Technically against the law.
If the restaurant doesn't know you, don't count on being able to BYO.
Liquor laws are a provincial matter in Canada. In Ontario BYO is not allowed. I don't know of any provinces besides Quebec where BYO is allowed.
The only exception in Ontario is at resorts/hotels which do NOT have a liquor licence. Since the resort is considered to be your residence you can bring your own anywhere the management will allow. I'm on my way to such a resort for a week next Sunday, and I always bring along a box of assorted wine so I can pick and choose according to the day's menu. However their dining room is not open to the public.
My feeling, based mainly on many Summer visits to Nova Scotia, is that Canada should post a large sign at the border saying "We Do Not Want You to Drink Alcohol."
This would make matters much clearer and explain why Glen Ellen Chardonnay and equivalent wines sell for about $15 Cdn. I suggest you drink a lot of Canadian beer when visiting Canada.
Sounds like you must have done something we'd (speaking as a Canadian and a Nova Scotian) consider dumb, like walking around town with a beer in your hand...
I've found that it is easy to get wine in restaurants, even in remote outports in Newfoundland. The selection may be both small and modest, but it was available and the servers knew how to present the bottle, open and pour.
No, you're not going to find a very wide selection in a liquor store in town on the east coast. Other than 2-3 months in the summer when tourist season peaks, many of those store serve a local population than numbers only in the hundreds.
I've found that a lot of restuarants in the US you get treated like you are nuts if you ask for anything but a "Bud" with your meal.
Glen Ellen Chardonnay sells for $11.75 at the LCBO (Ontario), which works out to $8.55US at today's exchange rate. California wines tend to be higher priced in Canada than other imports, and the low end tends to be POOR value. The best value wines available here (Ontario) come from South America and Ontario.
In general, the tax structure on alcohol in Canada tends to push up prices on the low end, while favouring the higher end. That's because some (not all) of the taxes are based on the volume of alcohol sold, and not it's price. So, those taxes would be the same on a $8 bottle of wine as on a $80 bottle.
Agreed - and after being in Port Hardy, he'll NEED a decent meal.
I'd add my favourite Le Gavroche, Le Crocodile, and La Cucina in North Van.
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