Statement

Today, the Government of Canada recognizes World No Tobacco Day. This annual event organized by the World Health Organization aims to raise awareness about the harms of tobacco, as well as the benefits of quitting smoking.

May 31, 2022 │Ottawa, ON │Health Canada

Today, the Government of Canada recognizes World No Tobacco Day. This annual event organized by the World Health Organization aims to raise awareness about the harms of tobacco, as well as the benefits of quitting smoking.

Despite some tobacco use decline following decades of efforts to deter smoking, millions of people smoke in Canada. Nicotine is highly addictive. Tobacco use continues to be one of Canada’s most significant public health problems, and the leading preventable cause of disease and premature death in Canada. Every year, more than 800 Canadian non-smokers die from second-hand smoke. Among those who smoke daily, half will lose their life due to smoking.

Quitting smoking is one of the best things you can do for your health. In as little as 1 day after quitting smoking, your body starts to renew itself, reducing your chance of developing heart disease, cancer, breathing problems, and infections.

What’s more, quitting smoking can benefit the planet and those around us as well as our bodies and our minds. This year’s World No Tobacco Day theme — Tobacco: Threat to our environment — asks us to turn our attention to the environmental impact of tobacco – from cultivation and production to distribution and waste. Cigarette butts and e-cigarette waste can also harm the environment as tobacco smoke pollutes the air.

The Government of Canada is investing in ways to help make quitting smoking easier. Today, we announced $1.6 million in support of designing targeted activities led by five organizations from across the country who are seeking to prevent tobacco use and help people quit smoking. Their efforts will focus on at-risk populations who experience higher rates of tobacco use including members of low-income households, racialized groups and Indigenous Peoples.

Healthcare providers also play an invaluable role in supporting successful smoking cessation efforts. To support them, Health Canada is investing in the development of innovative national smoking cessation standards to help people who smoke get the support they need to quit as part of the routine care health professionals provide. The voluntary standards, being developed in collaboration with the Standards Council of Canada and the University of Ottawa Heart Institute, will support healthcare organizations with evidence-based ways of identifying and treating all patients and clients who use tobacco. This will result in increased rates of cessation, saving more lives and protecting the health of more Canadians.

In addition, the pan-Canadian quit line offers free support from trained specialists who can help you develop a plan to stop smoking, answer your questions, and provide referrals to programs and services in your community where available, including access to nicotine replacement therapy and medications. You can reach the quit line at Gosmokefree.gc.ca/quit or toll-free at 1-866-366-3667.

We encourage all Canadians to take advantage of the many supports available to them, or for them to suggest to their loved ones to quit smoking. The best way to quit smoking is the way that works for the individual smoker. For more information, visit Canada.ca/quit-smoking.

The Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, P.C., M.P.

The Honourable Carolyn Bennett, P.C., M.P.

Contacts

Marie-France Proulx

Press Secretary

Office of Jean-Yves Duclos

Minister of Health

613-957-0200

Maja Staka

Press Secretary

Office of the Honourable Carolyn Bennett

Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health

343-552-5568

Media Relations

Health Canada

613-957-2983

media@hc-sc.gc.ca