Consultation: Proposed Tobacco Products Packaging and Labelling Regulations

The purpose of this consultation was to gather comments on the proposed Regulations Amending the Tobacco Products Regulations (Plain and Standardized Appearance) (proposed Regulations) and Order Amending Schedule 1 to the Tobacco and Vaping Products Act published in Canada Gazette, Part 1 on June 11, 2022.

Key issues discussed

A key part of this consultation was to gather comments from Canadians and other stakeholders relating to the proposed Regulations, which would, among other measures:

• strengthen and update current health-related messages
• extend labelling requirements to all tobacco product packages
• put in place periodic rotation of messages (every 24 to 36 months)
• introduce text health warnings on individual cigarettes, little cigars that have tipping paper, and tubes

Further, the proposal would merge all tobacco product labelling and packaging requirements in a single set of regulations: the Tobacco Products Appearance, Packaging and Labelling Regulations (renamed following the consultation period).

Who was the focus of this consultation?

Health Canada sought comments from:

• the general public and people who use tobacco products
• Indigenous peoples and organizations
• health professionals and associations
• non-governmental organizations
• provincial, territorial, Indigenous and municipal governments
• academic institutions and researchers
• interested members of the industry

Related information

The proposal would build on existing tobacco products packaging and labelling regulations.

Health-related messages currently displayed on tobacco product packaging required under the Tobacco Products Information Regulations (TPIR) and the Tobacco Products Labelling Regulations (Cigarettes and Little Cigars) (TPLR-CLC) have reached their maximum potential and need to be updated to remain impactful.

Young persons who experiment with tobacco usually get cigarettes one at a time through friends or other social sources and are therefore less exposed to the health warnings displayed on cigarette packaging.

Not all tobacco product packaging is currently subject to labelling requirements, including packages for products intended for use with devices (better known as heated tobacco products), those devices and their parts, water pipe tobacco, blunt wraps, as well as those for any novel tobacco product that may be introduced into the market in the future.

Canada is not yet fully compliant with its tobacco labelling obligations under Article 11 of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), as not all tobacco product packaging is currently subject to labelling requirements.

2018 consultation summary: health-related labelling for tobacco products

In October 2018 Health Canada published "New Health-Related Labelling for Tobacco Products: Document for Consultation" and launched a public consultation on this document. To read a summary of the results, see the New Health-Related Labelling for Tobacco Products: Consultation Summary page.

Contact us

Anne Gabriel
Manager, Tobacco Labelling Division
Tobacco Products Regulatory Office
Controlled Substances and Cannabis Branch
Health Canada
Email: pregs@hc-sc.gc.ca

For more information

• Current Health Labels for Cigarettes and Little Cigars
• Current Health Labels for Cigars, Pipe Tobacco and Other Tobacco Products
• Tobacco Products Information Regulations
• Tobacco Products Labelling Regulations (Cigarettes and Little Cigars)
• Tobacco Products Regulations: Plain and Standardized Appearance