Canadian tobacco statistics

Monitoring and analyzing tobacco stats helps us keep track of our successes in the tobacco field – and points us towards where we need to do more work. The two main surveys we rely on are:

The Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey

The Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey (CTUMS) provides us with important information about the changes in smoking status and the amount smoked by Canadians.

Key results

17% of Canadians (15 years or older) were current smokers in 2010 – down from 18% in 2009. Current smoking has fallen only 2% over the last 5 years, whereas in prior years, smoking rates were decreasing by 1% per year on average. The main reason for the slowing decline has been the availability of cheap contraband cigarettes.
More men smoke than women.
Smoking rates for youth have gone down to 12% of young people (15–19 years old) currently smoking in 2010. This is good news.

Youth Smoking Survey

The Youth Smoking Survey monitors tobacco use in school-aged children (grades 6–12). The most recent survey in 2008/2009 found that 3% of students in grades 6 to 9 are smokers, and 13% of students in grades 10 to 12 are smokers. These rates are unchanged from 2006/2007 but are up from 2004/2005 when 2% of students in grade 6 to 9 and 11% of students in grades 10 to 12 smoked.

Last modified on: 12 September 2011