The Canadian Student Tobacco, Alcohol and Drugs Survey (CSTADS) included questions about e-cigarettes for the first time in 2014-15. One in ten Canadian students in grades 6-9 (10.1%) reported having ever tried an e-cigarette, while 3.2% had used an e-cigarette in the past 30 days.
E-cigarette use differed significantly by grade,167,168 increasing with each grade level, as shown in Figure 13.1.
Ever use of e-cigarettes was significantly more prevalent among males (11.5%) than females (8.6%), as was past 30-day use (3.7% among males and 2.6% among females).169,170
Prevalence of trying e-cigarettes among students in grades 6-9 varied significantly by province, from 5.8% in Ontario to 18.4% in Quebec (Figure 13.2).171 Past 30-day use also varied significantly by province.172
Among students in grades 6-9, e-cigarette use (ever and in the past 30 days) varied significantly by smoking status (Figure 13.3).173,174
Eight out of ten current smokers had ever tried e-cigarettes, compared to one in ten non-smokers (9.5%). Half of current smokers had used e-cigarettes in the past 30 days, compared to just 2.8% of non-smokers.
When asked, “Which did you try first: smoking a cigarette or an e-cigarette (electronic cigarette)?”, 35.4% of students who had used both reported using e-cigarettes first.
