Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey (CTUMS) 2007

Summary of Annual Results for 2007

Overview

The annual results from the Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey (CTUMS), for data collected between February and December 2007, show that 19%¹ of the Canadian population aged 15 years and older were current smokers (about 5.2 million smokers), unchanged from the same period one year ago. Slightly more males (20%) reported smoking compared to females (18%). The difference between the male and female smoking rate has narrowed from 6% in 2005 to only 2% in 2007.

Examining the CTUMS annual results over each of the past 3 years, the current smoking rate has remained stable at 19%. As a result, there has been very little variation in the both the daily and occasional smoking rates over the same 3-year period. In 2007, 15% of Canadians reported smoking daily while 4% reported smoking occasionally. Daily smokers consumed an average of 15.5 cigarettes per day.

Youth Smoking (Aged 15-19 Years)

The current smoking rate among youth aged 15-19 years was 15% for the second year in a row (about 331,000 teens). Unchanged from the same period last year, 15% is still the lowest rate on record since Health Canada first reported youth smoking prevalence. Nine percent (9%) of youth reported smoking daily and youth daily smokers reported consuming an average of 11.7 cigarettes per day. Six percent (6%) of youth reported smoking occasionally.

Although there was no difference in the percentage of male (15%) current smokers compared to female (15%) current smokers, male youth (12.9) reported consuming an average of 2.4 more cigarettes per day than female youth (10.5). Among youth daily smokers, consumption of cigarettes per day has dropped 23% from 15.1 cigarettes per day in 1985 to 11.7 in 2007.

In 2007, 62% of Canadians reported having ever smoked a whole cigarette. Among Canadians who had ever smoked a cigarette, more than half (52%) reported doing so by the age of 15, nearly three-quarters (73%) by age 17, and 86% by age 19.

The prevalence rate of smoking among respondents aged 15-17 was 10% (about 140,000 youth) in 2007, compared to 11% (about 150,000 youth) reported one year earlier². The Federal Tobacco Control Strategy (FTCS) objective to reduce the prevalence of Canadian youth (aged 15-17) who smoke to 9% by 2011, appears to be on target. In order to further reduce the smoking rate among youth aged 15-17, tobacco control efforts will need to continue to focus on youth since this is the period where the majority of experimentation and smoking uptake takes place.

Young Adult Smoking (Aged 20-24 Years)

The prevalence of smoking among young adults aged 20-24 years was 25% (about 575,000 young adults) in 2007, compared to 27% as reported last year at this time². Males (28%) continue to have a higher prevalence of smoking compared to females (23%).

Seventeen percent (17%) of young adults reported smoking daily while 9% reported smoking occasionally in 2007. Respondents who reported smoking daily consumed an average of 13.0 cigarettes per day with males (14.7) consuming more cigarettes daily compared to females (10.8). Overall, there was no difference in the number of cigarettes smoked per day by young adult daily smokers in 2007 compared to 2006 (12.9), however, compared to 1985, cigarettes per day has dropped 26% from 17.5 in 1985 to 13.0 in 2007.

Consumption of Cigarettes and Type

Canadian daily smokers aged 15 years and older consumed an average of 15.5 cigarettes per day in 2007, unchanged from the estimate reported during the same period last year (15.5). Average daily consumption among males was 17.0 cigarettes per day while female daily smokers averaged 13.7 in 2007, no different than CTUMS estimates reported 12 months earlier (16.9 and 13.8 respectively). Over the past two decades, average cigarette consumption among daily smokers aged 15 years and older has dropped 25% from 20.6 cigarettes per day in 1985 to 15.5 in 2007.

Along with smoking pre-packaged cigarettes, some Canadian smokers choose to purchase tobacco so they can roll or make their own cigarettes. Among CTUMS current smokers, 11% reported they roll or make their own cigarettes including 4% who do it all the time.

CTUMS 2007 asked daily smokers how soon after waking they smoke their first cigarette of the day. Nearly one-quarter (23%) of daily smokers said they had their first cigarette of the day within 5 minutes of waking, another one-third (36%) reported smoking within the first 6 to 30 minutes. More than half of all daily smokers (59%) reported having their first cigarette within the first 30 minutes after waking including 23% that smoke within the first 5 minutes.

Smoking in the Provinces

The CTUMS results for 2007 showed that the rate of smoking ranged from a low of 14% in British Columbia to a high of 24% in Saskatchewan. All provinces remained within ±5% of the National average smoking rate (19%). Along with the lowest smoking rate, British Columbia reported the highest percentage of never smokers (57%) while Quebec reported the lowest (46%).

There was some variation in reported average number of cigarettes smoked per day (CPD) among daily smokers across the provinces. The province that reported the highest CPD was New Brunswick (17.3) while the lowest was Saskatchewan (13.9). Two provinces did report a significant change in reported CPD compared to last year (2006). New Brunswick increased from 15.3 to 17.3 CPD and Newfoundland and Labrador decreased from 16.0 to 14.1.

