Vaping Compliance and Enforcement Report: July 2020 to March 2021

Summary

From July 2020 to March 2021, Health Canada inspectors conducted inspections of Instagram social media accounts to verify Canadian online vaping industry compliance with the Tobacco and Vaping Products Act (TVPA). The inspections focused on publicly accessible online promotions.

During this period, 304 accounts on the social media platform Instagram were inspected. At the time of inspection, non-compliance was observed on 53% of the accounts. All inspections where non-compliance was observed resulted in the issuance of a warning letter to the regulated party.

Observed non-compliances and related enforcement actions listed in the reports were determined by Health Canada at the time of inspection and are limited to the promotion(s) inspected. Inspections may only include a selection of promotions found on an account. The reports provide information on the results of inspections conducted from July 2020 to March 2021 and are not updated to take into account additional compliance activities which may have occurred following the inspection.

For any questions related to an enforcement report or to report an error, please contact: hc.tcp.questions-plt.sc@canada.ca

Lexicon

The following terms may be used in Vaping Compliance and Enforcement Reports and are outlined for your convenience.

Enforcement Action(s): Actions taken by an inspector to stop the non-compliance or to bring the products or activities into compliance with the Tobacco and Vaping Products Act (TVPA) (e.g. warning letters, seizure, and/or prosecution).

Inspection: An activity to assess compliance with the law and, where non-compliance is observed, to initiate action(s) to require the regulated party to comply with the law.

Observed Non-Compliance(s): One or more contravention(s) of the TVPA as identified by a Health Canada Inspector.

Vaping Compliance and Enforcement Report