Smoking, vaping, HTP, NRT and snus in Canada

The Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) reports a decline in overall daily and occasional smoking prevalence from 17.7% in 2015 to 16.2% in 2017. In 2017 across all age groups, smoking was found to be least common among youth aged 12 to 17 (3.5% prevalence). The CCHS covers the population 12 years of age and over living in the ten provinces and the three territories, with a sample size of 65,000. WHO figures for the general population differ, and show a reduction in overall smoking prevalence from 28% in 2000 to 14% in 2015, and a projection to decrease to 9% by 2025. The WHO published prevalence trend estimates in tobacco smoking, as shown here, in their 2018 2nd edition report, which show slightly different smoking prevalence to the WHO country profiles. Data for the estimates are not age standardised, and were obtained from WHO databases. The trend lines are projections, not predictions, of future attainment. A projection indicates a likely endpoint if the country maintains its tobacco control efforts at the same level that it has implemented them to date. Therefore the impact of recent interventions could alter the expected endpoint shown in the projection. While the methods of estimation used in the first and second editions of the WHO report are the same, the volume of data available for the second edition is larger i.e. 200 more national surveys. The results presented are therefore more robust than in the first edition.