What Smoking in Canadian Restaurants Looked Like Before the Ban

Before the 1960s, the concept of a “non-smoking section” in a restaurant did not exist. Smoking was permitted throughout the entire establishment, without restriction. As a 2021 Radio-Canada article notes, “De tout temps, fumée de cigarette et bars ont toujours été intimement liés” [Of all time, cigarette smoke and bars have always been intimately linked] — and the same was true for restaurants [citation:5].

• 📊 Smoking rates were enormous: In 1965, nearly half of all Canadian adults smoked (49.5%) [citation:7]. In Quebec, the peak was even higher — 50% of Quebecers smoked in 1965 [citation:5].
• 🏛️ The restaurant as a second home: Legendary establishments like Ben’s Delicatessen in Montreal, which operated for 98 years, were famous for their smoke-filled rooms. A Globe and Mail article describes Ben’s in its heyday: “The air was thick with cologne and cigarette smoke” [citation:9].
• 🎭 Celebrity-filled smoke haze: At Ben’s, waiters served the likes of Ed Sullivan, Liberace, and Jack Benny — who “blow cigar smoke through the vast dining room” [citation:9].
• 🚬 Cigarettes as an expected part of dining: No one complained about smoke because almost everyone was smoking. Non-smokers were the rare exception, not the rule.

In the pre-ban era, an ashtray was as essential to a restaurant table as a salt shaker or a napkin holder. Restaurants without ashtrays would have been considered incomplete. Smokers expected to be accommodated, and restaurateurs complied.

• 🍽️ Every table, every surface: Ashtrays were placed on every table, at the bar, and on countertops. In some establishments, ashtrays were even mounted on walls near washrooms.
• 🏪 Fast food ashtrays: Even fast-food restaurants like Arby’s and Hardee’s placed small ashtrays on tables — a reminder of how ubiquitous smoking was [citation:8].
• 🔥 The 1992 Lancaster Tavern fire: The Lancaster Smokehouse building in Kitchener, Ontario — originally a 1840s railroad hotel — suffered four fires between 1992 and 1994. The first fire in February 1992 was “caused by a cigarette” [citation:4]. This tragedy illustrates the constant fire hazard that accompanied unrestricted restaurant smoking.
• 📦 The legacy: Today, those ashtrays have been replaced by hand sanitizer dispensers — a symbol of how much has changed.

As evidence of the health hazards of smoking piled up, pressure began to build for restrictions. The 1970s saw the first timid steps toward smoke-free dining.

• 📅 1971: Air Canada introduced non-smoking sections on airplanes [citation:2].
• 📅 1974: The Non-Smokers Rights Association (NSRA) was founded in Toronto, beginning a campaign to convince cities to enact bylaws restricting smoking in public places [citation:2].
• 📅 1977: Toronto mayor David Crombie called the NSRA “the most impressive and intelligent lobby I have ever known” [citation:2].
• 📊 The impact: By 1977, the proportion of male smokers had dropped from 62% (1961) to 45%, but female rates remained unchanged at 35% [citation:2].
• 🚫 The beginning of segregation: Some restaurants began creating “non-smoking sections” — often small areas near the kitchen or washrooms, poorly ventilated, and separated by nothing more than a waist-high partition.

The 1990s saw significant municipal action, with Toronto leading the way. By the end of the decade, a patchwork of local bylaws created a confusing landscape for restaurateurs and diners alike.

• 📅 July 1996: Toronto passed a municipal bylaw restricting smoking in restaurants. The original law was “compromised through the political mischief” and had to be revisited twice before modified regulations emerged in April 1997 [citation:6].
• 📋 The 1997 Toronto rules:
  • Restaurants under 100 m²: max 10 m² or 25% smoking area (un-enclosed)
  • Restaurants over 100 m²: up to 10 m² of un-enclosed smoking space
  • Enclosed, ventilated smoking areas: up to 50% of usable seating
  • Deadline for full smoke-free: 2000 [citation:6]
• 🏙️ A confusing patchwork: Different municipalities had different rules. Barrie, Hamilton, Kingston, London, Ottawa, and Toronto all had varying restrictions on smoking in restaurants, bars, and bingo halls [citation:3].
• ⚠️ The Calgary approach: As late as 2006, Alberta’s Smoke-Free Places Act only banned smoking in public places accessible to minors — bars and casinos could still allow smoking [citation:3].

