100 Years of Cigarettes in Canada

The 1920s marked the beginning of the modern cigarette era in Canada. Factory-made cigarettes replaced roll-your-own tobacco, and aggressive advertising made smoking a national pastime.

• 📊 1929: Billie Dove, a classic film star, was paid $10,000 by the American Tobacco Company to endorse Lucky Strike cigarettes in an ad campaign .
• 🎬 Hollywood influence: Canadian moviegoers saw their favourite stars smoking on screen — glamorizing the habit .
• 🏭 Industrialization: The rise of mass production made cigarettes cheaper and more accessible than ever before.
• 📈 Per capita consumption: By the 1940s, smoking had become a mainstream habit among Canadian adults.

The 1950s and 1960s were the golden age of the Canadian cigarette industry. Smoking was everywhere: in offices, restaurants, hospitals, airplanes, and schools. Despite the 1964 Surgeon General’s report linking smoking to lung cancer, per capita consumption continued to rise .

• 📢 Deceptive advertising: “More doctors smoke Camels” (1946-1954) and “Your throat protection — Player’s” reassured smokers that cigarettes were safe .
• 📈 Sales boom: In 1949, legal cigarette sales were 16.8 billion. By 1965, they had reached 43 billion .
• 💰 Industry profits: Tobacco companies spent millions on advertising, product placement, and lobbying to maintain their market .

The 1970s saw the first serious attempts to regulate tobacco in Canada. Health warnings appeared on packages, and cigarette advertising was banned from broadcast media.

• 📅 1971: Cigarette advertising banned on Canadian radio and television.
• 📅 1972: First voluntary health warnings appear on cigarette packages (“Avoid Inhaling — Tobacco Smoke Can Be Harmful”).
• 📅 1977: The Non-Smokers Rights Association (NSRA) is founded in Toronto, beginning a campaign to convince cities to enact bylaws restricting smoking in public places .
• 📊 Smoking rates begin to decline: Male smoking rates drop from 62% (1961) to 45% (1977), but female rates remain stable at 35% .

The 1980s saw major federal action. The Tobacco Products Control Act (1988) attempted to ban most forms of tobacco advertising, though it was later struck down by the Supreme Court.

• 📅 1982: Transport Canada introduces first restrictions on smoking in federally operated airports.
• 📅 1987: Transport Canada directive bans smoking in all free circulation areas, ticket locations, baggage claim, and washrooms. 40% smoking / 60% non-smoking in holdrooms.
• 📅 1988: Tobacco Products Control Act attempts to ban all advertising (later struck down in 1995).
• 📅 1989: First mandatory text warnings appear on cigarette packages .
• 📊 By 1985, smoking rates had dropped to 35% of the population.

The 1990s brought the landmark legislation that still governs tobacco in Canada today. The Tobacco Act (1997) banned most advertising, required stronger warnings, and restricted where cigarettes could be sold.

• 📅 1990: Canada bans smoking on domestic flights — a world first .
• 📅 1994: Stronger text warnings cover 35% of the package .
• 📅 1997: The Tobacco Act is passed, banning most advertising, sponsorships, and promotions.
• 📅 1998: The Master Settlement Agreement in the US (while not Canadian) profoundly affects the industry’s marketing practices.
• 📊 By 1999, smoking rates had dropped to 25% of the population.

The 2000s cemented Canada’s role as a global leader in tobacco control. Graphic warnings, plain packaging proposals, and provincial smoking bans transformed the tobacco landscape.

• 📅 2001: Graphic warnings cover 50% of the package .
• 📅 2006: Ontario and Quebec ban smoking in restaurants and bars on the same day (May 31) .
• 📅 2008: Ontario bans in-store tobacco displays .
• 📅 2009: Prince Edward Island becomes first province to prohibit smoking on hospital property .
• 📊 By 2009, smoking rates had dropped to 18% of the population.

The 2010s saw the implementation of the world’s toughest tobacco packaging laws. Canada required plain packaging (drab brown, no logos, standardized fonts) and expanded graphic warnings to 75% of the package.

• 📅 2011: Warnings expanded to 75% of the package — the largest in the world at the time .
• 📅 2015: Quebec bans smoking on restaurant and bar patios .
• 📅 2019: Plain packaging regulations take effect (phased in starting November 2019, full compliance by February 2022).
• 📊 By 2019, smoking rates had dropped to 14% of the population.

The 2020s have seen Canada continue to pioneer tobacco control. In 2023, Health Canada announced that health warnings would be printed directly on individual cigarettes — a world first. The regulations took effect in August 2023, with full compliance by 2025 .

• 📅 2023: Health Canada announces warnings on individual cigarettes .
• 📅 2024: Implementation of the new warning requirements begins .
• 📅 2025: All cigarettes sold in Canada must carry individual warnings .
• 📊 Today, smoking rates are approximately 12% of the population — a dramatic decline from 50% in 1965.

As commercial cigarette prices have skyrocketed (due to taxes, plain packaging, and litigation costs), many Canadian smokers have switched to native cigarettes. Native cigarettes (Playfare, Canadian, DuMont, Nexus, Rolled Gold) cost $29-50 per carton — 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).
• 📜 A century of change: While commercial cigarettes have become increasingly regulated and expensive, native cigarettes offer a return to affordability — but not to safety.