Smoking Restrictions

In CTUMS 2007, respondents were asked to give their opinion on smoking in restaurants bars and taverns, and smoking in the workplace. Nearly three-quarters (73%) of respondents stated that smoking should not be allowed in any section of a restaurant and half (50%) felt that it should not be allowed in a bar or tavern. Thirty-seven percent (37%) of respondents felt that smoking should not be allowed in any area of the workplace, whether indoor or outdoor while half (50%) felt that smoking should be allowed only in designated outdoor smoking areas of the workplace.

In 2007, CTUMS asked respondents about restrictions on smoking in their workplace. Ninety four percent (94%) of those who worked at a job or business in the last 12 months reported some kind of workplace smoking restriction, unchanged from the same period one year ago. Of this group, 88% identified that smoking was restricted completely, twice the figure reported one year ago (44%). The large increase is most likely due to changes to the questionnaire used in CTUMS 2007, which was modified to clarify the question and response set to respondents. Five percent (5%) of respondents reported that smoking was not restricted at all in their workplace, compared to 6% in 2006.

Smoking in the Home

Fourteen percent (14%) of Canadian households reported at least one person who smoked inside the home every day or almost every day. Among the remaining homes where someone did not smoke every day or almost every day, 12% of homes still allowed smoking inside. Forty-two percent (42%) of households, which did allow smoking in the home, or had someone regularly smoking inside the home, placed some restriction on it. It was also reported that 7% of children under the age of 12 (about 290,042 children) were regularly exposed to second-hand smoke at home. There are no differences between 2007 and 2006 in these indicators of smoking within households.

Cigarette Access/Social Sources

Current Smokers were asked where they usually obtained their cigarettes. Among those aged 15 years and older, the most reported places to where cigarettes were purchased were at a small grocery/corner store (58%), at a gasoline station (14%) or at a supermarket (10%).

Current smokers were also asked if they have made any attempts to purchase cigarettes at a lower cost during the past 6 months. The 2007 annual results revealed that 37% of current smokers purchased a discount brand cigarette during the past 6 months, 20% bought cigarettes from a First Nation's Reserve, 13% bought cigarettes from outside the province, and 3% identified purchasing cigarettes that may have been smuggled. Some smokers reported multiple sources.

Among Canadian youth over the age of 15 years who identified themselves as current smokers but were not yet the legal age to purchase tobacco products in their respective provinces, 48% reported they obtained their cigarettes primarily from a social source (such as a friend or relative - either by taking, buying, or being given them) while the remaining 52% said they purchased them on their own from a retail source, including 40% who identified that they purchased them from a small grocery/corner store.

Exposure to Second-Hand Smoke

CTUMS asked respondents about their exposure to second-hand smoke in places other than their own home. Reported exposure to second-hand smoke in the past month was as follows: 53% at an entrance to a building, 29% inside someone else's home, 29% on an outdoor patio of a restaurant or bar, 26% inside a car or other vehicle, and 21% at the workplace. Overall, 35% of respondents reported being exposed to second-hand smoke at least once a week, while 12% reported it occurring every day, and 12% reported exposure almost everyday.

Use of Other Products (Little Cigars and Herbal Cigarettes)

CTUMS 2007 is the first survey to monitor use of little cigars. This was based upon the growth of sales of these cigars. One-third (37%) of Canadians 15 years and older reported having ever tried little cigars, and 4% reported smoking little cigars in the past 30 days. Among Canadian youth ages 15-19, 32% reported having ever tried little cigars and 11% reported smoking a little cigar in the past 30 days. Forty-six percent of young adults ages 20-24 reported having ever tried little cigars and 10% reported smoking a little cigar in the past 30 days.

In addition to little cigars, respondents were asked if they have ever tried smoking herbal cigarettes. Four percent (4%) of Canadians aged 15 years and older reported having ever tried a herbal cigarettes, and less than 1% reported smoking herbal cigarettes in the past 30 days.

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. The Annual CTUMS collected data from over 20,900 respondents from February to December 2007. The overall margin of error for the smoking rate for Canada is +/- 1.0%. We expect the true smoking prevalence for this population to be between 18.2% and 20.2%, 19 times out of 20.

Note that when comparing results across different data releases of CTUMS, Health Canada advises that it is more accurate and reliable to compare results from one wave with those of other waves and to compare annual results with other annual results.

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 (1-800-461-9050; 613-951-3321; fax: 613-951-4527; ssd@statcan.ca), Special Surveys Division.

Endnotes

1. Differences are not statistically significant between 2005 and 2006 but are between 1999 and 2006.
2. Differences are not statistically significant.