Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey (CTUMS) 2002

Summary of Results for Wave 1 (February to June) of 2002

Overview

The latest results from the Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey (CTUMS) confirm that the prevalence of smoking continues to decline in Canada. According to CTUMS, in the first half of 2002 an estimated 5.4 million people, representing roughly 21% of the population aged 15 and older, were current (daily or occasional) smokers. Approximately 23% of men aged 15 and older were current smokers, slightly higher than the proportion of women (20%).

Youth Aged 15-19

Smoking rates for youth have begun to decrease in recent years, and the results in the first half of 2002 continue to support this trend: 22% of teens aged 15-19 reported themselves as current smokers, down from 28% in 1999. This amounts to 24% of teen girls compared with 20% of teen boys.

Young Adults Aged 20-24

The prevalence of smoking among young adults aged 20-24 has also recently been declining, but remained the highest of any age group, at 31% as compared to 35% in 1999. There was little difference in the smoking rates between males and females aged 20-24.

Consumption of Cigarettes

Not only are fewer Canadians smoking, but they are also smoking less. In 1985, daily smokers consumed an average of 20.6 cigarettes per day. Since then, the number of cigarettes smoked has been gradually but steadily declining to the current level of 16.4 cigarettes per day reported for the first half of 2002. Men continued to smoke more than women: 17.7 cigarettes per day for males as compared to 14.9 for females.

Smoking in the Provinces

British Columbia again reported the lowest prevalence of smoking among Canadians aged 15 years and older (17%), closely followed by Ontario (19%). The highest rates were in Quebec (27%) and Newfoundland and Labrador (25%). Quebec also reported the highest average number of cigarettes consumed per day by daily smokers (17.4), closely followed by Prince Edward Island at 17.3 and Saskatchewan at 17.2, while Manitoba reported the lowest average (14.7).

Smoking and Pregnancies

A total of 27% of Canadian women aged 20 44 reported being pregnant in the last five years. Of these, 12% smoked regularly during their most recent pregnancy. This is down from 19% as reported in the 1995 Survey on Smoking in Canada. As well, in the first half of 2002, 14% said that their spouse smoked regularly at home during their most recent pregnancy.

Reference Information

CTUMS was developed to provide Health Canada and its partners with timely, reliable, and continual data on tobacco use and related issues. The survey's primary objective is to track changes in smoking status and amount smoked, especially for 15-24-year-olds, who are most at risk for taking up smoking. Wave 1 of the 2002 CTUMS collected data from about 11,400 respondents from February to June 2002.

For more information about the survey and/or its results, please write the Tobacco Control Programme, Office of Research, Surveillance and Evaluation, Health Canada, 123 Slater Street, Address Locator 3507C, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0K9, or send an email request to TCP-PLT-questions@hc-sc.gc.ca, or visit Health Canada's Tobacco Control Programme website www.gosmokefree.ca/ctums.

For information on the public-use microdata file, contact Statistics Canada's Client Services (1-888-297-7355; 613-951-7355; fax: 613-951-3012; ssd@statcan.ca), Special Surveys Division."

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