BY Megan Mills Devoe & Maya Ruel
On Sunday night, you can find Laura Slabbert, 24, out at the local bar with friends. Tonight, the group has added two new people to their ranks and has struck up a conversation. Like many of her peers, Slabbert prefers to meet new people over a game of Scrabble to a round of drinks.
“I come to events like this because I don’t drink,” says Slabbert. “If you go to a bar and you don’t drink, it’s kind of like you’re just standing there.”
Queer Board Game Night, hosted at Co-op Bar Milton Parc, is one of many slower-paced events being offered at bars around the city. For Slabbert, it’s become a great way to get out and meet new people without feeling out of place.
“I can even see [planned activities at bars] being like the replacement of the social lubricant of alcohol,” says Slabbert. “Like if I needed to drink to feel comfortable to speak to people now, instead, I have the board game as that connecting thing.”
Laura Slabbert (center) and friends playing Scrabble. Photo by Megan Mills Devoe.
According to Statistics Canada, heavy drinking among adults aged 18 to 34 has gone down by nearly 10 per cent since 2015. Hosting events such as board game nights, scrapbooking workshops, and dance classes has allowed some bars to maintain their customer base.
Alex McEachen, 24, is the organizer of InQlusive, the group that hosts Queer Board Game Night and similar events. A self-described introvert, McEachen started InQlusive to meet new people outside the nightlife scene.
“There’s a lot of nightlife queer events, which is great for the people who love to party,” he says. “But I feel like there’s also a need for, like, the smaller, cosier, quieter places where you can just show up as you are and not have to exert a lot of energy.”
His first event, a picnic, had one attendee. A year later, McEachen says that InQlusive events are seeing much larger turnouts and now have regular attendees.
A shelf of board games at Co-op Bar Milton Parc. Photo by Megan Mills Devoe.
Katrine Mangin, 28, says she regularly attends board game night. While she still enjoys the nightlife scene, Mangin has started incorporating more laid-back events into her routine and has noticed others doing the same.
“I’ve observed a big drop in drinking culture in general,” says Mangin. “I think it makes sense that bars are trying to find other ways to bring people in that aren’t necessarily alcohol-focused, although people still can have a drink that they would like.”
Silas James, 26, is a bartender and former event coordinator for Co-op Bar Milton Parc. He says he has noticed huge changes in the ways that younger people socialize. James says that he frequently observes young people who seem uncomfortable with unstructured socializing.
Graph highlighting the percentage of Canadians who reported seeing at least one friend on a given day. Infographic by Megan Mills Devoe.
“Especially these days, your bar needs to have an activity,” said Silas. “Bars where the activity is sitting down and talking to your friend are not doing well.”
He attributes some of this change to missed socialization opportunities during the pandemic.
Toni-Rose Asuncion, a second year PhD candidate, agrees.
“COVID played a big role in terms of social drinking, which is kind of the way for a lot of people to get into drinking,” says Asuncion.
This shift may be partially attributed to the increased cultural emphasis on health consciousness and the growing number of young adults living at home.
The death of “hangover culture”: How Gen Zers have replaced going out and partying with more health-conscious activities. Video by Maya Ruel.
“Having cheap, accessible ways to meet people is also really nice,” says McEachen.
While most reports focus on declining alcohol sales among younger people, this trend does not exclusively apply to them.
“It’s, I think, a falsehood that people fall into that [declining alcohol sales are] Gen Z’s fault,” says James. “Generally, across the board, drinking is sort of less popular, and I think … pinning it on one thing is sort of like missing the whole picture.”
Shawn Brule, a data production manager who works on the Canadian Community Health Survey for Statistics Canada, says that reduced drinking among young adults has been noted by statisticians. Statistics Canada recently published a comprehensive report on youth and young adult alcohol consumption in April 2026.
Their findings reveal “heavy” drinking among young adults has returned to pre-pandemic levels, but overall, there is a trend towards people drinking less often.
Changing understandings around “heavy” or “casual” drinking may also impact the accuracy of statistics. Statistics around social drinking are typically self-reported out of necessity. While some studies count the exact number of drinks, many rely on participants to categorize their own behaviour, which is fairly subjective.
