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  • Tobacco Use in Canada home
  • About
    • Data sources
      • About CTADS/CTUMS
      • About CSTADS/YSS
    • Analysis
      • Estimates
      • Significance testing
      • Data for youth tobacco use
      • Index of statistical tests
    • Glossary
    • References
  • Highlights
  • Adult tobacco use
    • Smoking in Canada
      • Historical trends
      • Smoking prevalence
        • By sex
        • By age
      • Cigarette consumption
        • By sex
        • By age
      • Smoking and self-rated health
        • General health
        • Mental health
    • Smoking in the provinces
      • British Columbia
      • Alberta
      • Saskatchewan
      • Manitoba
      • Ontario
      • Quebec
      • New Brunswick
      • Nova Scotia
      • Prince Edward Island
      • Newfoundland & Labrador
    • Cigarettes sales and sources
      • Usual sources of cigarettes
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    • Other tobacco use
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      • Flavoured tobacco
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    • Secondhand smoke exposure
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      • Quit intentions
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      • Quit attempts
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    • Cessation assistance
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    • Reasons for quitting
  • Youth tobacco use
    • Smoking initiation
      • Grades 7-9
      • Ages 15-19
      • Susceptibility
        • By grade
        • By province
    • Current smoking
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        • By age
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    • Quitting smoking
      • Quit intentions
      • Quit attempts
        • Grades 7-9
        • Ages 15-19
  • E-cigarette use
    • E-cigarette prevalence
      • By sex
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      • By sex and age group
      • By province
        • Ages 15-19
      • By smoking status
    • Smoking status of e-cigarette users
    • Nicotine in e-cigarettes
    • Flavours in e-cigarettes
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Tobacco Use in Canada
  • Tobacco Use in Canada home
  • About
  • Highlights
  • Adult tobacco use
  • Quitting smoking
  • Youth tobacco use
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  1. Tobacco Use in Canada

Highlights

Tobacco use among Canadian Adults (15+), 2017

SMOKING PREVALENCE

  • 15.1% of Canadians (approximately 4.6 million) were current smokers, significantly greater than the 2015 prevalence estimate of 13.0%.
  • The majority of smokers reported smoking daily (10.8% daily/4.3% non-daily prevalence).
  • Prevalence was higher among males (16.7%) than females (13.5%).
  • Smoking prevalence was highest among adults aged 45-54, at 19.9%. Prevalence was lowest among youth aged 15-19 (7.9%).
  • There were significant differences between provinces in smoking prevalence.
  • Self-rated health varied by smoking status, with never smokers rating their general health and mental health better than smokers.

CIGARETTE CONSUMPTION

  • Daily smokers in Canada smoked an average of 13.7 cigarettes per day.
  • Average consumption has declined by more than 3 cigarettes per day since 1999.
  • Male daily smokers consumed nearly 3 cigarettes more per day than females (14.9 vs. 12.1).
  • Canadians purchased over 27 billion cigarettes.

USE OF OTHER TOBACCO PRODUCTS

  • Cigarillos and cigars were the most popular tobacco products other than cigarettes: 1.9% of Canadians reported use in the past 30 days.
  • Cigar, cigarillo, and chewing tobacco/snuff use were more prevalent among males.
  • Use of other smoked tobacco products was most prevalent among young adults.

EXPOSURE TO SECONDHAND SMOKE (SHS)

  • A majority of respondents (63.6%) reported being exposed to SHS in the past month, including 13.3% who reported being exposed either every day or almost every day.
  • SHS exposure was more prevalent among males, young people, and current smokers.

Quitting smoking, 2017

  • The majority (63.1%) of Canadians who have ever been smokers have now quit.

PLANS TO QUIT

  • The majority (63.1%) of Canadians who have ever been smokers have now quit.
  • More than half (57.9%) of smokers were seriously considering quitting in the next 6 months; over one-quarter (26.9%) were considering quitting in the next month.
  • Similar proportions of males and females were seriously considering quitting smoking in the next 6 months, and in the next month.
  • Quit intentions in the next 6 months did not differ by age. However, the percentage of smokers considering quitting in the next 30 days varied by age group, and was lowest among adults aged 25-34.

