A provincial ban on liquid vape flavours is not stopping students from vaping in Quebec schools, says Katherine Korakakis, president of the English Parents’ Committee Association of Quebec.
“Whether it’s bathrooms … in the hallways, in their lockers … who’s going to see you? [Vapes are] such a small thing,” said Korakakis. “Children are very resourceful and they can find other ways” of getting the products they want.
Vapes — or e-cigarettes — are popular with Canadian youth, and three-quarters of those who use vapes with nicotine report adding liquid flavours — such as fruity, mint or menthol — to their vapes.
Last October, Quebec implemented a ban on liquid vape flavours in an effort to curb youth’s use of vapes, which increase the risk of nicotine addiction and lung illness. But early data suggest the ban is not having its intended effect.
A June 2024 Leger survey showed nearly 30 per cent of Quebecers aged 16 to 24 vape. By contrast, a provincial survey conducted in 2023 showed 14.5 per cent of teens aged 15 to 17 vaped.
The survey results have industry insiders clashing over whether bans — such as Quebec’s ban or a proposed federal one — are the right way forward.
“People will always be able to buy [vapes] from China,” says Valerie Gallant, head of La Coalition des droits des vapoteurs du Québec, a vapers advocacy organization that commissioned the Leger survey. “It’s too late to think it’s going away.”
‘Regulation is not at fault’
Flory Doucas, co-director of the Quebec Coalition for Tobacco Control, says teens’ continued use of vapes over the past year is due to Quebec vape shops failing to comply with the provincial ban.
“[The vape] industry has put a lot of effort into circumventing the Quebec regulation,” said Doucas, whose association supported the province’s vape flavour ban. “The regulation is not at fault. It’s the industry’s delinquency and bad faith.”
Many vape shops are continuing to sell vape flavours by labelling them as food flavouring, rather than as vape accessories, says Michel Gadbois, vice-president of the Convenience Industry Council of Canada, which advocates for the convenience store sector.
Another problem is Quebec has been slow to penalize non-compliant businesses, he says. The province’s inspector reports, which identify non-compliant businesses, take too long to be addressed, he says.
“But the biggest problem is the government does not enforce [the ban],” said Gadbois. “[I]t’s a farce. It’s not working.”
Quebec’s Health Ministry says they are working to boost compliance.
“We intend to continue the work we’ve begun … Internal work is underway to ensure that we make use of all existing regulatory and legislative levers to put an end to the circumventions observed,” the ministry said in a statement to Canadian Affairs.
But Quebecers are not limited to purchasing vape flavours at physical vape shops, Gadbois says. Many consumers order them online from shops based in other provinces or countries.
“It’s a mess. The government has “made the [flavoured vapes] product more appealing and less expensive,” he said, referring to the fact that consumers can avoid Quebec taxes when purchasing them online.
Canadian Affairs called the customer service line of a major, Ontario-based vape retailer, which said it mails vape flavours to Quebec customers in discreet packaging.
It was inevitable that young people would get a hold of banned products, says Gallant, of the vapers advocacy organization. “I mean, we were finding ways to hide the beer and the cheap wine we would take on a Friday night when we were young. Well, that didn’t change … kids, they do find ways.”
To ban or to strengthen
Gallant is calling for Quebec to repeal its ban because it is, in her view, ineffective and destructive. Nearly 500 Quebec vape shops have lost a significant portion of their sales due to the ban, she says. Many have gone bankrupt.
“That’s employees that don’t have jobs anymore. That’s an entrepreneur that doesn’t pay taxes,” she said. “But people didn’t quit vaping.”
Doucas, of the tobacco control coalition, disagrees. The organization has made several recommendations to the Quebec government, including that the province stiffen its penalties and require vape shops to obtain permits to sell vape products to enable better oversight.
Doucas also supports a federal ban on most vape flavours, a measure the Liberal government has said it will implement. New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and P.E.I. — which also ban vape flavours — have also faced enforcement issues that a federal ban could address, she says.
But non-compliance is going to be an issue even with a federal ban, says Gallant. She notes that previous bans on alcohol or marijuana have failed, and ultimately required government to legalize and regulate the industry.
“At one point, [the government] will realize and they will say ‘Okay, [vaping] is not going to go anywhere. It’s there to stay. What can we do about it? Well, run it.'”
‘The genie is out’
Vaping has helped many non-smokers quit, says Gallant, including her mother, who smoked cigarettes for decades.
But many vapers are youth who have never smoked cigarettes, says Koren Mann, professor and chair of the Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics at McGill University. Some research suggests vapes — especially flavoured vapes — have adverse health effects.
Mann recently conducted a study that found male mice exposed to vape smoke were at increased risk of heart attack and stroke.
Ajitha Thanabalasuriar, who is also a professor in McGill’s pharmacology and therapeutics department, says her research suggests berry flavoured vapes decrease the body’s immune response time.
“[Mice] took longer to recover from the infection,” said Thanabalasuriar. “[S]tudies show that vape users do get sick more often and … keep that illness for a longer period of time.”
But research has not conclusively determined vaping is harmful to humans, says Mann, since studies have only been performed on animals or cells. The verdict will come with time.
“The box is open, the genie is out, the kids are vaping at pretty unprecedented rates at this point,” said Mann. “We have this exposure, and now we’re trying to figure out what’s going to happen.”
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