Social Outcasts?
In 2008, 21.4% of Canadians aged 12 or older smoked either daily or occasionally. 24.3% of men and 18.5% of women were smokers.
This is lower than in 2005, when 22% of Canadians reported being smokers, and lower than in 1994-1995 when the figure was 29%.
Rates were highest among 20 to 34-year-olds, 28.8% of whom smoked daily or occasionally. One-third of men and one-quarter of women in this age group smoked.
Smoking rates were much higher in Canada’s far north. More than half of Nunavut residents aged 12 or older were daily or occasional smokers, as were about one-third of those in Yukon and Northwest Territories.
In the more populated provinces, smoking rates were highest in Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. About one-quarter of adults smoked in these provinces.
Smoking rates were lowest in Ontario (19.8%) and British Columbia (18.6%).
People usually start smoking as teenagers, so the proportion who are smoke-free by age 20 is a guide to future smoking rates. In 2008, 45.8% of Canadians aged 20 to 24 had never smoked, a significant improvment over 2003’s 39%.
References and Further Reading
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