Question Period Note: Smoking and Tobacco Use in Canada

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• Our Government is committed to helping Canadians quit using tobacco and to protecting the health of young people and people who do not smoke.
• Cigarette smoking is the leading preventable cause of disease and premature death, and we are working to decrease tobacco use in Canada to less than 5% by 2035.
• Health Canada is updating tobacco labelling requirements to reflect the latest scientific evidence. We will continue to strengthen regulations to prevent youth and people who do not smoke from becoming addicted and to provide Canadians with information on the health hazards of tobacco use.

IF PRESSED ON HELP FOR PERSONS WHO SMOKE
• We urge Canadians who smoke to consider quitting. When you give up cigarettes, your body starts to renew itself as early as the first day, reducing your chance of developing heart disease, cancer, breathing problems, and infections.
• Quitting smoking can be difficult, but it is possible. The Government of Canada has many resources to help.
• Canadians can contact the pan-Canadian toll-free quitline where trained specialists can help them develop a plan, answer questions, and provide referrals to programs and services in their community where available.

IF PRESSED ON THE LEGISLATIVE REVIEW
• The Tobacco and Vaping Products Act (TVPA) requires a legislative review of the Act on a two year cycle, three years after the legislation comes into force.
• The first review assessed whether the Act is making progress in achieving its vaping-related objectives, particularly those related to protecting young people.
• Input from Canadians was sought in March and April 2022 to inform this review and over 3,000 submissions were received.
• With this first review, we wanted to hear from a wide range of stakeholders. The final report was delayed to ensure ample time for public engagement.
• The final report was tabled in Parliament on December 9th, 2022 and will be made public on Canada.ca.

IF PRESSED ON TOBACCO COST RECOVERY
• The tobacco industry is responsible for the leading preventable cause of disease and premature death in Canada.
• That is why my mandate letter includes a commitment to require tobacco manufacturers to pay for federal public health investments in tobacco control.
• Health Canada is working with partners within the federal government to examine options and determine next steps.
• I look forward to engaging external stakeholders to realize this commitment.

IF PRESSED ON TOBACCO LABELLING REGULATIONS
• The Government of Canada is committed to reducing the devastating harms of tobacco use.
• That is why we are proposing to update health warning messages and to extend them to all tobacco product packages to maintain their effectiveness.
• We are also proposing that Canada become the first country to introduce written health warnings on certain individual tobacco products, like cigarettes, so it would be virtually impossible to avoid health warnings altogether.
• We held a 75-day consultation which ended on August 25, 2022, to seek input from Canadians on these proposed measures. We are currently reviewing all the comments received and will take them into consideration as the proposal moves forward.

IF PRESSED ON FLAVOURS REGULATIONS
• On June 19th, 2021, Health Canada published the proposed order to amend the Tobacco and Vaping Products Act (flavours) and the proposed Standards for Vaping Products’ Sensory Attributes Regulations.
• The proposal would implement a complementary three-pronged approach to restricting the flavours of vaping products.
• The consultations closed on September 2, 2021. Health Canada received over 25,000 submissions and is currently reviewing the input it received from Canadians.

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