Canadian Distillery at Its Wits' End: Facing Eviction in 30 Days

A true disaster is unfolding in Canada. Durham Distillery is about to be put out on the street. The municipality is not renewing the contract, which means the distillery has to shut down immediately.

The Canadian spirits producer Durham Distillery faces a major crisis. In January of this year, the distillery received a formal notice to vacate the premises. The original lease had already expired in 2024, and since then the Town of Ajax had been extending it on a month-to-month basis.

But the town has now decided those extensions are over. The distillery has been given 30 days to remove all property and vacate the building.

According to the municipality, renewal beyond 2026 was never on the table when the latest agreement took effect. On January 5, 2026, an official legal notice followed, announcing the property’s planned redevelopment.

For Durham Distillery, this is an impossible ask. The team had no idea the town was courting new tenants and has been caught completely off guard. If the distillery is forced to relocate, it must comply with strict excise and customs regulations.

That means you can’t simply move materials that haven’t been cleared by customs. It requires extensive permitting procedures, specialized equipment, controlled transfer of excise-liable inventory, and painstaking planning.

To make matters worse, the municipality has also taken possession of the alcohol inventory. That prevents the distillery from relaunching operations even if a move were possible. Despite talks with municipal representatives and legal counsel, no compromise was reached.

In spite of this latest setback, the distillery will explore what might be possible to restart elsewhere in the future. Much will depend on the options available nearby.

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