2017 Smoke-Free Ontario Strategy Monitoring Report

Includes Full Report, Executive Summary, chapter downloads and mini infographic posters

Key Findings:

• In 2015, 20% of Ontarians aged 12 years or older used tobacco products in the past 30 days including cigarettes, cigars, pipes, smokeless tobacco and waterpipe
• Tobacco control efforts resulted in only a 2.6 percentage point (statistically not significant) decrease in the prevalence of cigarette smoking over the five-year period, 2011 to 2015 (from 18% to 16.4%). At this rate, and with overall tobacco use at over 20%, Ontario will not reach the goal of less than 5% by 2035. This rate of decline also falls short of the five-percentage point decrease over five years called for in 2010 by the Tobacco Strategy Advisory Group

These are some of the findings highlighted in this year’s Strategy Monitoring Report. This report presents evaluative information about the activities and results of the Smoke-Free Ontario Strategy and describes Strategy infrastructure and interventions, analyzes population-level changes, and explores the contributions of interventions.

To further understanding of Strategy challenges and accomplishments, the report includes assessments of Ontario’s progress relative to the Smoke-Free Ontario Scientific Advisory Committee report—Evidence to Guide Action, and recommendations made in the Smoke-Free Ontario Modernization report of the Executive Steering Committee.

The report concludes that Ontario continues to work diligently toward becoming the Canadian jurisdiction with the lowest smoking rate. Smoke-Free Ontario partners are supporting positive changes in the physical and social climates to prevent and reduce tobacco use, helping to create environments conducive to decreased initiation, increased cessation, and, ultimately, reduced smoking in Ontario. At the same time, the tobacco industry continues its push to maintaining and growing tobacco use in Ontario through product innovation, discounting the price of cigarettes and incentives to vendors.