CONFERENCE PROCEEDING
Canada’s tobacco control endgame: Fits and starts and lost opportunities
,
 
 
 
More details
Hide details
1
HQ, ASH Canada, Edmonton, Canada
 
2
Ontario Tobacco Research Unit, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
 
3
HQ, ASH U.S., Washington, United States
 
 
Publication date: 2025-06-23
 
 
Tob. Induc. Dis. 2025;23(Suppl 1):A383
 
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGES: Canada’s pursuit of a tobacco endgame began with a national summit held in October 2016. The endgame summit involved dozens of tobacco control leaders, researchers, and government officials across Canada. Summit participants agreed to propose a national endgame target of reducing tobacco use prevalence to less than 5% by 2035. Health Canada responded by formalizing the “less than 5% by 2035” target in its renewed national tobacco reduction strategy in 2018. However, the updated strategy did not include a detailed plan of action, milestones or performance measures for achieving the target. The strategy also involved the legalization of nicotine vaping and its promotion as a primary means of tobacco use cessation.
INTERVENTION OR RESPONSE: Between 2017 and 2019, and in support of the 2035 target, Health Canada approved a ban on flavour additives in most tobacco products (including menthol) and mandated plain packaging. These initial measures represent significant early steps toward an endgame. However, progress began to slow with the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020.
RESULTS AND IMPACT: At this point, Canada still has no clear action plan to achieve its 2035 target, although progress has not stalled. In 2021, renewed graphic warnings were approved for tobacco products. In 2023, Canada became the first country to require health warning messages on cigarettes. In 2024, Health Canada championed the “endgame” decision (FCTC Article 2.1) at the tobacco control treaty summit (FCTC COP10) and introduced cross-government guidelines to comply with Article 5.3 of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
CONCLUSIONS: The Canadian government’s commitment to achieving its 2035 target remains in question despite Health Canada’s global endgame advocacy efforts. A renewed national commitment with a detailed and robust action plan with concrete milestones and performance measures is needed to ensure this outcome.
eISSN:1617-9625
Journals System - logo
Scroll to top