Smoking in Canada is banned in indoor public spaces, public transit facilities and workplaces (including restaurants, bars, and casinos), by all territories and provinces, and by the federal government. As of 2010, legislation banning smoking within each of these jurisdictions is mostly consistent, despite the separate development of legislation by each jurisdiction. Notable variations between the jurisdictions include: whether, and in what circumstances ventilated smoking rooms are permitted; whether, and up to what distance away from a building is smoking banned outside of a building; and, whether smoking is banned in private vehicles occupied by children.
Some municipalities have laws restricting smoking further than the applicable national/provincial/territorial legislation. There have also been significant changes to public smoking regulations across the country following the legalization of recreational cannabis on October 17, 2018. This has resulted in additional regulations pertaining to the public consumption of cannabis in each province, with varying similarity to regulations concerning tobacco consumption.
The federal government's smoking ban in workplaces and on common carriers applies only to the federal government and to federally regulated businesses, such as airports. Smoking rooms are not permitted. As of 2020, 12.9% of Canadians aged 15 and older smoke.
History The use of tobacco by the First Nations in Canada dates back centuries as a sacred plant with immense healing and spiritual benefits. They primarily consumed tobacco through pipes.Tonio Sadik, "Traditional Use of Tobacco Among Indigenous Peoples in North America." in Chippewas of the Thames First Nation (2014). [Sadik, Tonio. "Traditional Use of Tobacco Among Indigenous Peoples in North America." Chippewas of the Thames First Nation (2014). online]Ralph Linton, Use of tobacco among North American Indians (1924) online
The consumption of cigarettes in Canada began to rise in the early 20th century. According to Sharon Cook:Sharon Anne Cook, "'Liberation Sticks' or 'Coffin Nails'? Representations of the Working Woman and Cigarette Smoking in Canada, 1919–1939." Canadian Bulletin of Medical History 24.2 (2007): 367-401. The pathfinders who first articulated women’s right to smoke were members of the middle and upper classes who were “untrammelled by conventional notions of decorum” for women, such as actresses, intellectuals, and “new women.” After all, these were the leaders of the 19th- and early 20th-century enfrachisement campaigns and other public-sphere campaigns which demanded the right to enter the professions, hold membership in artistic associations, and much else. It is not surprising that early examples of women pushing the boundaries of acceptable behaviours like smoking were women of privilege—intellectuals, artists, society women, and the like. The same process was at work in the masculine world of smoking with elitist elements arguing first for snuff, then cigars, pipes, and finally cigarettes.
Cook argues that the tobacco companies were looking for large profits which depended on sales to a much larger base of working women. They pitched their advertising to them, not to the elite. Thus, "The combination of cheap prices, reliable and theatrical possibilities as a wardrobe prop, [short] duration of the smoking experience and workplace norms of peer associations...explain cigarettes’ growing popularity over cigars and pipes for working women after World War I."Cook, p 379.
By the 1950s, smoking had become increasingly popular, and the Canadian tobacco industry was thriving. In the 1950s and early 1960s, the industry deliberately downplayed the health risks associated with smoking. They sought to stall the smoking and health issue, leading to a lack of awareness among the general public. Before 1960, there were only limited restrictions. Smoking was allowed in most public spaces, including airplanes, classrooms, offices, and even the House of Commons. Tobacco advertising was prevalent, and there were no restrictions on sales or packaging.Dean R. Lillard, and Rebekka Christopoulo, eds. Life-Course Smoking Behavior: Patterns and National Context in Ten Countries (Oxford University Press, 2015) pp 28-42.
Prevalence In December 2002, Statistics Canada published a report on smoking prevalence from 1985 to 2001. In that report they found from 1985 to 1991, the prevalence of "current smoking" (which they defined as daily smokers and occasional smokers) declined overall, for both sexes and all age groups except for those aged 15 to 24. Even larger declines occurred from 1991 to 2001. While current smoking prevalence for youths did not significantly change from 1985 to 1994–1995, there was a significant decrease of 6 percentage points from 1994–1995 to 2001 (from 28.5% to 22.5%). All of the provinces experienced some level of decline over the entire 1985 to 2001 period. Declines in daily smoking prevalence occurred for both sexes and all age groups over the entire 17-year time span, although youth smoking did not start significantly declining until the mid-1990s. Overall, for daily cigarette consumption, smokers by 2001 had a significantly lower proportion of smoking 26 or more cigarettes daily compared with 1985 (14.0% to 5.8%). Most of the declines in the different sex or age groups occurred after 1991. At the same time, however, smokers in 2001 had a significantly higher proportion of smoking 1 to 10 cigarettes daily compared with 1985 (18.6% to 31.1%). Most of the decline occurred after 1991.Report on Smoking in Canada 1985 to 2001, Statistics Canada, Health Statistics Division, December 2002 As of 2008 the rate was estimated to be 18%, and declining. A 2011 survey estimates that 17% of Canadians smoke.
