Canada: Health groups concerned over delay of federal vaping flavour ban

Canadian public health organizations are expressing concern over the growing uncertainty surrounding a ban on vaping flavours in Canada. While Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Ya'ara Saks assured last fall that such restrictions were imminent, recent discussions suggest otherwise.

Health Canada has been discussing a ban on flavours for vaping products since June 2021. The federal government then spent more than three years conducting consultations and was scheduled to introduce these regulations in June 2024. Since then, Minister Saks has held numerous meetings with representatives of the nicotine and vaping industry according to some health organizations that are calling for her resignation.

A parliamentary calendar disrupted by the elections in the spring

Cynthia Callard, executive director of Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada, said that after a meeting with a senior official in Minister Saks' office in mid-January, it became clear that the ban was unlikely to happen this year. "We left the meeting with the firm conviction that the ban on vaping flavours would not happen this year," Ms. Callard said[1].

The meeting came the same week that Canada's top public health doctors issued a joint statement reiterating their call for the federal government to ban flavours in vaping products, saying: "that they remain very concerned about the high and continuing increase in the use of nicotine vaping products among young Canadians."

Federal officials have cited logistical hurdles, including the limited parliamentary calendar and the looming prospect of a spring election, as reasons for the delay in implementing the ban. The delay has sparked speculation about the political calculations at play. With a possible election looming, critics say the government may be reluctant to advance regulations that could provoke a backlash from the vaping industry.

Federal ban needed for it to be effective

Health groups have consistently argued that flavoured vaping products, often marketed with appealing flavours, are a gateway to nicotine addiction among youth. According to recent data from the Canadian Tobacco and Nicotine Survey, nearly one in five teens aged 15 to 19 reported using e-cigarettes in the month prior to the survey, a finding that health experts directly link to the appeal of flavoured products.

In the absence of federal action, several provinces and territories have implemented their own flavour bans: Quebec, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. Robert Strang, Nova Scotia's chief medical officer and health officer, said there is no reason to delay a national flavour ban any further. He said the federal dimension of the measure is essential to ensure regulations are enforced everywhere. A federal flavour ban would shut down the interprovincial trade. Many products from Ontario, where flavours are allowed, are freely imported into Quebec.

In Quebec, field surveys have shown that one year after the law came into force to ban the sale of flavored vaping products (with the exception of tobacco flavor), the regulations are not being enforced at all. Flavored products remain very accessible in points of sale and on the Internet, which public health associations deplore. Some Quebec retailers have changed their status to declare themselves as grocery stores. This transformation has allowed them to sell flavor enhancers, designed to be added to tobacco-flavored e-liquids.

A report from the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS) published at the end of 2024 showed that more than 90% of the businesses inspected were violating the laws in force. In addition to the illegal physical retailers[2].

AE

[1] Marina von Stackelberg, Promised Canada-wide ban on vaping flavors increasingly unlikely, health groups warn, CBC News, published January 26, 2025, accessed January 28, 2025

[2] Tobacco-free generation, Quebec: the ban on vaping flavors is not applied, published on November 5, 2024, accessed on January 28, 2025