Table 1

Historical overview of flavoured tobacco restrictions in Canada

Jurisdiction	Menthol cigarette ban implemented	Flavoured tobacco ban implemented	Tobacco product categories exempt from flavour ban
Nova Scotia	31 May 2015	31 May 2015	Cigars, pipe tobacco and waterpipe tobacco with rum, wine, whisky or port flavours, though for cigars each unit must weigh at least 5 g and cost at least $C4.00.
Alberta	30 September 2015	1 June 2015, menthol exempt. 30 September 2015, menthol banned.	1 June 2015: pipe tobacco; waterpipe tobacco; cigars weighing more than 5 g and costing more than $4 per unit. 30 September 2015: menthol exemption removed, though menthol still allowed in product categories exempted as of 1 June 2015.
New Brunswick	1 January 2016	1 January 2016	No product category exempt.
Quebec	26 August 2016	26 August 2016	No product category exempt.
Ontario	1 January 2017	1 July 2010, little cigars only, menthol exempt. 1 January 2016, tobacco products generally, menthol products and clove cigarettes exempt. 1 January 2017, menthol products and clove cigarettes.	1 July 2010: all tobacco products exempt other than cigars weighing less than 1.4 g, excluding mouthpiece or tip, and any tobacco product with a filter (no menthol products banned). 1 January 2016: pipe tobacco; clove cigarettes; menthol tobacco products; cigars weighing 6 g or more excluding the weight of any mouthpiece or tip; cigars that weigh more than 1.4 g but less than 6 g having a wine, port, whisky or rum flavour (none of the cigar exemptions apply if the cigar has tipping paper, or does not have a wrapper fitted in spiral form). 1 January 2017: previous menthol tobacco product and clove cigarette exemption removed.
Prince Edward Island	1 May 2017	1 May 2017	No product category exempt.
Newfoundland and Labrador	1 July 2017	1 July 2017	Cigars and pipe tobacco with rum, wine, whisky or port flavours, though for cigars each unit must weigh at least 5 g and cost at least $C4.00.
National (federal)	2 October 2017	5 July 2010 for cigarettes, little cigars and blunt wraps (menthol exempt). 1 December 2015, most cigars (menthol exempt). 2 October 2017, menthol ban in cigarettes, most cigars and blunt wraps. 19 November 2018, menthol and cloves ban in all tobacco products.	5 July 2010: applies only to cigarettes, blunt wraps and little cigars, with little cigars defined as cigars with a cigarette filter or weighing no more than 1.4 g, excluding mouthpiece or tip (no menthol products banned). 1 December 2015: flavour ban extended to more cigars, with the following exemptions: Menthol. A cigar where all of the following apply: weighs more than 1.4 g but not more than 6 g, excluding the weight of any mouthpiece or tip; has a wrapper fitted in spiral form, no tipping paper and no filter; has a flavour of port, wine, rum or whisky. A cigar where all of the following apply: weighs more than 6 g, excluding the weight of any mouthpiece or tip; has a wrapper fitted in spiral form, has no tipping paper and no filter. 2 October 2017: exemption allowing menthol in cigarettes, applicable cigars and blunt wraps removed.
Yukon Territory	5 March 2020	5 March 2020	No product category exempt.
Northwest Territories	31 March 2020	31 March 2020	A cigar where all of the following apply: weighs more than 1.4 g but not more than 6 g, excluding the weight of any mouthpiece or tip; has a wrapper fitted in spiral form, no tipping paper and no filter; has a flavour of port, wine, rum or whisky, and no other non-tobacco distinguishing aroma or flavour. A cigar where all of the following apply: weighs more than 6 g, excluding the weight of any mouthpiece or tip; has a wrapper fitted in spiral form, has no tipping paper; and does not contain menthol, or cloves.
Manitoba		Legislation adopted on 12 June 2014, but never proclaimed into effect.	Pipe tobacco; waterpipe tobacco; snuff; chewing tobacco; menthol products.

Information obtained from Canadian Cancer Society (Canadian Cancer Society. Overview Summary of Federal/Provincial/Territorial Tobacco Control Legislation in Canada. October 2017. http://support.cancer.ca/documents/Legislative_Overview-Tobacco_Control-F-P-T-2017-final.pdf) and updated. Implementation dates refer to dates at retail level.
Nunavut Territory adopted legislation on 8 June 2021, which includes a ban on flavoured tobacco with no product category exemption, but the legislation has not yet been proclaimed into effect. Saskatchewan adopted legislation on 20 May 2010 to ban flavoured little cigars and establish regulatory authority over flavours in other tobacco products, but this was never proclaimed into effect and was repealed on 1 February 2020. New Brunswick adopted legislation on 19 June 2009 to ban flavoured tobacco products unless exempted by regulation, but this has never been proclaimed into effect. (In Canada, legislation can have a specific implementation date, or there can be a date to be determined later, proclaimed, by the government.) British Columbia has not adopted restrictions on flavoured tobacco.