Canada’s federal government has issued a proposal to reduce the maximum amount of nicotine allowed in e-juices sold in Canada, which would drag the cap down from 66mg/ml to 20mg/ml. The proposed change, if it is passed, would make Canada’s federal limit on e-liquid nicotine strength the same as the European Union’s.
E-cig brands like Vuse and Juul, both of which are available in Canada, offer e-cigarettes with concentrations of nicotine in them that are fairly close to the current limit.
Although the proposal would set the cap across the country at a limit that is the same as the EU’s limit on nicotine vape juice strength, there are areas within the country where the limit is already lower, such as Nova Scotia and British Columbia.
Health Canada announced the proposed limit in late 2020. According to the announcement, the 75 days that followed were set as a public consultation period during which Canadians were welcome to provide feedback on the proposal. The public consultation period ends on 4 March 2021.
Canadian Health Minister Patty Hajdu said that the newly proposed limit “will help reduce the appeal of vaping products to youth.”
Industry Trade Association Pushes Back
The Vaping Industry Trade Association (VITA) — Canada’s largest trade association representing the vape industry’s manufacturers, importers, distributors and retailers — weighed in on the proposal in a press release in which the association’s executive director of VITA of Canada, Allan Rewak, said that the proposed limit “is simply too low for many smokers” and that lowering the limit is “going to keep more smokers smoking.”
VITA’s president, Daniel David, also weighed in on the proposal, questioning the federal government’s decision to use Health Canada resources to “explore making it harder for adult smokers to switch to a reduced risk product” during a global pandemic.
“Considering the disparity of harm between vaping and smoking, we don’t understand why the federal government would be using Health Canada resources during a global pandemic to explore making it harder for adult smokers to switch to a reduced risk product.”
In an attempt to highlight one obvious potential downside to lowering the federal nicotine cap on vaping products, VITA cited an over 25% increase in legal cigarette sales in Nova Scotia following the province’s implementation of a 20mg/ml nicotine cap that was coupled with a flavour ban. The trade association also noted that 50% of all vape stores immediately closed, which resulted in hundreds of Canadians losing their jobs.