It’s illegal for kids under 18 to buy tobacco products in Canada and there’s a movement afoot to make sure today’s youth are never allowed to light up a cigarette — even after they come of age.
asserted
they → ’ → age
A law that will take effect in the United Kingdom in January will prohibit anyone born after 2008 from ever legally buying cigarettes.
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that → take → cigarettes
In Canada, lobbyists are pushing the federal government to go even further by banning smoking and vaping products for the next generation entirely.
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lobbyists → push → generation
Sarah Sleet, CEO of Asthma + Lung U.K., said there has been broad public support for the move in Britain but it took decades of lobbying and advocacy.
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it → say → lobbying
“If you survey smokers, they do not want their children to be smoking.
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children → survey → smokers
They know what a terrible thing it is, they know how bad it is for their health, they know how expensive it is,” she said.
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she → know → health
The law also had cross-partisan support.
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law → have → support
It was proposed by a Conservative government in 2023 and eventually passed under the current Labour government.
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It → propose → government
The proposed bill initially included vaping products, but the final version is limited to smoking.
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version → propose → smoking
The Lung Health Foundation in Canada wants to bring vaping into the conversation.
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Foundation → want → conversation
“Kids who vape are 3 1/2 times more likely to smoke tobacco in the future,” said Jessica Buckley, president and CEO of the foundation.
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Buckley → vape → foundation
Sleet said some in the United Kingdom were concerned about the law limiting access to vaping products that are used to help people stop smoking.
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people → say → smoking
The law did bring in stronger rules on the sale of vapes, including plain packaging and a requirement that stores keep the products behind screens.
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stores → bring → screens
The British law didn’t come without pushback from the tobacco industry.
Eric Gagnon, vice-president of regulatory affairs for Imperial Tobacco Canada, said while he shares the goal of keeping cigarettes and vapes out of the hands of youth, the tobacco industry does not support a prohibition on smoking, however gradual.
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industry → come → smoking
He pointed out that Canada has gone in the opposite direction with cannabis by legalizing and regulating the product, despite research showing smoking and vaping cannabis is harmful.
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smoking → point → cannabis
He also warned that a ban would feed the black market.
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ban → warn → market
“Canada already has a huge illicit market, not only on cigarettes but on nicotine pouches, on vaping products,” Gagnon said.
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Gagnon → have → products
Convenience store retailers are also opposed to such a ban and argue the illicit market has well-documented links to organized crime.
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market → argue → crime
Illegal tobacco products account for 50 per cent of the national market, and even more in some regions,” said Jeff Brownlee, vice-president of communications for the Convenience Industry Council of Canada.
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Brownlee → account → Canada
Brownlee called for a national strategy to crack down on contraband.
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Brownlee → call → contraband
In the United Kingdom, advocates’ research showed the size of the illicit market “is massively overestimated,” Sleet said.
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Sleet → show → market
The British government said raising the smoking age to 18 from 16 in 2007 and 2008 led to a 25 per cent reduction in the number of illicit cigarettes consumed.
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raising → say → cigarettes
“What it takes is, obviously, strong enforcement,” she said.
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she → take → What
U.K. research estimates smoking costs the equivalent of $5.6 billion a year in health and social services, and costs the wider economy some $32 billion.
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smoking → estimate → billion
Sleet said those sums outweigh the estimated losses in government revenue from excise taxes and sales of cigarettes.
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sums → say → cigarettes
In Canada, the estimated public cost of tobacco use is $11.2 billion a year and as many as 46,000 people die from tobacco-related illnesses each year.
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people → estimate → illnesses
The federal government collected $2.6 billion in tobacco excise tax revenue in 2024, according to a report from the parliamentary budget officer.
uncertain
government → collect → officer
Buckley and dozens of advocates plan to be on Parliament Hill next week for a lobbying push to convince the federal government that a generational tobacco ban could save health care funding desperately needed for Canada’s aging population.
uncertain
ban → plan → population
“It’s very difficult to have levers to pull on the health-care side in order to reduce those costs long-term,” she said.
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she → ’ → costs
Buckley said they’ll also be armed with polling that suggests broad public support in Canada for a generational ban.
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that → say → ban
She said they have meetings scheduled with advisers to Health Minister Marjorie Michel and her parliamentary secretary Maggie Chi.
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they → say → Michel
Canada has a national strategy to reduce tobacco use to five per cent of the population by 2035 — currently, about 11 per cent of Canadians smoke — and directs $66 million a year toward stop-smoking programs.
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cent → have → programs
Michel’s office said in a statement that Canada isn’t currently considering introducing a prohibition.
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Canada → say → prohibition
“We continue to monitor measures taken by like-minded countries to reduce youth smoking, including the United Kingdom’s recent initiative,” said Alexandre Bergeron, Michel’s spokesperson.
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Bergeron → continue → initiative
From the other side of the pond, Sleet has a message for Canadian lawmakers.
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Sleet → have → lawmakers
“Be brave, go for it,” she said.
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she → go → it
“You’re not going to regret it.”
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You → go → it
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 18, 2026.
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report → publish → Press
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