World No Tobacco Day - May 31, 2013

World No Tobacco Day is a World Health Organization (WHO) initiative that takes place every year on May 31^st to highlight the health risks associated with tobacco use and promote the development of effective policies to reduce tobacco consumption.

As a WHO partner and a founding member of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, Canada is a proud supporter of this initiative and proud to be a world leader in tobacco control.

Smoking is at an all-time low in Canada at 17 per cent. The rate of Canadians who smoke on a daily basis is even lower at 14 per cent. While Canada's smoking rate continues to decline, there's still much to be done. Regrettably, more than 100 Canadians die each day from a smoking-related illness. Tobacco use remains a leading cause of preventable diseases and conditions, including cancer, diabetes, and heart disease.

Our Government remains concerned about the high smoking rates within Aboriginal communities, some as high as 50 per cent. This concern has led us to refocus smoking cessation and prevention programming towards populations with some of the highest smoking rates in the country.

The Government of Canada continues to promote an anti-smoking message to all Canadians. Last year, in collaboration with provincial and territorial governments, as well as other stakeholders, we implemented new graphic health warning labels on cigarette packages, which feature a national quitline phone number and web address for people who want help quitting. These efforts are driven by the Federal Tobacco Control Strategy, a strategy that Health Canada has invested over a half-billion dollars towards since 2001.

To coincide with World No Tobacco Day, our Government announced today over $2.5 million in funding for projects that will help support health care providers in counselling their patients to quit smoking. These projects help bring together diverse chronic disease stakeholders, to encourage a partnership approach to addressing tobacco as a common risk factor for chronic disease. Approximately $500,000 in private sector funding has been leveraged as part of these projects.

Moving forward, the Government will continue to work with the provinces, territories, and its health and private sector partners to reduce tobacco use. Through our collective action, we can increase the capacity of health professionals to help save and improve thousands of lives, and continue to encourage Canadians to quit and stay smoke-free.

If you or someone you know is thinking about quitting, please remember that the Government of Canada and its partners can help:

• Call the pan-Canadian quitline at 1-866-366-3667, or visit You can quit smoking. We can help.
• Visit Quit smoking now for information on quitting smoking.
• Call the Health Canada Publications Office at 1-866-225-0709 to obtain our self-help guides on quitting smoking.

Leona Aglukkaq
Minister of Health
Government of Canada