How Smoking in Canadian TV News Changed Over 50 Years

In the early 1960s, nearly half of all Canadian adults smoked [citation:1]. It was simply what people did. Newsrooms were no exception. But over the next 50 years, a combination of health research, legislation, and cultural shifts would transform smoking from a normal part of the broadcast day into a forbidden act.

Health Minister Judy LaMarsh declares in the House of Commons that smoking causes lung cancer — the first such official statement in the world [citation:10]. Yet the newsrooms covering this announcement were filled with cigarette smoke.

CBC’s This Hour Has Seven Days broadcasts a montage of cigarette ads alongside anti-smoking warnings from British TV. The program notes that tobacco companies spend $2 million annually on TV ads, while tobacco taxes generate $400 million in government revenue [citation:7].

CBC announces it will no longer carry cigarette advertising on radio or TV once existing contracts run out. Some private stations follow suit [citation:7]. This is a major turning point — the national broadcaster begins to distance itself from tobacco money.

The tobacco industry, hoping to pre‑empt a government directive, voluntarily stops advertising cigarettes on radio and TV [citation:7]. The last cigarette commercials disappear from Canadian airwaves.

Cigarette packages begin carrying a warning: “The Department of National Health and Welfare advises that danger to health increases with amount smoked” [citation:7].

With advertising gone, the visual of smoking shifts from commercials to the news set itself. Anchors and reporters continue to smoke on air, creating a conflicted message — reporting on health risks while holding a lit cigarette.

Lloyd Robertson anchors the CTV National News throughout this decade. The CTV newsroom, like its CBC counterpart, is a place where smoking is normal. Legendary anchor Knowlton Nash also presides over a smoke‑filled studio at CBC.

Canada becomes the first country to ban smoking on all domestic airline flights — a major milestone [citation:10]. But news studios remain largely unaffected.

Calgary hosts the first smoke‑free Olympics, setting a global precedent [citation:10]. The Non‑smokers’ Health Act receives Royal Assent, regulating smoking in federally regulated workplaces — but news studios are not yet fully covered [citation:5].

Peter Mansbridge quits smoking for good [citation:8]. He would later reflect: “I decided I had to do this for my health, for the health of those around me, and as a signal to my kids, and eventually to my grandkids, that smoking was not the way to go” [citation:8].

Toronto’s new non‑smoking bylaw is big news — even celebrities at Planet Hollywood can’t light up. CBC’s The National reports on the growing restrictions [citation:1]. The irony is not lost: news anchors are reporting on smoking bans while remembering when they themselves smoked on air.

Parliament passes the Tobacco Act, reimposing advertising restrictions and giving the government authority over packaging [citation:10].

Smoking in newsrooms becomes increasingly restricted. Indoor smoking bans spread across provinces. The image of an anchor with a cigarette disappears from Canadian television entirely.

Canada becomes the first country to implement graphic health warnings on cigarette packages, featuring pictures of diseased lungs and mouths [citation:10]. News programs cover the rollout extensively — now from fully smoke‑free studios.

An NBC Evening News report highlights Canada’s aggressive anti‑smoking campaign, showing graphic images of body parts damaged by smoking. “The photos encourage smokers to quit or smoke less,” says Canadian industry minister Allan Rock [citation:6].

A media scandal erupts: reports surface that CBC employees still have access to smoking lounges despite Ontario’s Smoke‑Free Ontario Act. Labour Minister Jean‑Pierre Blackburn orders air quality testing. The results show “the air inside these smoking rooms was very poor when the rooms weren’t in use, deteriorating to dangerous levels when they were in use” [citation:2].

Amendments to the Non‑smokers’ Health Regulations effectively ban smoking from almost all federally regulated workplaces, including broadcasting. The CBC’s smoking lounges are eliminated [citation:2].

The Supreme Court unanimously upholds the Tobacco Act, ending tobacco companies’ long legal battle against advertising restrictions [citation:10].

Lloyd Robertson retires from the CTV National News desk after 27 years — having witnessed the complete transformation of his industry from smoke‑filled to smoke‑free [citation:4].

Robertson retires from W5, closing a career that spanned six decades [citation:4].

Reflecting on New Zealand’s proposed generational smoking ban, Peter Mansbridge notes that quitting smoking was difficult — “there were those rushes at certain points of the day especially after a good meal where you went ‘oh my gosh I’d love a cigarette'” — but adds that the feeling eventually fades [citation:8].

Canadian television news studios are completely smoke‑free. Smoking is not permitted anywhere in broadcast facilities. The ashtrays that once sat on anchor desks are now museum pieces, relics of a bygone era.

📌 The Last Generation of Smoking Anchors

Peter Mansbridge (CBC, 1968-2017) smoked for decades before quitting in 1994. Lloyd Robertson (CTV, 1952-2016) also worked through the smoking era. Knowlton Nash (CBC, 1960s-1980s) presided over a smoke‑filled newsroom. They were the last generation of Canadian news anchors who routinely smoked during broadcasts. Today, a new generation anchors from pristine, air‑purified studios — and the ashtrays are long gone.