Teen Vaping in Canada: Health Advice and Survey Figures

Health Canada’s position is that vaping is not harmless and is not intended for young people. The most recent Canadian Tobacco and Nicotine Survey summary on the department’s site (2022) found that 13.6% of people aged 15 to 19 had vaped in the past 30 days, and 30.0% had ever vaped.

How common is vaping among Canadian teens?

Two federal surveys give different slices, so the numbers should not be mixed.

Survey	Group	Result
Canadian Tobacco and Nicotine Survey, 2022	Ages 15 to 19	30.0% ever vaped; 13.6% vaped in the past 30 days (about 286,000), unchanged from 2021
Canadian Tobacco and Nicotine Survey, 2022	Ages 20 to 24	47.5% ever vaped; 19.7% past 30 days, up from 17.2% in 2021
Canadian Student Tobacco, Alcohol and Drugs Survey, 2021-22	Grades 7 to 12	17% used an e-cigarette in the past 30 days (16% with nicotine, 4% without)

Health Canada’s overview adds a contrast with adults: in the 2022 CTNS about 14% of those aged 15 to 19 and 20% of those aged 20 to 24 had vaped in the past 30 days, against 4% of adults 25 and older. The department says the CTNS began in 2019 and has been conducted annually since 2023, so a newer summary may be published after this page was reviewed. The same overview reports that 55% of students said nicotine e-cigarettes would be fairly or very easy to get.

Why do health agencies worry about teens in particular?

Health Canada’s “Risks of vaping” page gives the reasoning in a few sentences. Children and teens who vape are especially susceptible to the harmful effects of nicotine, because brain development continues throughout adolescence and into early adulthood. Nicotine can make it harder for young people to concentrate, learn and manage their emotions. Youth may become dependent on nicotine with lower levels of exposure than adults, and once dependence develops it can be hard to stop.

The page also says the developing brain may be more sensitive to nicotine than an adult brain. That is stated as evidence suggesting a sensitivity, not as a settled measurement.

Does vaping lead teens to smoke?

Not on the evidence Health Canada cites. The department says there is limited evidence that using vaping products increases the risk of smoking cigarettes among youth, and notes that youth smoking rates in Canada are at record lows. It still concludes that vaping is not harmless and isn’t intended for young people. Both statements sit side by side on the same page, and neither cancels the other.

What do Canada’s public health leaders want changed?

In January 2025 the Council of Chief Medical Officers of Health described “continued high rates of nicotine vaping among Canadian youth.” Its recommendations aimed at reducing young people’s access and the appeal of the products included:

• federal bans on flavoured and on disposable nicotine vaping products, plain packaging and health warnings, and consideration of a minimum sales age of 21;
• provincial and territorial limits on vaping advertising at points of sale, vendor licensing, and a ban on sales within at least 250 metres of a school;
• municipal bylaws that include vaping in smoke-free rules and limit how densely vape shops can cluster.

These are recommendations. What is law today differs by province; see legal vaping age by province, flavour bans by province and vaping near schools.

What can a parent or a teen do?

Health Canada runs a youth vaping prevention campaign and a quitting guide for young people titled “I quit for me,” both linked from its risks page, and a tip sheet for parents on talking with teens. For quitting support for adults and teens alike, start with how to quit vaping, and for the evidence behind the health claims, see e-cigarettes: risks and benefits.