Tobacco control
The Government of Canada legislated the mandatory display of warning messages on all cigarette packaging, including images depicting the long-term consequences of smoking. In 2001, Canada became the first country to implement tobacco packaging warning messages with pictures (Iceland introduced pictures in 1985)..
The Government of Canada also banned tobacco advertising. A loophole which allowed the display of a sponsor's logo at cultural events (for example, the Symphony of Fire fireworks display, once known as the Benson & Hedges Symphony of Fire) was closed in the late 1990s. The Government of Ontario sponsors a program named Stupid, with an accompanying website stupid.ca, that seeks to educate adolescents about the danger of smoking.Stupid.ca website The blue ribbon campaign was started in 1999 by the students at Hugh Boyd Secondary School in British Columbia and has gone national now.
Smoking cessation programs
There are numerous public and private smoking cessation programs in Canada.
Overview by jurisdiction
Alberta Alberta banned smoking in public spaces and workplaces, including within of doors, windows, and outdoor air intakes, on 1 January 2008.Smoke Free Alberta | News & Information A tobacco display ban (or "powerwall") law requiring shop-owners to keep tobacco sales out of sight was implemented 1 July 2008. As of 1 January 2009, cigarette sales in Alberta have been banned in all stores containing a pharmacy, at post-secondary educational institutions, and in healthcare facilities. It is illegal to sell to minors, and it is an offence for a minor to possess or consume tobacco in a public place, punishable by a fine up to $100. Retailers who sell tobacco products to minors are subject to a fine of up to $10,000 for a first offence, and up $100,000 for second or subsequent offences.Barbara von Tigerstrom, "Public Health" in Jocelyn Downie et al., eds., Canadian Health Law and Policy (Canada: LexisNexis, 2007 - updated 2014) at 502. As of November 14, 2014, it has been illegal to smoke in a vehicle with children under the age of 16. No one under the age of 18 is permitted to buy tobacco or vaping products.
On June 23, 2021, Alberta's cabinet amended the regulations enabled by the province's Tobacco, Smoking and Vaping Reduction Act, 2005 to allow for ventilated smoking rooms for the smoking of cigars. Such rooms are permitted so long as they meet the following conditions: (a) the cigar lounge is designated as a cigar lounge by the manager;
(b) the cigar lounge has floor-to-ceiling walls, a ceiling and doors that separate the lounge visually and physically from any adjacent area in which smoking is prohibited under the Act;
(c) the cigar lounge has doors equipped with a properly functioning self‑closing device;
(d) the cigar lounge is equipped with a separate ventilation system that maintains negative air pressure at all times and exhausts smoke directly to the outside of the building in which the lounge is located;
(e) minors have no access to the cigar lounge;
(f) no service, including cleaning, is allowed in the cigar lounge during the hours of operation.As of 2021, Alberta and Quebec are the only two provinces or territories which permit cigar lounges or any ventilated smoking rooms outside of nursing homes and long-term care facilities. Alberta is unique in being the sole province or territory which does not restrict the establishment of new lounges; Quebec's remaining lounges are preserved through a grandfather clause in its smoking statutes.
As of 2015, 15.8% of Alberta residents smoke.
British Columbia British Columbia banned smoking in all public spaces and workplaces including, as of March 2008, within a radius of doors, open windows and air intakes. Additionally, all commercial displays of tobacco visible to people under the age of 19 was banned in public areas under the same legislation. As of March 2008, ventilated smoking rooms are only permitted in nursing homes and care facilities. Smoking in a motor vehicle when a passenger is 16 years or under, regardless of the use of windows or sunroofs to vent smoke, is prohibited by section 231.1 of the Motor Vehicle Act. The smoking ban does not apply to hotel rooms, though many have private bans on the practice.
As of 2015, 10.2% of British Columbia residents smoke, the lowest of any province.
Manitoba Manitoba banned smoking in all workplaces and enclosed public spaces on October 1, 2004. Specially ventilated rooms are not allowed in bars and restaurants. A law banning retail displays of tobacco and heavily restricting promotion and advertising of tobacco and tobacco-related products came into effect on 15 October 2005. An act banning smoking in vehicles when children under 16 are present became law July 15, 2010, and applies to all lighted tobacco products.
As of 2015, 14.8% of Manitoba residents smoke.
New Brunswick New Brunswick banned smoking in public spaces and workplaces in October 2004. Ventilated smoking rooms are not permitted. Since January 1, 2009 tobacco products cannot be displayed prominently in stores. Since January 1, 2010, the ban has been expanded to include vehicles with children under 16 present. The legal age to purchase tobacco is 19.
As of 2015, 14.2% of New Brunswick residents smoke.
Newfoundland and Labrador