Market & legal data on the tobacco alternatives sector in Canada

7th October 2024: Canada: Convenience store firms Mac’s Convenience Stores, Couche-Tard, and Parkland have filed appeals with federal courts to overturn federal regulations that restrict the sale of nicotine pouches to pharmacies. The appellants argue that the new restrictions are unfair and unconstitutional, and they believe these regulations will increase demand for illegal products.
23rd August 2024: Canada: Health minister Mark Holland announced yesterday (22nd August) that a ministerial order will be issued to restrict sales of nicotine pouches to behind pharmacy counters, ban flavours other than mint and menthol, require these products to carry health warnings, and prohibit advertising and promoting them in a way that could appeal to youth. Holland said: “What I’m hoping to see is for these products to be used for what they’re intended to do – to help people stop smoking – and to stop dead in its tracks the explosion of these products that we’re seeing in youth.” In Canada, pouch sales require government approval and may only be sold as a smoking cessation aid.
2nd August 2024: Canada: Health Canada has published a consultation document on the proposed tobacco cost recovery framework which would implement an annual fee for designated tobacco product manufacturers, including importers. This fee would vary each year based on a manufacturer’s share of the domestic tobacco product market. Vaping products do not fall under the scope of the proposed framework. Comments can be submitted until 10th October.
20th June 2024: Canada: Health Canada has published the report of the second review of the Tobacco and Vaping Products Act (TVPA), which focuses on tobacco products and complements the first review on the TVPA’s vaping-related provisions. The second review recommends prioritising First Nations, Inuit, and Métis engagement, cooperation, and reconciliation, addressing barriers to cessation, strengthening enforcement, increasing transparency, and addressing industry interference. It also addresses concerns over the access to and potential appeal of certain new nicotine replacement therapies to youth, specifically the new nicotine pouches authorised by Health Canada in July 2023.
13th June 2024: Canada: Health Canada has issued a recall of Zyn nicotine pouches for being sold without market authorisation under Canada’s Natural Health Products Regulations. The Canadian recall covers multiple flavours of Zyn nicotine pouches, including Apple Mint, Black Cherry, Citrus, Cool Mint, Original, Espresso, Spearmint and Bellini.
5th June 2024: Canada - New Brunswick: The provincial legislative assembly approved bill 30 to amend the Tobacco and Electronic Cigarette Sales Act to strengthen the regulatory framework around the sale of tobacco, smoking supplies, e-cigarettes and e-liquids to improve overall compliance and protect the health of young people. The bill will require every vapour product retailer to be licensed and will also ban the use of vending machines. The minister of health will have the authority to create regulations requiring vendors, manufacturers or distributors of tobacco, smoking supplies and e-cigarettes (including e-liquids) to submit samples of their product to an inspector for testing. The cost of the licence will increase from CAD100 (USD73) to CAD200 (USD146). The amendments come into force on a day or days to be fixed by proclamation.
3rd June 2024: Canada - Newfoundland and Labrador: The provincial government of Newfoundland and Labrador has launched public consultations on potential legislative amendments related to tobacco and vaping products, with feedback being sought through an online questionnaire starting early June on engageNL.ca. Key topics include prohibiting tobacco sales to individuals born after a specific date, raising the legal tobacco purchase age to 21, and banning tobacco vending machines. Separate virtual sessions will be held for stakeholders and the public, and written submissions can be directed to tobaccoengagement@gov.nl.ca.
17th April 2024: Canada: The minister of finance presented the Federal Budget 2024, which proposes to amend the Tobacco and Vaping Products Act to allow information sharing between government departments for the effective administration and enforcement of the forthcoming tobacco cost recovery framework.
17th April 2024: Canada: Starting today, heated tobacco and oral tobacco tax increases to CAD11.61031 (USD8.42) per 50 g or a fraction of 50 g contained in a package.
27th March 2024: Canada - New Brunswick: The provincial government has introduced amendments to the Tobacco and Electronic Cigarette Sales Act to strengthen the regulatory framework around the sale of tobacco, smoking supplies, e-cigarettes and e-liquids to improve overall compliance and protect the health of young people. The proposed amendments would require every vapour product retailer to be licensed and would also ban the use of vending machines. The minister of health would have the authority to create regulations requiring vendors, manufacturers or distributors of tobacco, smoking supplies and e-cigarettes (including e-liquids) to submit samples of their product to an inspector for testing. The cost of licences would increase from CAD100 (USD74) to CAD200 (USD147).
21st March 2024: Canada: The health minister released a statement expressing concern over the increasing popularity and recreational use of nicotine replacement therapies (NRTs), particularly nicotine pouches, among young people. Health Canada is currently pursuing legislative and regulatory mechanisms in the short term to urgently implement safeguards addressing youth access and appeal, including restrictions on advertising, flavours, and sales locations. These measures also aim to anticipate and mitigate emerging products, such as nicotine toothpicks, in international jurisdictions.
5th March 2024: Canada: Health Canada has published its 2024-2025 Departmental Plan. The plan’s objectives include reducing tobacco use through Canada’s Tobacco Strategy, examining youth access to vaping products to address high rates of vaping among young people, strengthening compliance and enforcement, conducting research and surveillance to better understand smoking and vaping behaviours, and exploring additional measures to address youth vaping. Specific measures include requiring tobacco manufacturers to contribute to the cost of federal public health investments in tobacco control, evaluating industry member feedback on the Tobacco and Vaping Products Act, establishing a working group to focus on cessation services, and developing voluntary standards for healthcare organisations. Additionally, Health Canada aims to establish a working group to assess youth access to vaping products, inspect websites and retailers, and advance regulatory measures to reduce the appeal of vaping products to young people.

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