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
December 01, 2020 by vapingdaily.com
As Expected, Nova Scotia Flavor Ban Is Increasing Smoking Rates
Nova Scotia became the only Canadian province to ban the sale of flavored nicotine products this past April. The ban is having some unintended, but expected consequences.
A new study commissioned by the Atlantic Convenience Stores Association showed that more people are buying combustible cigarettes.
Since the ban took effect this past spring, the data gathered by the Association shows a 29% increase in the sale of cigarettes.
November 20, 2020 by regulatorwatch.com
Systemic Exclusion | Canadian Vape Activists Ostracized
Vaping activists are accustomed to fighting a barrage of misleading information about nicotine vaping, pimped by a plethora of anti-vaping non-profit health groups then promulgated by a compliant mainstream news media. [...] In this episode of RegWatch Live we are joined by Maria Papaioannoy-Duic, vaping activist and vape shop store owner. Hear firsthand how vaping activists are being excluded from the debate and why she thinks the ostracization is systemic.
November 19, 2020 by cbc.ca
New Brunswick smokers, drinkers spending record amounts at home
Trapped inside the Atlantic bubble with few alternative supply options, New Brunswick smokers and drinkers grounded by the pandemic have increasingly been buying locally and legally to satisfy their cravings.
Over the summer, retailers in New Brunswick sold the equivalent of 1.5 million packs of cigarettes, four million cans of beer and 10,000 litres of hard liquor more than they did last summer, as cheaper options in the province — legal and otherwise — dried up.
November 13, 2020 by medicalxpress.com
New research reveals key steps to fight flavored tobacco
Restrictions on flavored tobacco products are a great way to promote public health, and these restrictions work best if public health experts form partnerships with tobacco retailers, run intensive media campaigns, and advocate for comprehensive bans on the products. That's according to a study published in Tobacco Control from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Office of Public Health Studies researchers. "We wanted to identify the best ways to implement flavored tobacco policies," said lead author Katey Peck, who was a UH Mānoa public health graduate student at the time of the study. [...]
November 04, 2020 by vapingpost.com
Canadian Study: The Market Entry of The Juul System Has Decreased Cigarette Sales
Since merging with Big Tobacco company Altria, Juul Labs has lost credibility as having harm reduction at heart and has been at the receiving end of incessant scrutiny and multiple lawsuits. To this effect the firm has been attempting to engage with the public health community.
Last Summer, the manufacturer announced findings from a new study at the Academy Health 2020 Annual Research Meeting linking the Juul System’s market entry to decreased cigarette sales in Canada.
October 05, 2020 by globenewswire.com
Canadian Vaping Association’s Open Letter to Canadians
My name is Darryl Tempest and I am the Executive Director of the Canadian Vaping Association. Our organization represents independent vape retailers and manufacturers throughout our country. We do not represent or accept support from tobacco companies. From its inception our membership’s mission was to be a part of the solution to remove combustible tobacco from Canada forever. Our principles are simple, we support harm reduction for smokers through vaping, which studies have shown to be the single most effective method in history. We also advocate for regulations that balance adult harm reduction with youth protection.
September 15, 2020 by regulatorwatch.com
Down to the Wire | B.C. Deadline Leaves Vape Retailers Hanging
In July, when the B.C. provincial government enacted new rules and regulations governing the sale of vaping products in the province, it gave retailers until September 15 to sell off non-compliant product and adjust inventories to meet the new B.C. (specific) packaging and device specifications. In this episode of RegWatch, we are joined by Sam Tam, President of the Canadian Vaping Association to discuss what the industry needs in order to navigate the new regulatory environment and to learn what critical clarifications the province has indicated it might deliver before the deadline.
September 11, 2020 by globenewswire.com
Nova Scotia entrepreneurs submit intent for constitutional challenge
The Canadian Vaping Association (CVA) commends the Nova Scotian entrepreneurs who have submitted intent for a constitutional challenge after Nova Scotia passed restrictive vapour product legislation. The new legislation imposes nicotine ceilings and bans flavoured vapour products. Flavoured products are the key for adult adoption and are used by 90% of adult vapers. Eliminating flavours will discourage adult smokers from transitioning and cause many vapers to return to smoking.
September 04, 2020 by wsj.com
Juul to Cut More Than Half of Its Workforce
E-cigarette maker Juul Labs Inc. is planning to lay off more than half its employees, according to people familiar with the matter, and is considering halting its sales across Europe and Asia. That could mean pulling out of as many as 11 countries and shrinking the startup’s footprint to its core markets, the U.S., Canada and the U.K.
Juul cut about one-third of its 3,000 workers earlier this year and already has halted sales of its vaporizers in several countries. [...]
August 03, 2020 by theglobeandmail.com
When will Canada get on the same page about the risks of vaping?
Breathlessness. This is our territory. Not the exhilarating breathlessness of a run or a climb, or the joyous breathtaking first meeting with a newborn. We work with the bad type of breathless. The gasping for breath, air hunger, intense tightening in the chest, feeling of suffocation and accompanying fear and desperation that come with diseased or worn out lungs.
Many of our patients are breathless because they smoked. This kind of breathlessness is unnecessary because it is avoidable. This breathlessness is the territory from which all elected officials ought to start when considering how best to regulate vaping.