QUIT ATTEMPTS AND SUCCESS (ABSTINENCE)

  • Almost half of smokers (46.2%) had tried to quit in the past year; nearly one-third (31.3%)  tried more than once.
  • Similar percentages of males and females had made a quit attempt in the past year.
  • Quit attempts did not differ significantly age group.
  • Among respondents who had made a quit attempt in the past year, 12.3% were still abstinent from smoking at the time they were surveyed.

CESSATION ASSISTANCE

  • Two-thirds of smokers who attempted to quit used some form of cessation assistance.
  • The most commonly used forms of cessation assistance were e-cigarettes (32.4%), nicotine replacement therapy (30.8%), and stop-smoking medications (14.7%).
  • Over half (55.9%) of smokers who visited a doctor in the past year received advice to quit.

Tobacco use among Canadian youth

Youth in grades 7-9, in 2016-17

  • 8.6% of students in grades 7-9 had ever tried a cigarette.
  • 1.0% of students in grades 7-9 were current smokers overall, varying by grade.
    • Similar proportions were daily (0.4%) and non-daily (0.5%) smokers.
    • Smoking prevalence did not differ significantly between males (1.1%) and females (0.8%).
  • One-third of never-smokers in grades 7-9 were classified as susceptible to smoking.
  • Daily smokers in grades 7-9 smoked an average of 7.5 cigarettes per day.
  • 4.7% of students in grades 7-9 had ever smoked a cigar or cigarillo.
  • Most smokers in grades 7-9 usually obtained their cigarettes from social sources.
  • Three-quarters of current smokers in grades 7-9 reported ever trying to quit smoking.

Youth aged 15-19, in 2017

  • One in six (16.4%) youth aged 15-19 reported ever having smoked a whole cigarette.
  • 7.9% were current smokers overall, with age-specific rates ranging from 4.1% among 15- and 16-year-olds to 14.4% of 19-year-olds.
    • Daily smoking (2.9%) accounted for less than half of youth prevalence (4.9% non-daily).
    • Prevalence was significantly higher among males (9.7%) than females (5.9%).
  • Daily smokers aged 15-19 smoked an average of 9.4 cigarettes per day.
  • 16% of youth aged 15-19 had ever smoked a cigarillo, 10% had ever smoked a cigar, and 10% had ever used a waterpipe.
    • Sex differences were apparent: 16% of males and 5% of females had smoked a cigar, while 21% of males and 10% of females had smoked a cigarillo.
  • 44% of smokers aged 15-18 usually bought their cigarettes from stores, while 37% were given cigarettes by another person, and one in five obtained them through “other” sources.
  • Six out of ten smokers aged 15-19 were seriously considering quitting in the next 6 months.
  • Half of smokers aged 15-19 had made a quit attempt in the past 12 months.

E-cigarette use among Canadians (15+), 2017

  • A substantial number of Canadians had tried e-cigarettes, but few reported regular use: 15.4% of Canadians (4.6 million) reported having ever tried an e-cigarette; 2.9% had used one in the past 30 days, and 1.0% reported daily use.
  • Ever use of e-cigarettes increased significantly between 2015 and 2017, while past 30-day use did not change significantly.
  • E-cigarette use was most prevalent among young people: 22.8% of youth aged 15-19, 29.3% of young adults aged 20-24, and 25.6% of adults aged 25-34 reported ever trying.
  • Prevalence of e-cigarette use was much greater among smokers: 54.1% of current smokers had ever used e-cigarettes, compared to 6.7% of non-smokers; past 30-day use was 12.2% among current smokers and 2.4% among non-smokers.
  • Two-thirds (64.4%) of users reported that the last e-cigarette they used contained nicotine.
  • Among all ever users, nearly one-quarter (23.6%) reported using e-cigarettes to help them quit smoking within the past two years.
  • In 2016-17, 12.6% of Canadian students in grades 7-9 reported ever trying an e-cigarette, and 5.4% had used one in the past 30 days.
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Tobacco use in canada

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