Susceptibility to smoking by grade

Susceptibility to smoking among never-smoking students in grades 7-9 did not change significantly between 2014-15 and 2016-17⁸³ (Note: comparisons with the earliest survey years are not possible due to question changes). In most survey years since 1994, the percentage of never-smokers who were susceptible to smoking was lower among the youngest students: for example, in 2016-17, 28.4% of students in grade 7 were susceptible, compared to 35.8% of grade 8 and 38.0% of grade 9 students (Figure 7.5). Susceptibility among grade 8 and grade 9 students was similar in most survey years.

See data table below with 95% confidence intervals.

Figure 7.5 data table with 95% confidence intervals

Percentage of never-smokers in Grades 7-9 who were susceptible to smoking*, by grade, 1994-2016-17
Survey Year	1994	2002	2004-05	2006-07	2008-09	2010-11	2012-13	2014-15	2016-17
Overall	23.7	17.3	38.9 [35.4-40.8]	34.9 [33.0-36.7]	33.4 [32.4-34.5]	33.3 [31.9-34.7]	32.4 [30.7-34.1]	32.8 [30.4-35.2]	34.0 [32.7-35.2]
Grade 7	22.3	14.6	40.1 [36.5-43.6]	35.2 [32.1-38.3]	30.8 [29.0-32.7]	31.3 [29.2-33.4]	30.9 [28.8-33.0]	29.4 [26.1-32.8]	28.4 [26.3-30.6]
Grade 8	24.7	18.9	40.8 [35.2-46.4]	35.8 [33.3-38.3]	35.4 [33.5-37.2]	34.6 [32.2-37.0]	33.2 [31.0-35.3]	34.2 [31.4-36.9]	35.8 [33.9-37.6]
Grade 9	24.6	19.3	35.1 [30.0-40.3]	33.5 [31.0-36.1]	34.5 [32.6-36.3]	34.2 [31.8-36.6]	33.2 [30.1-36.4]	35.0 [32.1-38.0]	38.0 [36.1-40.0]

*From 2004-05 to 2016-17, susceptibility was defined as outlined on the previous page. In 1994 and 2002, students were classified as NOT susceptible if they responded “No” to both of the following items: “Have you ever seriously thought about trying smoking?” and “Do you think you might try smoking within the next month?”; others were classified as susceptible.

Data Sources: Youth Smoking Survey (YSS), 1994, 2002, 2004-05, 2006-07, 2008-09, 2010-11, 2012-13; Canadian Student Tobacco, Alcohol and Drugs Survey (CSTADS), 2014-15, 2016-17