Ontario joins federal vaping tax. What about other provinces? 

Ontario has become the latest province in Canada to announce a tax on vapour products, which experts say is a 'great first step' to help curb the rising rates of youth vaping.

Ontario has become the latest province in Canada to announce a tax on vapour products, which experts say is a “great first step” to help curb the rising rates of youth vaping, but more needs to be done across the country.

In its fall economic statement last week, Ontario said it would impose an additional tax on vaping products sold in the province that would double the current federal duty rates.

Ontario is the first province to enter into an agreement with Ottawa, accepting its offer to levy the federal e-cigarette tax that has been in effect since October 2022.

Ontario, which plans to release additional information on the implementation of the new tax in the coming months, will receive the funds from the tax once it’s rolled out

British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan, and Newfoundland and Labrador already have provincial taxes in place on vaping products.

Statistics Canada data shows almost half of Canadians aged 20 to 24 and about one-third of youth aged 15 to 19 say they have tried vaping at least once in their lives.

“We’ve made a lot of progress to reduce smoking, but now we have a new generation of kids becoming addicted to nicotine through e-cigarettes,” said Rob Cunningham, senior policy analyst with the Canadian Cancer Society. “That shouldn’t be happening.”

Higher taxes leading to higher prices are an effective measure, but this should be part of a “multi-pronged” approach to discourage vaping among Canadian youth, Cunningham told Global News in an interview.