Convenience Stores Want to Help Reduce Smoking--Why Is Ottawa Standing in the Way?

TORONTO, Jan. 19, 2026 /CNW/ - As Canada marks National Non-Smoking Week, the Independent Convenience Stores Association (ICSA) is calling on the federal government to recognize the critical role independent convenience stores play on the front lines of reducing smoking--and to immediately reverse regulations that are preventing more adult smokers from quitting.

For decades, governments have trusted convenience stores to responsibly sell age-restricted products, including cigarettes, alcohol, and lottery. Independent convenience store operators--often family-owned businesses that serve as the cornerstone of their communities--know their customers by first name and are uniquely positioned to help adult smokers transition away from combustible cigarettes.

Yet instead of empowering these trusted retailers, Ottawa has chosen to sideline them.

Regulations introduced in 2024 under former Health Minister Mark Holland restrict convenience stores from selling nicotine pouches--a new, popular and proven smoking-cessation product. One low-nicotine product was previously approved by Health Canada and widely used by adults seeking to quit smoking. Sales originally permitted in convenience stores helped store owners with their bottom line and allowed customers to try something new in a convenient location. Now, these products are restricted to behind-the-counter sales in pharmacies, away from where smokers regularly shop.

"These regulations do not reduce smoking," said Hani Al-Shikarchy, spokesperson for the ICSA. "They do exactly one thing: they expand the already-burgeoning illegal market."

While legal retailers are banned from selling regulated products, illegal traffickers are openly selling unapproved nicotine pouches with four to five times higher nicotine levels, no quality controls, and no taxes--either online, or in illegal stores with little apparent enforcement.

"Instead of allowing trusted retailers to sell Health Canada-approved products responsibly, the federal government has effectively handed the market over to criminal operators," Al-Shikarchy said. "That is a failure of policy and common sense."

ICSA is calling on the Minister of Health, Marjorie Michel, to immediately reverse the ban and allow convenience stores to sell regulated nicotine pouches as part of a broader, practical strategy to further reduce smoking rates.

"Convenience stores want to be partners in public health," added Al-Shikarchy. "But partnership requires trust. This moment begs a simple and troubling question: Who is Ottawa protecting?"

For more information, please visit: www.icsa-addi.ca

SOURCE Independent Convenience Store Alliance

Media Contact: Independent Convenience Stores Association (ICSA), [email protected]