Canada: Plain-Packaged Cigarettes Have Hit Shelves On November 9th

Health Canada’s plain packaging regulations for cigarettes have gone into effect on the 9th of November, following which retailers now have a 90-day window to sell any remaining stock in regular packaging.

As per the new regulation, all cigarette packets will now feature the same brown base colour, grey text and plain layout. The measure also dictates the size and appearance of cigarettes, cigars and other products inside the packages.

These rules are part of the federal government’s strategy to reduce tobacco use among Canadians to less than 5% of the population by 2035. “It’s a very significant public health measure and it’s going to make a difference,” said Rob Cunningham, senior policy analyst with the Canadian Cancer Society.

During a consultation process launched in November 2018, the federal government had also explored the idea of placing warnings on individual cigarettes. Such warnings would read “smoking causes cancer” or similar wording.

“There is recent but limited research showing that health warnings placed directly on a product, such as cigarettes, could be effective in making the product less appealing to users,” read a government consultation document released last year. Cunningham had endorsed the proposal. “It’s an incredibly cost-effective way to reach every smoker every day with the health message,” he said at the time.

With regards to the implemented measure, Cunningham has now said that Canada’s plain-packaging regulations are “the best in the world.” He also pointed out that the country is leading the charge in eliminating extra-long and “slim” cigarettes, which tend to be marketed toward women.

Additionally in 2021, cigarette packets will come with a wider surface area that will display the largest health warnings in the world. “This measure is going to have an important difference, especially over time,” said Cunningham. “We will have kids who will grow up not exposed to branded packages.”