Canada: Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta are the three "wettest" provinces in the country for alcohol consumption, a new study shows. And beer remains Canadians' favourite drink, Sun Media posted on March 22.

Using figures from Statistics Canada, the study -- which examined alcohol consumption and alcohol-related deaths from 1950-2000 -- found Ontario had the highest level of alcohol consumption during the 1950s, whereas B.C. had the highest level between the 1960s and the 1990s. In the year 2000, the most recent year studied, the most alcohol was consumed in Alberta.

The territories, however, had consumption rates almost twice the level in the provinces. Consumption went down to near normal levels in the Northwest Territories in the 1990s but remain very high in the Yukon.

With the exception of the 1950s, Quebec has had a lower consumption level than the Canadian average.

23 March, 2004