Quebec flavour ban turns three with 77% of vapers still using banned flavours

Three years after Quebec’s ban on flavoured vaping products took effect, 77% of people who vape in the province still use banned flavours, according to 2026 provincial statistics cited by the Coalition québécoise pour le contrôle du tabac. The ban reached its third anniversary on 31 October 2026.

The coalition, which backs the ban, attributed the figure to circumvention by both legal and illegal sellers. Its release came on 30 October, a day before the anniversary date.

Federal flavour limits have waited five years for a final date

Health Canada wants the same restrictions nationwide, but the rules remain at the proposal stage. They were pre-published in the Canada Gazette on 19 June 2021, according to the department’s 2026 to 2028 Forward Regulatory Plan.

That plan lists final publication timing as to be determined. Health Minister Marjorie Michel’s department has offered no date.

Health Canada’s proposal would limit vape flavours to tobacco, mint and menthol. Quebec already enforces a provincial ban, and the provincial numbers are the only enforcement measure in the material reviewed.

The industry association disputes the policy reasoning

The Canadian Vaping Association said in an October 28 release that flavour bans shift the market to organised crime, citing Quebec alongside the Netherlands, Australia and Mexico. The group did not present shipment or seizure data in that release to measure the shift.

The CVA also cited a national study finding that 68% of adults who vaped during their latest quit attempt used flavours the proposed federal rules would remove. The coalition and the association draw opposite conclusions from the same provincial picture: one blames sellers for evading the ban, the other argues the ban creates the demand it fails to stop.

Neither organisation’s figure has independent verification in the material reviewed, and the provincial statistics are cited through the coalition rather than published alongside it here.

Retailers and distributors face no new federal deadline

Nothing changes for sellers this month. Quebec’s provincial rules have been in force for three years, and the federal timeline offers no compliance date to plan around.

Suppliers shipping into Canada face continued uncertainty over whether a national tobacco, mint and menthol list will apply, and when. A final Canada Gazette publication would set that clock; until then, product registration and range decisions rest on provincial rules such as Quebec’s.

Quebec’s 77% figure also signals to distributors that the provincial ban has not closed the flavoured segment. VapeBrief’s analysis: that gap affects how enforcement agencies and provincial regulators may choose to police the existing ban, not whether a new federal rule arrives.

Questions readers ask

Is the federal Canadian flavour ban in force?

No. Health Canada pre-published the rules on 19 June 2021, and its 2026 to 2028 Forward Regulatory Plan lists final publication timing as to be determined. The proposal would limit flavours to tobacco, mint and menthol.

What share of Quebec vapers use banned flavours?

77%, according to 2026 Institut de la statistique du Québec data cited by the Coalition québécoise pour le contrôle du tabac. The coalition, which supports the ban, blamed legal and illegal sellers for circumvention.