Quebec non-profit aims to educate adults on drinking habits

An alcohol awareness campaign called “You’re the Boss” is seeking to sensitize adult Quebecers for whom alcohol consumption has become a habit.

The non-profit organization, Educ’alcool’s goal is to help these adults make informed choices about their drinking habits in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

“If we educate through moderation, people will tend to drink moderately during all their lives and feel comfortable with this product. You know you have to live with it and if we educate people, people will be able to make their own choices after that,” explained Geneviève Desautels, Executive Director of Éduc’alcool.

“If we have to say for example ‘Not tonight’ you will maybe feel a bit anxious but if you say not tonight no problem at all, it’s the kind of awareness that we want people to include in their way of living.”

The aim of the campaign isn’t to discourage people from drinking alcohol altogether. But rather help adult Quebecers avoid the temptation of drinking out of habit.

On the streets of Montreal, drinking in moderation can mean all sorts of different things.

“Some people drink after work just to decompress. That could become an actually good habit, just one glass of wine per day. It doesn’t kill a person, it doesn’t kill you,” one Montrealer told CityNews.

Another Montrealer CityNews spoke with said, “If it’s just a beer, I don’t think it’s wrong. But I don’t think it helps me to achieve my objectives at the gym.”

Some CityNews spoke with think external sources could even be to blame for a spike in habitual drinking.

Among habitual drinkers, there are almost as many women as men, and there is also an overrepresentation of young people aged 18 to 34.

“I think especially after COVID, there was a lot of stress so definitely in the 18 to 34 age range, definitely people have increased their out-of-habit drinking, I think that is in character for a lot of people,” said a Montrealer.

Another saying, “Obviously during the summer. When I don’t work, don’t go to school, go to parties, beach, obviously, you’re going to drink more than the normal.”

According to data compiled by Educ’alcool, approximately 25 to 30 per cent of adult Quebecers drink more than moderately, without questioning the reasons or the circumstances leading to their alcohol consumption.

Those who are interested in the campaign can utilize the moderation tools such as the “calcoholator” found on Educ’alcool’s website or are encouraged to take a moderation quiz to help a person determine if and when they tend to drink out of habit.