Canada's War on Nicotine: Are Rules Fueling a Black Market Crisis?

MONTREAL, QC – January 19, 2026 – As Canada observes National Non-Smoking Week, a stark reality is setting in: the nation's long and successful campaign against smoking has hit a wall. For the first time in decades, progress has stalled, with smoking rates hovering around 11% of the population. This stagnation jeopardizes Canada’s ambitious goal of reducing smoking prevalence to below five percent by 2035 and has ignited a fierce debate over the very policies designed to achieve it.

At the center of the controversy are nicotine pouches, a modern smoking cessation aid. Imperial Tobacco Canada (Imperial), a major player in the market with its Health Canada-approved product ZONNIC, is sounding the alarm. The company argues that stringent federal regulations, intended to protect youth, are paradoxically making it harder for adult smokers to quit and are fueling a dangerous and unregulated black market.

Canada's Quitting Conundrum

For years, Canada was a global leader in tobacco control. But recent data from Statistics Canada suggests a troubling plateau. An estimated 3.6 million Canadians still smoked in 2024, a figure that shows little statistical change from the prior year. This lack of progress has prompted stakeholders to question the current strategy.

In August 2024, responding to concerns about youth uptake, Health Canada enacted a Ministerial Order that dramatically altered the landscape for oral nicotine replacement therapies (NRTs). The new rules restricted the sale of authorized nicotine pouches like ZONNIC exclusively to pharmacies, where they must be sold from behind the counter under pharmacist supervision. Furthermore, all flavors except mint and menthol were banned.

Imperial Tobacco argues this move created a significant barrier for the very people the products are meant to help: adult smokers. "One reason progress has slowed is that federal policy is making it harder--not easier--for adult smokers to access regulated alternatives that can help them quit," said Frank Silva, the company's President & CEO, in a statement. He stressed that National Non-Smoking Week should be focused on tangible results.

The company points out an inconsistency in policy. While nicotine pouches are now under tight, pharmacy-only control, other NRTs like nicotine gums and lozenges remain widely available in convenience stores and gas stations—the same places where smokers purchase cigarettes. Imperial advocates for leveling the playing field, suggesting that authorized pouches should also be available behind the counter in these retail locations, subject to the same strict age verification as tobacco products.

A Thriving Black Market

The most alarming consequence of the restrictive regulations, according to critics, is the explosion of an illicit market for nicotine pouches. Recent media investigations, including a notable report by CBC News, have uncovered widespread illegal sales of unauthorized pouches in corner stores across Canada. These products are a public health official's nightmare: they are often sold in high-dose formulations, come in a variety of youth-appealing flavors like gummy bear and piña colada, and are frequently sold without any age verification.

Health Canada has acknowledged receiving reports of these unauthorized sales, warning that the products have not been assessed for safety or quality and could pose serious health risks. Some seized illegal pouches have been found to contain nicotine levels far exceeding the 4 mg per dose limit for authorized NRT products.

This situation creates a dangerous paradox. The legal, regulated, and quality-controlled products designed for adult smokers are locked behind the pharmacy counter, while illegal, high-dose, and potentially unsafe alternatives are easily accessible to anyone, including minors. "A regulated market with clear rules and strong enforcement is far safer than a hollowed out legal market surrounded by illegal supply," Silva stated, highlighting that legitimate retailers are far more accountable than criminal sellers.

A 'Better Tomorrow' or a Business Pivot?

Imperial Tobacco, part of the global British American Tobacco (BAT) group, frames its advocacy as part of its mission to build "A Better Tomorrow™" by transitioning smokers to a "Smokeless World." This corporate repositioning toward harm reduction products is a global strategy for an industry facing a terminal decline in its traditional cigarette business. The push for wider access to ZONNIC is, therefore, both a public health argument and a critical business objective.

However, public health organizations remain deeply skeptical. Groups like the Canadian Cancer Society and the Heart & Stroke Foundation applauded the government's 2024 restrictions. They argued that before the crackdown, nicotine pouches were being marketed and sold in ways that deliberately targeted young people, risking a new generation of nicotine addiction. For them, the potential for youth harm far outweighed the product's utility as a cessation aid for adults, especially given the industry's long history of marketing to young people.

The debate pits two different public health philosophies against each other. One prioritizes preventing youth access above all else, accepting restricted access for adults as a necessary trade-off. The other, championed by harm reduction advocates and the industry, argues that making safer alternatives as accessible as possible for existing adult smokers is the fastest way to reduce the death and disease caused by combustible cigarettes.

Navigating a Maze of Rules and Risks

The Canadian approach is notably strict on the global stage. In the United Kingdom, nicotine pouches are legally sold as consumer products with age restrictions, but are available in general retail. In the United States, the FDA has authorized the sale of several ZYN nicotine pouch products, including flavors like cinnamon and citrus, deeming them appropriate for the protection of public health as an alternative for adult smokers. Meanwhile, some European nations have banned the products entirely.

This patchwork of regulations leaves Canadian smokers in a state of confusion. They are told by public health bodies to quit smoking, yet find a key, government-approved tool to do so is less accessible than the cigarettes they are trying to abandon. At the same time, a quick trip to a local corner store might present them with an illegal, but readily available, alternative.

As National Non-Smoking Week continues, the question for policymakers is no longer simple. It involves a complex calculation of risk: the risk of youth addiction versus the risk of stalled progress in adult smoking cessation, and the risk of a tightly controlled legal market versus the reality of an uncontrollable and dangerous illicit one. For the millions of Canadians still struggling to quit, the answer could have life-or-death consequences.