ID Requirements
Are you an employee of a licensed business? Have questions about ID? You're in the right place!
On this page, you’ll find videos with information on IDing your customers, including how and when to check a customer’s ID, and how to deal with challenging situations. If you work with alcohol or gambling/lottery, or cannabis, you only need to watch the video for your industry.
For a summary of questions addressed in the video(s), click here.
ID Training: Alcohol and Gaming
ID Training: Cannabis
What's a valid ID?
For most people, this may be their driver’s licence, but you can see a full list of valid IDs here. You also most likely have this poster somewhere in your workplace, so feel free to refer to it anytime.
It’s important to note customers must show their actual ID. A picture of someone’s licence (or other ID) is never valid. Photos can be altered, so you must only accept physical IDs.
Why do I need to check ID?
Liquor, cannabis, and gambling activities are meant for people over 18 years old (or 19 for cannabis). This means you must always ensure you’re selling to, or serving, people of legal age. It’s illegal to sell or serve regulated products to anyone underage, and for underage people to have these products. If you think a customer looks underage (or close to it), you have the right to ask for their ID to ensure you aren’t breaking the law.
If you sell to someone underage, your workplace could be penalized. Penalties range from a fine to being shut down. You could also lose your job. If an underage person gets a hold of a regulated substance, they could also be fined $298.
What if someone can’t (or won’t) show me their ID?
If you work at an age-restricted business (e.g., nightclubs, cannabis stores), you legally can’t allow underage people inside. If you ask a customer for their ID and they can’t (or won’t) show it, you have the right to ask them to leave.
If you don’t work in an age-restricted premises (e.g., at a restaurant or lottery ticket kiosk), and a customer can’t (or won’t) show you their ID on request, you can refuse to sell or serve them alcohol, cannabis or gaming products.
Remember: checking ID is a safety measure to ensure underage people aren’t getting their hands on alcohol, cannabis or gaming products. If someone questions you, or gets upset, remind them you’re only doing your job. You can also “bad cop” the LGCA, since we enforce the rules. Remind customers the LGCA permits the business to hold a licence, and in exchange, the business must follow the rules to avoid penalties.
What if the customer is a regular? Do I still have to check their ID?
There are two reasons you would ask a “regular” customer for ID:
If a customer appears underage, you’re required to check their ID every time. The law says you must ask anyone who appears youthful to show their ID to confirm their age. Until the customer no longer looks like they could be underage, you must check their ID. It’s nothing personal, just the law.
Your workplace may also have a policy of checking the ID of anyone who appears under 25 or 40, or everyone who walks in. Ensure you know and follow your workplace’s policy for checking ID — no exceptions.