Canadian Liquor Plebiscites were held on October 25, 1920 in the provinces of Alberta, Manitoba, Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan under the Canada Temperance Act and the Dominion Elections Act.
The Canada Temperance Act, also known as the Scott Act, allowed provincial and municipal jurisdictions to formulate their own legislation regarding alcohol consumption based upon the results of a plebiscite. The results could not be challenged for at least three years. Between 1916-19 prohibition legislation passed in all the provinces. The sale of alcoholic liquors, except for medical and scientific purposes, was prohibited. In 1920, eight of the nine provinces decided to continue prohibition after the war. The Canadian liquor plebiscite addressed this postwar prohibition. The plebiscite was set up to pose the question of banning liquor importation to provinces where prohibition had been enforced, but liquor could be ordered and imported by mail order. Ontario also had a plebiscite on the issue under the Temperance Act a few months later in 1921.