A federal vaping flavour ban continues to be promoted by Canada’s Tobacco Control Lobby, despite clear evidence that youth vaping rates have already declined significantly under the regulations currently in place. The original flavour restriction proposal was introduced in 2021 but has not been implemented.
According to Health Canada’s Delivering Results: Advancing Canada’s Tobacco Strategy, vaping among youth aged 12–17 declined by more than 60% between 2019 and 2024, falling to 5.8%. This means Health Canada has already surpassed its short-term target of reducing youth vaping below 10% by 2025.
Everyone agrees that youth should not use vaping products. The focus should remain on preventing youth access through strong enforcement while preserving tobacco harm reduction options for adult consumers.
The report also recognizes that “the establishment of a legal vaping market has helped many adults transition to a less harmful alternative to smoking.” In fact, approximately "21% of Canadians who quit smoking in 2024 reported using an e-cigarette to help them quit".
The central argument for a flavour ban is that flavours exist solely to attract youth. However, this overlooks the role flavours play for adults trying to move away from cigarettes. An estimated 1.9 million adult Canadians have quit smoking using vaping products, and approximately 82% of adult vapers are former smokers.
Research published through the Public Health Agency of Canada, At-a-glance – Use of nicotine vaping products during an attempt to quit smoking by Canadian adults who smoke or recently quit: findings from the 2022 Canada International Tobacco Control Four Country Smoking and Vaping Survey, found that fruit flavours were the most commonly used by adults during smoking quit attempts, and that 68% of respondents relied on flavours that would be prohibited under the proposed restrictions.
Now the fundamental question is: Should the government remove access to flavours that 1.9 million adult Canadians rely on when youth vaping rate has declined nearly 60% in the past five years?