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Mental Health and Addictions
Smoking and Vaping Control and Cessation
The Department of Mental Health and Community Wellness leads smoking and vaping reduction efforts by:
- Supporting smoking and vaping control and cessation policies and programs
- Partnering with organizations to promote awareness and education
- Enforcing The Smoking and Vapour Products Control Act
These activities help reduce health care costs and improve the quality of life for Manitobans.
Enforcement of The Smoking and Vapour Products Control Act includes:
- Sales to minors
- Smoking in public places
- Restrictions on the advertising and promotion of tobacco and vaping products
The Act is enforced through:
- Education
- Compliance checks
- Warnings and charges
Key Initiatives
The following stakeholders are funded by the Department of Mental Health and Community Wellness to help reduce smoking and vaping use:
- The Canadian Cancer Society offers a free stop smoking program called the Smokers' Helpline (resources provided by text, online, or phone).
- Shared Health offers the Tobacco Quit Card and Counselling Program, providing nicotine replacement therapy and counselling to low-income Manitobans through a primary care provider.
- Manitoba Tobacco Reduction Alliance (MANTRA) provides a variety of resources for quitting smoking and vaping.
- The Lung Association, Manitoba provides prevention and quitsmoking programs
- MHCW has a partnership with Pharmacists Manitoba to provide the Quit Smoking with Your Manitoba Pharmacist program, providing nicotine replacement therapy and counselling to Manitobans through pharmacists to improve rates of quitting smoking.
- Manitoba coordinates the Review and Rate program. Students watch 12 anti-smoking/anti-vaping television ads and then vote on the ad most likely to keep them from smoking or vaping.
Smoking Laws and Enforcement in Manitoba
Laws and regulations apply to tobacco and vapour product sales through:
- Federal legislation
- Provincial legislation
- Municipal by laws
Laws and Enforcement in Manitoba
Sales to Minors
It is illegal to sell tobacco and vapour products to anyone under the age of 18.
Sale of Single Cigarettes
It is illegal under the Federal Tobacco and Vaping Products Act to sell individual cigarettes.
Display, Advertising & Promotion in Manitoba
No advertising or promotion of commercial tobacco or vapour products is allowed:
- Where tobacco or vapour products are sold
- Where children are permitted access
- On an outdoor sign of any type, including billboards, portable signs, or on a bench, vehicle or other structure
- Inside a building, other structure or vehicle if the ad or promotion is visible from the outside
Use in Public Places in Manitoba
Smoking and vaping is banned in the following places in Manitoba:
- An enclosed public place
- An indoor workplace
- A group living facility
- A public vehicle
- In a vehicle where a child under the age of 16 is present
- On the beaches and playgrounds of provincial parks
- On outdoor patios (Winnipeg only)
Use in the City of Winnipeg
The City of Winnipeg By-law No. 62/2011 bans smoking and vaping:
- On an outdoor patio
- Within 30 metres of the playing surface of an athletic field or a hockey rink during a youth event
- On a playground
- Within 30 metres of a swimming pool, wading pool, spray pad or spray park owned or operated by the City of Winnipeg
- On the premises of a primary school, middle school or secondary school, whether a public school or a private school
- On the premises of a health care facility
- Within 8 metres from an outdoor entrance providing direct access to a health care facility
- Within 8 metres from an outdoor entrance providing direct access to a City of Winnipeg workplace
- Within 8 metres from an outdoor entrance providing direct access to a Winnipeg Regional Health Authority workplace
Use in other cities and towns
The cities of Thompson and Steinbach have by-laws that place further restrictions on smoking. Check with your town council if by-laws exist in your town.
Questions and Complaints
If you have a complaint about smoking and vaping related to:
- Sales to minors
- Display advertising
- Promotion of products
Please contact our enforcement officer ([email protected])
If you have complaints about use in public places, please contact your local public health inspector. https://forms.gov.mb.ca/cmphi/
Frequently Asked Questions
- Smoking and vaping is not permitted on outdoor patios in Winnipeg.
- Individual business owners in Manitoba may also choose to have their patio designated as non-smoking.
- Check the by-laws for your town or city.
Smoking and vaping is not allowed in Manitoba in enclosed patios. Patios are considered enclosed if:
- More than 25% of the total floor area is covered by a roof, canopy or other barrier; AND
- More than 50% of the perimeter is more than 50% covered by a physical barrier such as a wall, window or panelling that impedes air flow
- There are no "smoker's rights" in Canadian law.
- Your building may have a no smoking policy where tenants are not allowed to smoke.
- If there isn't a policy about smoking, then smokers may smoke inside their home or on their balcony. However, smoking is never allowed in a building's common area in Manitoba.
Talk to Your Neighbour
- Your neighbour might not realize smoke is entering your home.
- Share how you feel about the smell and discomfort of smoke in your home.
- Share health concerns you have about second-hand smoke. They might be willing to do things like close the windows or change where they smoke.
Seal Off the Smoke
- Review the list in this document and learn how air spreads between units.
- There are ways to reduce odours that drift from your neighbours' units.
- The document also explains how to ask your building landlord to seal off the smoker's units and improve ventilation in your apartment.
Contact Your Landlord
Ask your landlord to help you find a solution. It's best to email or write a letter and document the problem and show you've tried to work towards a solution.
Include things like:
- Details about the problem of second hand smoke entering your home
- Any steps you have taken to resolve the problem
- Include any health concerns you may be experiencing as a result of second-hand smoke
- If possible, provide a letter from your physician
- Documents can be persuasive if the landlord decides to break the lease
Further Action
If you have:
- Followed the steps above
- Checked and ensured your building has no policy around tenants smoking in their units
- The effect of the smoking is bad enough that you are not able to reasonably enjoy living in your home
You may appeal to the Residential Tenancies Branch to further your case.
For more information, please see The Smoking and Vapour Products Control Act or the Federal Tobacco Act.
Resources
For those looking for help with quitting smoking, visit Shared Health - Quit Smoking Resources.
To learn more about smoking and vaping in Manitoba, visit the Manitoba Tobacco Reduction Alliance (MANTRA) website.