Quit attempts

Quit attempts among students in Grades 7-9

Bar chart showing number of quit attempts ever made by current smokers, grades 7 to 9, from 2018 to 2019. Trends described in text. Data table below with 95% confidence intervals.

Among current smokers in grades 7-9, the majority (61.3%) had ever tried to quit smoking.

Most smokers who had ever tried to quit had made one to three attempts, with 13% having made four or more attempts (Figure 10.1).

Between 2016-17 and 2018-19, there was a significant decrease in the percentage of smokers in grades 7-9 who had ever tried to quit smoking.56

The percentage of current smokers who had ever attempted to quit has remained fairly stable over time at around two-thirds, although there was slight variation from wave to wave (Figure 10.2).

Figure 10.1 data table with 95% confidence intervals
Figure 10.1: Number of quit attempts ever made by current smokers, Grades 7-9, 2018-19
# of attempts %
0 38.7 [31.0-46.4]
1 25.1 [20.8-29.4]
2 to 3 23.6 [17.1-30.1]
4+ 12.6 [8.4-16.8]

Data source: Canadian Student Tobacco, Alcohol and Drugs Survey, 2018-19.

Line graph showing percentage of current smokers who have ever made a quit attempt, grades 7 to 9, from 1994 to 2018-19. Trends described in text. Data table below with 95% confidence intervals.

Figure 10.2 data table with 95% confidence intervals
Figure 10.2: Percentage of current smokers who have ever made a quit attempt, Grades 7-9, 1994 to 2018-19
  %
1994 67.5
2002 65.8
2004-05 72.9 [61.0-84.9]
2006-07 64.7 [58.6-70.7]
2008-09 65.4 [59.3-71.5]
2010-11 66.3 [59.9-72.6]
2012-13 69.6 [64.6-74.7]
2014-15 67.8 [56.4-79.2]
2016-17 74.0 [66.5-81.4]
2018-19 61.3 [53.6-69.0]

Data source: Youth Smoking Survey, 1994, 2002, 2004-05, 2006-07, 2008-09, 2010-11, 2012-13; Canadian Student Tobacco, Alcohol and Drugs Survey, 2014-15, 2016-17, 2018-19.