Canada: Ontario delays ban on vaping in public spaces

The Ontario government decided to postpone the vaping ban in public places that was supposed to come into force on January 1, 2016. The scope of this measure remains unclear, particularly for specialty shops.

Simon Rosselat

December 18, 2015

Canada: Ontario delays ban on vaping in public spaces

A respite for specialty shops

The Canadian province of Ontario confirmed,under the Smoke-Free Ontario Act, a ban on selling electronic cigarettes to the under-19s on January 1, 2016, an increase of the maximum fines for youth-related sales offences and a ban of certain flavoured tobacco products. However, the government decided to delay its plans to ban vaping in public spaces.

Ontario’s Associate Health Minister, Dipika Damerla, delivered the information during an interview with CBC News on December 16, 2015. The province was about to prohibit the use of vaporizers in public spaces, workplaces and even in the e-cigarette specialty shops.

The aforementioned delay may be related to the fact that Ontario recently reconsidered move to allow medical marijuana users to use vaporizers or smoke anywhere. Dipika Damerla said the government also committed to reviewing regulations around where medical marijuana can and cannot be vaped, and she hopes the regulation to come into force in shortly.

“You need to be shown the safety features that come with them, how to use the liquid, how to choose the right liquid, and the way this bill is worded, there’s no way they can do that without the shops,” -C. Pisano

Aaron Lepcha, Kloud Panda‘s owner, believes that vaping ban in specialty shops will reduce the attractiveness of the product. It feels important to him, as well as for other professionals like Charlie Pisano, co-owner of VapeMeet, that consumers test the product and observe whether it meets their needs. Pisano also expresses his concerns about the potential threat it represents to the vaping products business.

Will Ontario follow the path of Quebec in 2015? The eastern Canadian Province adopted in November a law to strengthen the fight against smoking. The electronic cigarette is now classified as a tobacco product and therefore is subject to the same rules. There, vaping is already prohibited in specialty shops.