Smoking in Canada
In Canada, smoking is allowed and tobacco products are regulated. Under these regulations, cigarettes can be sold, purchased online, used, and bought from vending machines. The importation of cigarettes for trade is permitted with a trade license. Health warnings are required on cigarette packaging, the minimum legal age for sales is 18 years, and there are legal restrictions on smoking in public places. Cigarettes are subject to an excise tax value of 54.47% and a total taxation rate of 63.34%. Available data show that smoking remains a significant public health issue in Canada. In 2024, there were approximately 3.5 million current smokers aged 15 years and older. This shows that the adult current smoking prevalence was 10.6% in 2024, with 13.1% among males and 8.1% among females. In comparison, this prevalence was 11.4% in 2022. For reference, the number of daily smokers was approximately 3.5 million in 2017 which shows that the adult daily tobacco smoking prevalence was 11.6%, with 19.1% among males and 13.4% among females. In 2021, smoking led to 34,171 deaths in Canada, including 20,700 deaths among males and 13,471 among females. This indicates that smoking accounted for 11% of all deaths in 2021 in the country, including 12.8% of male deaths and 9.04% of female deaths.
Read articles from Canada
September 15, 2026 by daily-pouch.com
Canada Set to Loosen Nicotine Pouch Regulations?
Canada’s move to loosen nicotine pouch regulations signals a more practical turn in smoke-free policy. Keeping pouches behind excessive barriers can limit oversight, reduce adult access and leave smokers with fewer alternatives to cigarettes. A better framework would combine age controls, product standards and clear risk communication with legal routes that adults can realistically use. Regulation should make lower-risk products accountable, not invisible.
September 09, 2026 by substack.com
When Nicotine Is Treated as Synonymous with Smoking, Science—and People—Lose
Equating nicotine with smoking is one of the most damaging shortcuts in public health communication. Nicotine can cause dependence, but the major burden of disease comes from inhaling smoke from combustible tobacco. Blurring that distinction leaves smokers confused about safer alternatives and less able to judge their options realistically. Clearer policy should target the harms of combustion while giving adults honest information about lower-risk nicotine products.
August 31, 2026 by leaderpost.com
Opinion: In Saskatchewan, I was too old to buy illegal nicotine pouches, and that should concern us
Saskatchewan’s nicotine pouch debate shows what happens when legal rules fail to match consumer reality. A product can be restricted on paper while still circulating through channels with weaker checks, less accountability and no clear path for adult smokers. That should concern anyone interested in youth protection or harm reduction. Regulation should bring smoke-free alternatives into a controlled market, not leave access to confusion, loopholes and illegal supply.
August 26, 2026 by substack.com
Canada Cut Tobacco Taxes and Crushed the Black Market
Canada’s tobacco tax cut shows that illicit markets are not untouchable. Price matters, and extreme excise can stop working as public health policy once illegal cigarettes become the cheaper, easier option. Reducing the black market does not mean giving up on lower smoking rates; it means designing incentives that keep consumers inside legal, accountable channels. A serious strategy should combine realistic taxation, enforcement and access to safer nicotine alternatives.
August 21, 2026 by thecritic.co.uk
Nicotine nonsense
Nicotine policy often collapses into confusion because the central distinction is blurred. People smoke for nicotine, but they die mainly from the toxic products of combustion. Treating every nicotine product as though it carries the same risk as cigarettes makes public health advice less accurate and less useful. A clearer strategy would separate dependence from disease, protect young people and help adult smokers move away from the most harmful form of nicotine use.
August 21, 2026 by thecritic.co.uk
Nicotine nonsense
Nicotine policy often collapses into confusion because the central distinction is blurred. People smoke for nicotine, but they die mainly from the toxic products of combustion. Treating every nicotine product as though it carries the same risk as cigarettes makes public health advice less accurate and less useful. A clearer strategy would separate dependence from disease, protect young people and help adult smokers move away from the most harmful form of nicotine use.
August 06, 2026 by substack.com
One Letter. One Question. Thousands of Kilometres.
One letter can expose a much larger failure. When thousands of people who smoke are reduced to policy abstractions, the most important question is often left unanswered: what options are they actually being given? Tobacco harm reduction is not only about products or regulation; it is about whether public health listens to the people most affected by its decisions. A system that speaks for smokers without hearing them is unlikely to help them move away from harm.
August 04, 2026 by westernstandard.news
TAM: Ottawa's proposed vape flavour ban ignores science and punishes 2 million adult Canadians
Two million adult Canadians should not become collateral damage in a policy designed around fear. Ottawa’s proposed vape flavour ban risks removing the products that many adults rely on to stay away from cigarettes. Science should guide regulation: protect young people through enforcement and age controls, but do not erase the flavours that help make switching work. A policy that punishes adult smokers for choosing a lower-risk option is not harm reduction.
July 13, 2026 by nationalpost.com
David Clement: Banning flavoured vapes harms adults and does little for youth
Flavour bans sound simple, but their effects are not. For many adults, flavours help make vaping a more acceptable substitute for cigarettes — and removing them may push people back towards smoking or into unregulated markets. Protecting young people requires strong enforcement and responsible retail controls, not policies that remove useful options for adults trying to quit. A ban that weakens switching while doing little to stop youth access is not good public health.
June 01, 2026 by westernstandard.news
PAPAIOANNOY: Safer nicotine products are not going away — Canada needs to face reality
Canada’s approach to safer nicotine products is criticised for relying on restrictions while smoking rates remain a serious public health concern. Sweden is presented as evidence that access to smoke-free alternatives can help drive smoking down towards historically low levels. Heavy restrictions on vaping and nicotine pouches risk pushing consumers towards illicit markets instead of encouraging them to switch away from cigarettes. A stronger harm reduction strategy would focus on the difference between combustible tobacco and lower-risk nicotine products. Canada is urged to accept that safer nicotine alternatives are not disappearing and to regulate them in a way that protects consumers while supporting smokers who want to quit.
- Page 1 of 32