BACKGROUND AND IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGES: The Canadian government's annual budget for its national tobacco control strategy is C$66 million (US$46 million), including for communication campaigns, cessation and other programs, regulatory development, enforcement, research and surveillance, and international.
There have been longstanding advocacy efforts to require tobacco companies to reimburse the Canadian Department of Health for this cost. The tobacco industry opposes the measure.
In US, a cost recovery fee has been in place since 2009 to recover the annual cost of the Food and Drug Administration's tobacco control budget. In Canada, a national cost recovery fee was implemented on the cannabis industry following cannabis legalization in 2018.
INTERVENTION OR RESPONSE: A multi-year advocacy campaign called for the measure. A cost recovery fee helps hold the tobacco industry accountable. The measure results in added government revenue. Opinion polls demonstrate overwhelming public support.
RESULTS AND IMPACT: In the 2021 Canadian national election, the three major national parties (Liberal, Conservative, New Democrats) included a cost recovery fee in their platforms. The Conservatives had also included the measure in their 2019 platform. In 2021, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance recommended the measure.
Following the 2021 federal election, the Prime Minister's mandate letter to the Associate Minister of Health included the measure. Enabling legislation was introduced in Parliament in November 2023 and adopted in June 2024 with a unanimous vote supported by all political parties and all Members of Parliament. A public consultation was launched in August 2024 on a proposed implementing regulation, with a final regulation scheduled to be adopted in 2025, second quarter.
CONCLUSIONS: A cost recovery fee to recover from the tobacco industry the annual cost of the government's tobacco control strategy is an effective measure that could be implemented by national or subnational governments. The measure is publicly popular and generates revenue for government. Many countries should consider this measure.