Canada aims to become the first country to require all cigarettes to have a warning sign printed on each piece, rather than just the box. 

The measure builds on Canada's obligation to put graphic visual warnings on tobacco product packaging, which set a global trend when it was implemented two decades ago.

“We need to address the concern that these messages may have lost their novelty, and to an extent, we worry that they may have lost their impact as well,” the minister of mental health and addictions, Carolyn Bennett, said at a news conference on Friday.

“Adding health warnings on individual tobacco products will help ensure that these essential messages reach people including the youth, who often access cigarettes one at a time in social situations, sidestepping the information printed on a package.”

A consultation session for the planned change was slated to begin on Saturday, with the modifications expected to take effect in the second half of 2023.

While the exact messaging printed on cigarettes could change, Bennett said the current proposal is: “Poison in every puff.”

Bennett also announced updated cigarette packaging warnings, which contain a long list of smoking's health consequences, such as stomach cancer, colorectal cancer, diabetes, and peripheral vascular disease.

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Since the century, Canada has required visual warnings, but the images haven't been updated in a decade.

Rob Cunningham, a senior policy analyst with the Canadian Cancer Society, expressed confidence that the warnings printed directly on cigarettes will become as popular as the package warnings.
 
“This is going to set a world precedent,” he said, adding no other country had implemented such regulations. He was hopeful the warning would make a real difference.

“It’s a warning that you simply cannot ignore,” Cunningham said. “It’s going to reach every smoker, with every puff.”

Geoffrey Fong, a professor at the University of Waterloo and principal investigator of the International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation Project, praised the move as well.

“This is a really potentially powerful intervention that’s going to enhance the impact of health warnings,” Fong said.

Over the years, smoking rates have consistently declined. According to the most recent Statistics Canada statistics, which were released last month, 10% of Canadians reported smoking regularly. By 2035, the government hopes to have lowered that rate in half.

According to StatCan, approximately 11% of Canadians aged 20 and older are current smokers, compared to 4% of those aged 15 to 19.