Regulation will force industry to cover part of the costs of the federal tobacco control interventions - A good start, but framework should cover all tobacco control interventions and include expenditures related to vaping products

MONTREAL, March 7, 2025 /CNW/ - The Quebec Coalition for Tobacco Control gave a lukewarm welcome to Minister of Addictions Ya'ara Saks' announcement today regarding the publication in Canada Gazette Part II in the coming weeks of the regulation establishing a new framework for the recovery of costs related to the implementation of the Tobacco and Vaping Products Act. Industry will begin payments some time in 2026.

"Having the tobacco industry foot the bill of the federal government's costs for programs and efforts that monitor and tackle the use of its harmful products is a fair and laudable principle. This concept has been in place for many products in Canada and elsewhere for a long time. It's high time the federal government passed on the cost of tobacco control to the companies that profit from it.

"That said, we urge the government to extend the recovery framework to cover all government costs associated with smoking as well as youth vaping, which currently total 66 million dollars ($60M) annually. Unfortunately, the current approach is too restrictive, allowing only about half of this amount to be recovered," says Flory Doucas, Co-Director and Spokesperson for the Coalition.

The regulation's narrow scope

Indeed, "the announced regulation is a good first-step, but it is also far from the historical demand of health groups who sought to make the industry pay for all the costs of the government's tobacco control and vaping interventions. Under the new framework, the financial benefits resulting from industry payments will be significantly reduced given the considerable resources likely required to manage the regulations' narrow scope and burdensome approach. In other words, without additional funding, in its current form, this framework risks reducing the federal government's capacity for action to tackle smoking and youth vaping", explains Ms. Doucas.

Moreover, the approach specified by the regulation limits costs to those arising from the implementation of the Tobacco and Vaping Products Act - rather than those associated with Canada's Tobacco Control Strategy, which encompasses other crucial areas such as monitoring by Statistics Canada, analysis to reduce the ignition propensity of products under the Consumer Product Safety Act and public education, in addition to costs associated with the analysis of tobacco tax collection and anti-contraband interventions.

Finally, the selected approach excludes all expenditures related to vaping products, despite the fact that their increased use among youth people these past ten years has monopolized more and more of the human and financial resources historically devoted to tobacco control - with no budget increase to compensate for this encroachment. The costs associated with monitoring vaping industry compliance are particularly high, given its longstanding delinquency.

Has the Federal Government sided with the vaping industry?

"Today's news represents a positive first step to minimizing the use of public funds that are spent to address problems caused by corporate entities and should protect a substantial part of tobacco control funding. This is important in the current context of tightening government spending.

"But where is this same diligence and foresight when it comes to protecting young people from the predatory marketing practices of the vaping industry, which continues to recruit young people with tempting gimmicks and flavours? Minister Saks' announcement comes at a time when the government seems to have turned a blind eye to the youth vaping crisis, having all but abandoned¹ its long-standing commitment to restrict flavors in vaping products. Money is one thing, but standing up to the vaping industry requires real political courage," concludes Ms. Doucas. 

____________________________ ^1 With a potential election just weeks away, Health Canada has changed the timeline of its "Health Canada Forward Regulatory Plan: 2024-2026" from "We expect to publish the amending order and regulations in the Canada Gazette Part II in the spring of 2024" (French posted December 14, 2024) to "The timing of publication in the Canada Gazette Part II is to be determined" (posted February 28, 2025).

SOURCE Quebec Coalition for Tobacco Control

Information: Flory Doucas, 514.515-6780