Government of Canada seeks input from Canadians on the Tobacco and Vaping Products Act

The Government of Canada strives to protect the health of Canadians from nicotine addiction and tobacco use. To support this, the Tobacco and Vaping Products Act (TVPA) was amended in 2018, with a focus on preventing uptake by youth and those who do not use tobacco products. The Government of Canada is inviting the public to provide feedback on how the Act is progressing towards achieving its vaping-related objectives.  

The TVPA regulates the manufacture, sale, labelling and promotion of both tobacco and vaping products sold in Canada. The Act underscores that these products are harmful to young people as well as to people who don’t use tobacco products. It also recognizes that vaping products are a less harmful source of nicotine for adults who smoke and choose to switch completely.

The TVPA includes a requirement for a legislative review three years after coming into force, followed by subsequent reviews every two years. This requirement is an opportunity to monitor the TVPA’s new oversight of vaping products with particular focus on its impact on youth vaping. Regular reviews will help Canada remain vigilant in addressing the important public health issues related to tobacco and vaping products.

Specifically, this first review will focus on the TVPA’s progress towards meeting the following objectives:

• Protecting young people and non-users of tobacco products from inducements to use vaping products;
• Protecting the health of young persons and non-users of tobacco products from exposure to and dependence on nicotine that could result from the use of vaping products;
• Protecting the health of young persons by restricting access to vaping products;
• Preventing the public from being deceived or misled with respect to the health hazards of using vaping products; and
• Enhancing public awareness of those hazards.

Canadians are encouraged to consult Health Canada’s TVPA Discussion Paper and submit their feedback by emailing legislativereviewtvpa.revisionlegislativeltpv@hc-sc.gc.ca until April 27, 2022.

The public consultation will inform the development of a final report that is required to be tabled in Parliament. The final report will be publicly available on Canada.ca.

Quotes

“The increase in youth vaping rates since the introduction of vaping products to the Canadian market is concerning and makes the review of the vaping-related provisions of the Tobacco and Vaping Products Act very timely. We want to hear from you. The feedback we receive to support this first legislative review will make sure that those actions are still effectively protecting people’s health.”

The Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos
Minister of Health

“Tobacco continues to be the number one cause of preventable disease and death in Canada. We recognize that addiction can develop at any age, and have invested in a broad range of actions in order to help protect young people from the risks of nicotine addiction. Vaping provides adults using tobacco with a less harmful source of nicotine and for many a way towards tobacco cessation. It is now pivotal to hear from Canadians and Indigenous Peoples on the role of vaping in quitting and the risk of vaping leading young people to use tobacco. We need to assess the effectiveness of education programs and government policies and how we can do better to prevent more loss of life from tobacco use.”

The Honourable Carolyn Bennett
Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health

Quick facts

• Protecting the health of Canadians from exposure to, and dependence on, nicotine continues to be a priority for the Government of Canada.
• Enacted in May 2018, the Tobacco and Vaping Products Act (TVPA) created a new legal framework for regulating vaping products, with one of its goals to protect young persons and those who do not use tobacco products from nicotine addiction and tobacco use. It builds on the 1997 Tobacco Act, which sought to respond to the national public health problem posed by tobacco use and to protect the health of Canadians. 
• This is the first legislative review of the TVPA. Subsequent reviews, which will take place every two years, will focus on additional elements of the Act, including the tobacco-related provisions.