On May 31, 2006 — World No Tobacco Day — two of Canada’s largest provinces simultaneously enacted comprehensive smoking bans. The era of smoking in restaurants was over.

• ⚖️ The Quebec law: The Tobacco Act (Loi sur le tabac) banned smoking in all enclosed workplaces and public places, including restaurants, bars, brasseries, taverns, bowling alleys, and bingo halls [citation:5].
• ⚖️ The Ontario law: The Smoke-Free Ontario Act banned smoking in all enclosed public spaces and workplaces [citation:1].
• 📊 The context: At the time, Quebec had the highest smoking rate in Canada — 24% of the population smoked [citation:5]. In Quebec bars, three out of four customers smoked while having a beer [citation:5].
• 😡 The backlash: “If they stop us from smoking, what are we going to do? Where are we going to relax?” — one smoker told Radio-Canada [citation:5]. Bar owners protested, with one union president claiming revenue drops of 20-60% [citation:5].
• 📉 The transition: Smokers quickly adapted — they moved to patios. “In the middle of summer, few dared defy the law” [citation:5].
• ⚖️ The legal challenge: In November 2006, the Union des tenanciers de bars du Québec filed for an injunction, arguing the law had “catastrophic financial impact.” The request was denied [citation:5].

When indoor smoking was banned, smokers didn’t disappear — they moved outdoors. Restaurant patios became the new smoking lounges. But this loophole was eventually closed as well.

• 📅 2015 — Ontario: The Smoke-Free Ontario Act was extended to ban smoking on all bar and restaurant patios [citation:1].
• 📅 2016 — Quebec: The Tobacco Act was amended to ban smoking on restaurant and bar patios, as well as within 9 metres of doors, windows, and air intakes [citation:1].
• 🌿 2018: The legalization of recreational cannabis brought new regulations for public consumption, generally aligning with tobacco rules [citation:1].
• 🚭 Today: In most provinces, smokers must leave restaurant property entirely to light up — no more patios, no more designated outdoor areas within restaurant grounds.

For those who lived through the era, the memory of smoke-filled restaurants is visceral. Online forums and oral histories capture what it felt like.

• 👕 The smell on clothes: “You’d come home from a restaurant and your clothes would reek of smoke for days. Even your hair smelled.”
• 👁️ The burning eyes: Non-smokers often left restaurants with red, irritated eyes from the smoke.
• 👩‍🍳 The staff perspective: Waitstaff and kitchen workers bore the brunt of secondhand smoke exposure, with no protection.
• 📞 The “non-smoking section” illusion: As one diner recalled, “Not that it mattered much as the smoke smell traveled” [citation:8]. The partition between smoking and non-smoking sections was purely theatrical.
• 🏨 Hotel rooms: “I also remember you had to specify you wanted a non smoking room when booking a hotel or sometimes they would give you a smoking room instead. Now it seems most hotels are fully non smoking” [citation:8].

While you can no longer smoke inside restaurants, many Canadians still smoke. Native cigarettes (Playfare, Canadian, DuMont, Nexus, Rolled Gold) have become the affordable choice for price-conscious adult smokers. A carton costs $29-50, compared to $140-180 for commercial brands — a savings of 70-80%.

• 💰 Cost savings: A pack-a-day smoker saves $5,000-7,000 per year by switching to native cigarettes.
• 🚫 Not “healthier”: Native cigarettes contain the same nicotine, tar, and carcinogens as commercial brands. The only difference is price and packaging.
• 📦 Online delivery: Cigstore.ca ships to every province and territory with $29 flat shipping (free over $290).
• 🍽️ Dining note: You still can’t smoke in restaurants — but you can order affordable native cigarettes for home or outdoor use.