The facts

• Tobacco use is the number one cause of preventable disease, disability and death in Canada.
• Cigarette smoking causes about 30% of cancers in Canada and more than 85% of lung cancers.

• In 2009, it's estimated that 24,000 Canadians were diagnosed with lung cancer, and 20,000 died of the disease. In Alberta, nearly 1,800 were diagnosed, and approximately 1,500 died due to lung cancer.

• Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death for both men and women.

• Second-hand smoke is linked to the deaths of more than 1,000 Canadians every year.

What we’re doing

The Canadian Cancer Society leads the fight against tobacco and our collective efforts across Canada are making a difference.

Advocacy: Our advocacy efforts help ensure the implementation of strong effective, tobacco control legislation and policies at all levels of government. Tobacco control public policy helps prevent young people from starting to smoke, encourages current tobacco users to quit, and protects non-smokers from harmful exposure to second-hand smoke. Implementing tobacco control public policy helps save lives and improves the quality of life for all Canadians.

The Alberta/NWT Division of the Society is an active member of the provincial initiative, Campaign for a Smoke-Free Alberta Coalition with regional staff participating on their own local tobacco control coalitions.

Helping smokers quit: Developed with input from smokers who have successfully quit, the Canadian Cancer Society offers an innovative step-by-step self-help quit program for smokers and those who care about them. We also support a program called AlbertaQuits.ca, an online resource that enables users to talk to their QuitBuddies in an online chat room, get Quit tips by e-mail or interact directly with QuitNet's expert counselors. Find support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week so you don't have to quit alone.

Research: Every year the Canadian Cancer Society encourages and funds research that will help to control tobacco use. The Society was a founding partner of the Canadian Tobacco Control Research Initiative, which funds tobacco control research in Canada. The Society provides $500,000 annually to this initiative.

Information: We provide Canadians with up-to-date comprehensive information about tobacco, smoking, lung cancer prevention and treatment. We supply this information through your local Canadian Cancer Society office with print material, through our website and through our Cancer Information Service at 1 888 939-3333.