LRDGs in November 2011, new evidence has been uncovered on alcohol-related mortality and morbidity. Research has also evolved on how drinking alcohol contributes to social harms. Other countries, including Australia, Denmark, France, the Netherlands,the United Kingdom and the United States, recently updated their guidelines to reduce the health risks of alcohol consumption.

The LRDGs update will be the result of a collaborative process among CCSA, scientists, knowledge mobilization specialists and representatives of various Canadian organizations, including Health Canada. The process has been consensual and based on co-operation. It has also been voluntary and flexible. All parties have participated with equal status and the expression of each parties’ points of views were encouraged.

 

Process to Date

Process to Date

The project to update Canada’s Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines (LRDGs) began in July 2020 and is expected to be completed in the fall of 2022. This diagram provides an outline of the process being followed to perform the update, with notes on the progress of the project to date.

Click the links in the diagram for more information and to access supporting documents. The steps in the process outlined in the diagram are summarized below:

• Review on women’s health and alcohol: Literature review on alcohol and women’s health from a sex--and gender-based analysis.
• Technical report evaluating the evidence on the health effects of alcohol consumption: Report on the evidence about the health effects of alcohol consumption for the modelling of alcohol-attributable deaths and disability.
  • Rapid review on the effects of alcohol on mental health: Rapid review of the role of alcohol, including patterns of drinking, as it relates to depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation.
  • Rapid review on the effects of alcohol on violence: Rapid review on the role alcohol, including patterns of drinking, as it relates to perpetration and victimization of aggression.
  • Report of lifetime risk of alcohol-attributable death and disability:  report about the lifetime risk of death and disability for various levels of average alcohol consumption as measured in grams per day.

• Stakeholder consultation on the LRDGs: Summary of targeted consultations with key stakeholders (youth, women, Indigenous peoples, health professionals), and their specific needs and implementation requirements for updated guidelines.
• Public consultations on final reports: Consultations to establish whether the recommended LRDGs are simple and easy to understand, as well as to provide the public with an opportunity to comment on the evidence used to develop the guidelines. 

 

This diagram will be updated regularly to reflect progress on the project.

 

Supporting Documents

Supporting Documents

Document name	Date published	Description
Lifetime Risk of Alcohol-Attributable Death and Disability	2022	Examines the lifetime risk of death and disability for various levels of alcohol consumption.
Update of Canada’s Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines: Overview of Reviews of the Association Between Alcohol Use and Aggression and Violence	2022	A review of the association between alcohol use and violence, including patterns of drinking, as it relates to perpetration of and victimization by aggression.
Effect of Alcohol Consumption on the Development of Depression, Anxiety and Suicidal Ideation: Update of a Systematic Review	2022	Assesses the link between alcohol consumption and the development of depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation.
Commissioned Report: Update on Canada’s Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines: Summary of Stakeholder Focus Groups	2022	Summarizes findings of eight virtual focus groups conducted with CCSA stakeholders. Groups explored the familiarity and understanding of current LRDGs, knowledge mobilization and understanding of standard drink recommendations.
Sex, Gender and Alcohol: What Matters for Women in Low-Risk Drinking Guidelines?	2022	Reviews research on the effects of alcohol through a sex and gender lens. With a focus on women, it examines the sex-specific effects of alcohol on male and female bodies.
Update of Canada’s Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines: Final Report for Public Consultation	2022	Summarizes worldwide evidence reviews, mathematical modelling, consultations and discussions. It aims to provide people in Canada with accurate, up-to-date information about the risks and harms associated with the use of alcohol. Includes the public overview and technical report.
Update of Canada’s Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines: Evidence Review Technical Report	2022	Reviews and updates the evidence on the effects of alcohol use on physical health, mental health and social harms. The report is intended for those interested in understanding the process followed in developing new alcohol consumption guidelines.
Update of Canada’s Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines: Disclosure of Affiliations and Interests	2021	This declaration of interests is a list of affiliations, and financial and intellectual interests from the past three years for members of the Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guideline Executive Committee and the Scientific Expert Panels.
Update of Canada’s Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines: Summary Evidence on Understanding and Response to Alcohol Consumption Guidelines	2021	This is an update of the evidence review produced for the 2016 United Kingdom Chief Medical Officers alcohol guidelines group, to determine how people understand and respond to official public health guidance.
Update of Canada’s Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines: Summary of Findings from Public Consultation	2021	Summary of Findings from Public Consultation product description with, "A summary of Canadians’ experiences with the current LRDGs and their needs and expectations for updated guidelines, based on responses from 4,845 participants.
Update of Canada’s Low Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines: Terms of Reference	2021	Outlines the terms of reference for the initiative to update Canada’s Low-Risk Alcohol Guidelines. Includes information on the project scope, governance, scientific expert panels, and roles and responsibilities.
Update of Canada’s Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines: Source Guidelines	2021	Summarises the current Canadian Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines, the United Kingdom Chief Medical Officers’ Low Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines and the Australian Guidelines to Reduce Health Risks from Drinking Alcohol.
Update of Canada’s Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines: Evaluation of Selected Guidelines	2021	Report presents evaluations of the current Canadian Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines (2011), and guidelines from the United Kingdom (2016) and Australia (2020) using a standard instrument, the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation II.
Update of Canada’s Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines: Development of Research Questions	2021	Outlines the research questions to support the update of the Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines and the process used to develop them.
Update of Canada’s Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines: Process and Timelines	2021	Interactive diagram providing an overview of the process to update Canada’s Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines and the progress of the project. This document is updated regularly.