Smoking in Canada

Historical trends in smoking prevalence 

Over the past five decades, there has been a remarkable reduction in smoking in Canada: approximately half of Canadians smoked in 1965, compared to just one in ten in 2020 (Figure 1.1). Overall smoking prevalence has decreased fairly steadily over this time period. Historically large differences in smoking prevalence between males and females have narrowed over time to within a few percentage points, although smoking has remained more prevalent among males.

Line graph showing prevalence in Canada, adults aged 15+, from 1965 to 2020. Trends described in text. Data table below with 95% confidence intervals.

While caution should be used when interpreting data from multiple sources with differing methodologies over time, the general trend of declining smoking prevalence has been consistent over time.

Figure 1.1 data table with 95% confidence intervals
Figure 1.1: Smoking prevalence* (%) in Canada, adults aged 15+, 1965-2020
  Overall Males Females
1965 49.5 61 38
1970 46.5 55 38
1974 45.5 52 39
1975 44.5 51 38
1977 43 48 38
1978 40.5 44 37
1979 41 45 37
1981 39.5 44 35
1983 37.5 41 34
1985 34 36 32
1986 33 35 31
1989 32 33 30.5
1990 31 31 28
1991 31 32 30
1994 30 31 27.5
1995 26 28 25
1996 27 29 26
1999 25 27 23
2000 24 26 23
2001 22 24 20
2002 21 23 20
2003 21 23 18
2004 20 22 17
2005 19 22 16
2006 19 20 17
2007 19 20 18
2008 18 20 16
2009 17.5 19 16
2010 17 20 14
2011 17 20 15
2012 16 [15.0-17.3] 18 [16.6-20.3] 14 [12.6-15.2]
2013 15 [13.5-15.8] 16 [14.2-17.9] 13 [11.8-14.8]
2015 13 [12.0-14.0] 16 [14.0-17.3] 10 [9.2-11.6]
2017 15.1 [13.6-16.6] 16.7 [14.4-19.0] 13.5 [11.7-15.3]
2019 12 [10.9-12.8] 13 [11.2-14.1] 11 [9.9-12.2]
2020 10 [9.5-11.2] 12 [10.7-13.4] 9 [7.5-9.7]

*Includes daily and non-daily smokers.

Data Sources: 1965-1986: A Critical Review of Canadian Survey Data on Tobacco Use, Attitudes and Knowledge (Health and Welfare Canada, 1988); 1989 1989: Smoking Behaviour of Canadians: A National Alcohol and Other Drugs Survey Report, 1989 (Health and Welfare Canada, 1992); 1990: Canada's Health Promotion Survey 1990: Technical Report (Health and Welfare Canada, 1993); 1991: Health Status of Canadians: Report of the 1991 General Social Survey (Statistics Canada); 1994: National Population Health Survey (Statistics Canada); 1995, 1996: General Social Survey (Statistics Canada) [all as quoted in: Physicians for a Smokefree Canada, Smoking in Canada, 2008ii]; 1999-2012: Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey (Health Canada); 2013, 2015, 2017: Canadian Tobacco, Alcohol and Drugs Survey (Health Canada); 2019, 2020: Canadian Tobacco and Nicotine Survey (Health Canada).