We started drinking more during the pandemic — and that habit hasn't changed much, a new survey finds

Many people are starting 2026 off by marking Dry January and swearing off alcohol for the first month of the year. But new research is raising concerns about how much Canadians are drinking.

Overall alcohol consumption has dropped over the long term, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) said in a new report, but it also noted that adults who consume alcohol are drinking higher quantities of it — more than they did before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Although the CAMH report released Monday suggests the impacts of the pandemic, and the lockdowns and public health measures imposed during those first years, have continued when it comes to alcohol use.

"It's not surprising that something that has such a significant impact on our interpersonal relations would would have that effect," said Dr. Leslie Buckley, a psychiatrist and chief of the Addictions Division at CAMH.

Even though it's been a few years since social restrictions were in place, Buckley says she'd like to see fewer people drinking at a level associated with both physical and mental harm. But she and other experts believe that could be a challenge because alcohol is so easily accessible.

Most adults in this country drink, according to Statistics Canada. Recently, the CAMH Monitor eReport on substance use, mental health and well-being surveyed more than 3,000 adults in Ontario.

Some experts suggest the findings of the report raise concerns about how much Canadians are drinking.

It estimates about 76 per cent of adults who are of legal drinking age have consumed at least one alcoholic beverage in the previous 12 months.

Of those, about 22 per cent say they drink at least once a month.

But it's the habits of people who drink weekly and daily that stand out.

The report found a three per cent rise in daily drinking in 2025 compared to 2019, just before the virus that causes COVID-19 began spreading around the globe leading to worldwide lockdowns in early 2020.

Binge drinking, which CAMH defines as having five or more drinks on a single occasion at least once per week, is even higher — up 3.6 per cent compared to before the pandemic.

But there was a gender divide in these habits.

Men were more likely to drink daily than women, according to the survey. Some 9.8 per cent of men surveyed in Ontario said they had an alcoholic drink each day, compared to 5.6 per cent of women.