Cigarette warnings to be printed on individual smokes in Canada

Implementation for tobacco companies this size of cigarette is slated for Jan. 31 of that year, while retailers will have until April 30, 2025, to comply.

Canada’s requirement for warnings to be printed directly on every individual cigarette is officially taking effect.

The federal government says tobacco companies have until Tuesday, April 30, to ensure King Size cigarettes depict these new warnings. Retailers will have three additional months to make sure the warnings are there, by July 31.

Canadians may not start seeing warnings on regular size cigarettes — which are 70 to 73 millimetres in length — until 2025. Implementation for tobacco companies this size of cigarette is slated for Jan. 31 of that year, while retailers will have until April 30, 2025, to comply.

According to the Canadian Cancer Society, King Size cigarettes are the most common size cigarettes sold. They are also the standard international size. It notes that 69 per cent of the Canadian cigarette market was comprised of King Size smokes in 2021.

There are six warnings in both official languages. They include:

• Poison in every puff
• Cigarettes damage your organs
• Cigarettes cause cancer
• Tobacco smoke harms children
• Cigarettes cause impotence
• Cigarettes cause leukemia

In addition to the written warnings, a new round of 14 pictures with warnings started rolling out in stores earlier this month. Cigarette manufacturers were given a deadline of Jan. 31, 2024, to bring in these new photo warnings.