Grades 7-9

Ever smoking - Grades 7-9

In 2018-19, the majority (90.7%) of students surveyed in grades 7-9 had never tried smoking cigarettes, ranging from 94.6%a in grade 7 to 86.6%b in grade 9. However, 9.3% of students overall had tried smoking; Figure 6.1 provides a breakdown of the smoking status of these students.

Bar chart showing smoking status of students in grades 7 to 9 who had ever tried smoking cigarettes from 2018 to 2019. Trends described in text. Data table below with 95% confidence intervals.

Figure 6.1 data table with 95% confidence intervals

Figure 6.1: Smoking status of students in grades 7-9 who had ever tried smoking cigarettes, 2018-19
  % of respondents
Daily smoker 0.4 [0.4-0.5]
Non-daily smoker 0.6 [0.4-0.7]
Former smoker 0.2 [0.1-0.3]
Beginner/ Experimenter 1.1 [0.9-1.3]
Past Experimenter 1.5 [1.3-1.8]
Puffer 5.4 [4.6-6.2]
Never tried 90.7 [89.5-91.9]

Current smoker: smoked 100+ cigarettes in lifetime, including:

  • Daily smoker: at least one cigarette per day for each of the 30 days preceding the survey.
  • Non-daily smoker: at least one cigarette during the last 30 days, but not every day.

Former smoker: smoked 100+ cigarettes in lifetime and has not smoked at all in the last 30 days.

Beginner/Experimenter: smoked ≥1 whole cigarette and has smoked in the last 30 days.

Past experimenter: smoked ≥1 whole cigarette and has not smoked at all in the last 30 days.

Puffer: tried a few puffs, but never smoked a whole cigarette.

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

In 2018-19, the percentages of male (9.1%c) and female (9.4%d) students in grades 7-9 who had tried smoking cigarettes were not significantly different.33

The overall percentage of students in grades 7-9 who had ever tried smoking dropped substantially between 1994 and 2002, and appears to have declined slowly since then; the slight increase in prevalence of ever smoking between 2016-17 and 2018-19 was not statistically significant34 (Figure 6.2). The percentage of students who had tried smoking a cigarette increased with grade level: in 2018-19, 5.4% of students in grade 7 had tried smoking, compared to 13.4% of grade 9 students.

Bar chart showing percentage of students in grades 7 to 9 who have ever tried smoking a cigarette, by grade, from 1994 to 2018-19. Trends described in text. Data table below with 95% confidence intervals.

Figure 6.2 data table with 95% confidence intervals

Figure 6.2: Percentage of students in grades 7-9 who have ever tried smoking a cigarette, by grade, 1994-2018-19
Survey Year 1994 2002 2004-05 2006-07 2008-09 2010-11 2012-13 2014-15 2016-2017 2018-2019
Overall 51.9 31.5 26.2 25.7 25.6 18.4 16.4 9.8 [7.6-12.0] 8.6 [7.8-9.4] 9.3 [8.1-10.5]
Grade 7

40.2

 21.2 17.8 16.8 15.0 9.0 9.8 3.9 [2.2-5.6] 4.4 [3.5-5.3] 5.4 [4.6-6.2]
Grade 8 55.3 32.2 26.6 24.7 25.5 19.2 15.0 9.4 [7.4-11.5] 7.6 [6.7-8.6] 8.8 [7.7-9.9]
Grade 9 60.0 41.9 34.3 35.2 35.7 26.7 24.0 15.5 [11.6-19.3] 13.5 [12.1-15.0] 13.4 [10.5-16.3]

Data sources: Youth Smoking Survey, 1994, 2002, 2004-05, 2006-07, 2008-09, 2010-11, 2012-13; Canadian Student Tobacco, Alcohol and Drugs Survey (CSTADS) 2014-2015, 2016-2017, 2018-19.

Bar chart showing percentage of students in grades 7 to 9 who had ever tried smoking a cigarette, by province, from 2018 to 2019. Trends described in text. Data table below with 95% confidence intervals.

The percentage of students in grades 7-9 who had ever tried smoking a cigarette varied significantly by province35 (Figure 6.3). For example, 4.4% of youth in Ontario had tried smoking, while more than quadruple that (19.8%) in Saskatchewan had tried.

Figure 6.3 data table with 95% confidence intervals
Figure 6.3: Percentage of students in Grades 7-9 who have ever tried smoking a cigarette, by province*, 2018-2019
  % of students
Saskatchewan 19.8 [15.1-24.6]
Quebec 16.5 [13.8-19.1]
New Brunswick 13.8 [11.8-15.7]
Newfoundland & Labrador 12.3 [8.2-16.5]
Prince Edward Island 12.2 [9.6-14.8]
Nova Scotia 11.5 [9.5-13.4]
Manitoba 10.9 [7.0-14.8]
Canada 9.3 [8.1-10.5]
Alberta 8.0 [5.7-10.2]
British Columbia 8.0 [5.7-10.3]
Ontario 4.4 [2.6-6.2]

Data source: Canadian Student Tobacco, Alcohol and Drugs Survey (CSTADS), 2018-2019.

95% confidence intervals for in-text estimates 

a: 94.6 [93.8-95.4]
b: 86.6 [83.7-89.5]
c: 9.1 [8.0-10.1]
d: 9.4 [7.8-11.1]