Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey (CTUMS)

Summary of Results for the First Half of 2007 (February - June)

Overview

Results from the Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey (CTUMS), for data collected between February and June 2007, reveal that 19% of the population (just under 5 million Canadians) aged 15 years and older were current smokers. Fifteen percent of Canadians reported smoking daily and they smoked on average 15.3 cigarettes per day. Approximately 21% of males were current smokers, higher than the proportion of females (16%).

Youth Aged 15-19

Among youth aged 15-19 years, 15% were current smokers with 9% reporting daily smoking and 6% occasional smoking. This current rate for youth is nearly half of what it was in 1999 (28%) when CTUMS first started collecting smoking information from Canadians. There was no difference in the prevalence of smoking in 2007 among teenage boys (15%) and teenage girls (15%). Youth daily smokers consumed on average 12.3 cigarettes per day with teenage girls (10.5) smoking three and a half fewer cigarettes daily compared to teenage boys (14.0).

Young Adults 20-24

The prevalence of smoking among young adults aged 20-24 years was reported at 24% for the first half of 2007 (15% daily, 9% occasional). Current smoking among young adults has declined over time from 34% in 1999 to 24% (half-year data). Although there was no statistical difference in the prevalence of smoking in 2007 between males (27%) aged 20-24 years and females (21%), male daily smokers did report consuming significantly more cigarettes on average per day (14.0) than females (10.8).

Consumption of Cigarettes and Type

Daily smokers aged 15 years and older reported smoking 15.3 cigarettes per day on average during the first half of 2007. The level of consumption remained stable compared to the first half of 2006 (15.4 cigarettes per day) but has declined from 17.4 cigarettes per day as reported in 1999. Males (17.6) continued to smoke more cigarettes per day in 2007 than females (12.7). The majority of current smokers (54%) reported consuming a brand name cigarette with a "light" or "mild" descriptor compared to 46% who smoked a "regular" cigarette.¹ Twelve percent of current smokers roll or make their own cigarettes at the present time including 4% who do it all the time.

Opinions on Smoking

Respondents were asked their opinions on smoking restrictions in restaurants, bars and taverns, and in the workplace. Nearly three-quarters (73%) of all Canadians aged 15 years and older stated that smoking should not be allowed in any section of a restaurant. This is up 5% compared to the same time last year (68%). Fifty percent of Canadians thought that smoking should not be allowed in any section of a bar or tavern. Respondents were also asked for their opinion on smoking in the workplace and 37% expressed that it should not be allowed in any section of the workplace compared to 41% who reported the same one year ago.
New to the CTUMS in 2007, respondents were asked for their opinion regarding who is the most responsible for young people starting to smoke. Among respondents aged 15 years and older, 43% felt that friends and peers were most responsible for young people starting to smoke followed by parents (20%) and young people themselves (19%). A small percentage felt that the tobacco industry (8%), government (4%) and celebrities (2%) were responsible.

Smoking in the Home

In the first half of 2007, 14% of Canadian households had at least one person who smoked inside the home everyday or almost everyday. For those households without someone regularly smoking inside their home, 88% did not allow smoking in their home. Forty-two percent (42%) of households which did allow smoking in the home, or had someone regularly smoking inside the home, placed some restrictions on it. It was also reported that 7% of children under the age of 12 (about 280,000 children) were regularly exposed to second-hand smoke at home. This is a decrease from 1.1 million children under the age of 12 who were regularly exposed to second-hand smoke in 1999.

Exposure to Second-Hand Smoke

Canadians were asked about their exposure to second-hand smoke (SHS) in places other than their own home during the past month. Half of all respondents reported being exposed to SHS outdoors in places such as at an entrance to a building (54%) or on a sidewalk or in a park (52%), unchanged from the same period last year. Approximately one quarter of Canadians reported being exposed to SHS inside a car or vehicle (26%), while on an outdoor patio of a restaurant or bar (25%), and at their workplace (22%). The percentage of respondents reporting exposure to SHS on an outdoor patio of a restaurant or bar was down from the rate reported one year ago (29%). When respondents were asked about the frequency of exposure to SHS in places other than their own home over the past month, 24% said they had been exposed to SHS everyday or almost everyday, unchanged from the percentage reported one year ago. Another 35% reported exposure to SHS at least once a week, while 40% reported exposure at least once in the past month, both rates different than those reported last year during the same period (40% and 36% respectively).

Other Tobacco Products

In previous years, CTUMS has asked respondents about their use of cigars which would have included large cigars, little cigars and cigarillos both plain and flavoured. New to the CTUMS 2007, respondents were asked about their use of a cigar separate from plain or flavoured little cigars or cigarillos, a market segment that has developed most recently. Based on the 2007 wave 1 results, 37% of Canadians aged 15 years and older had ever tried smoking a little cigar or cigarillo (plain or flavoured) and 4% of Canadians reported smoking a little cigar or cigarillo in the past 30 days. Among youth aged 15-19 years, 31% had ever tried a little cigar or cigarillo and 12% reported smoking at least one in the past 30 days while 46% of young adults aged 20-24 years reported having ever tried and 8% reported smoking at least one in the past 30 days. Compared to little cigars, slightly fewer (33%) Canadians reported having ever tried smoking a cigar (not including a little cigar/cigarillo plain or flavoured), while only 2% of Canadians reported smoking a cigar 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 CTUMS 2007 Wave 1 collected data from 9,547 respondents from February to June 2007. The overall margin of error for the smoking rate for Canada is +/- 1.4%. One can expect the true smoking prevalence for this population to be between 17.2% and 20.1%, 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.gc.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.

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1 An agreement came into effect on December 31, 2006 whereby Imperial Tobacco Canada Limited, Rothmans Benson & Hedges Inc. and JTI-Macdonald Corp. voluntarily agreed to phase-out all "light" and "mild" descriptors from all Canadian brand labels by July 31, 2007.

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