76 Percent of Canadians Back a Smoke-Free Generation Law, Poll Finds

Canadians back a generational ban on tobacco and vaping sales by a wide margin, a new poll finds. The Abacus Data poll for the National Lung Health Alliance, released on October 15, found 76 percent support for a smoke free generation law. Such a law would bar people born in 2009 or later from ever buying tobacco or vaping products.

The numbers behind the headline are just as one sided. Ninety six percent of Canadians said it is important to stop today's children from ever taking up smoking or vaping, including 79 percent who called it very important. Eighty nine percent backed stronger rules to keep tobacco and vaping products away from young people. Eighty five percent backed limits on vape flavours that appeal to children, including candy, fruit and dessert flavours. Eighty percent said government should do more to stop youth nicotine use.

Support crosses party lines

The alliance reported support in every region and across the parties voters backed in the 2025 federal election. Eighty percent of Liberal voters backed the law, against 73 percent of Conservative voters and 73 percent of NDP voters. Young adults backed it most. Eight in ten Canadians aged 18 to 29 were in favour.

The poll is the first national survey built to test this exact policy in Canada, the alliance said. The United Kingdom has already passed a similar law into its books. Canada's health minister said in April 2026 that Ottawa was looking at a similar rolling age ban, according to earlier reporting on the file.

What the law would and would not do

A smoke free generation law would not ban possession or use. It would not apply to people who can already buy these products legally. It would not restrict traditional ceremonial tobacco. It works by sale. Each year, the group that can never buy grows older, and the legal market shrinks with it.

The Lung Health Foundation, which serves as the alliance secretariat, framed the result as a call for prevention. Its president, Jessica Buckley, said Canadians do not want to punish people who smoke today. They want the next generation to never start.

What happens next

A poll is not a bill. No federal smoke free generation bill was announced with this release. What the survey gives health groups is a number they can carry into Parliament: three quarters of the country, including most voters of every major party, already agree with the idea. The test now is whether Ottawa turns that agreement into law, and how a sale ban aimed at one birth year would be enforced at the counter.