Canadian health groups and advocates are lobbying the federal government for a generational ban on cigarettes, while the government says it is not currently considering such a prohibition.
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It is illegal for people under 18 to buy tobacco products in Canada, but advocates are now urging federal lawmakers to make sure today’s youth are never allowed to legally buy cigarettes when they come of age.
The push is drawing attention to a law in the United Kingdom that is set to take effect in January, which will prohibit anyone born after 2008 from ever legally buying cigarettes. In Britain, Asthma + Lung U.K. CEO Sarah Sleet said there has been broad public support for the move and that it took decades of lobbying and advocacy.
Sleet said smokers typically do not want their children smoking, and she also noted the U.K. law had cross-partisan support. She said the proposed bill initially included vaping products, but the final version in the U.K. is limited to smoking.
In Canada, the Lung Health Foundation is urging the federal government to include vaping in the conversation as well. Jessica Buckley, the foundation’s president and CEO, said kids who vape are 3 1/2 times more likely to smoke tobacco in the future.
The U.K. approach also included tighter rules for the sale of vapes, including plain packaging and requirements that retailers keep the products behind screens. Even with those steps, Sleet said some people in the U.K. raised concerns about limiting access to vaping products that can be used to help people stop smoking.
Critics of a cigarette prohibition say it could increase illicit demand. Eric Gagnon, vice-president of regulatory affairs for Imperial Tobacco Canada, said the tobacco industry supports keeping cigarettes and vapes out of youth hands but does not support a prohibition on smoking, even if introduced gradually. He also warned a ban would feed the black market, saying Canada already has a large illegal tobacco market for cigarettes and nicotine pouches and that Canada’s illegal tobacco trade is among the most sophisticated worldwide.
Convenience Industry Council of Canada vice-president of communications Jeff Brownlee said retailers oppose a ban and argued the illicit market has well-documented links to organized crime. Brownlee said illegal tobacco products account for 50 per cent of the national market, and even more in some regions, and called for a national strategy to crack down on contraband.
Advocates say enforcement and evidence of the impact of changing smoking age laws support their case. The U.K. government said raising the smoking age to 18 from 16 in 2007 and 2008 led to a 25 per cent reduction in the number of illicit cigarettes consumed, and Sleet said strong enforcement is key to results.
Health and economic costs are also part of the argument. Sleet said U.K. research estimates smoking costs the equivalent of $5.6 billion a year in health and social services, and costs the wider economy some $32 billion. She said those figures outweigh estimated losses in government revenue from excise taxes and sales of cigarettes.
In Canada, advocates pointed to similar costs and mortality. The evidence cited says the estimated public cost of tobacco use is $11.2 billion a year and that as many as 46,000 people die from tobacco-related illnesses each year. It also notes the federal government collected $2.6 billion in tobacco excise tax revenue in 2024, according to a parliamentary budget officer report.
Buckley and dozens of advocates said they will be on Parliament Hill next week to lobby the federal government, with the goal of persuading lawmakers that a generational tobacco ban could help save health-care funding needed for Canada’s aging population. She said it is difficult to reduce long-term health-care costs without pulling levers on that side.
Buckley said the group will also bring polling indicating broad public support in Canada for a generational ban and that meetings are scheduled with advisers to Health Minister Marjorie Michel and her parliamentary secretary, Maggie Chi. Michel’s office said in a statement that Canada is not currently considering introducing a prohibition, adding that it continues to monitor measures taken by like-minded countries to reduce youth smoking, including the U.K.’s recent initiative.
From the U.K., Sleet said she wants Canadian lawmakers to act, telling them: “Be brave, go for it. You’re not going to regret it.”
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