How Close to a School Can You Vape in Canada?

Ontario is the one province we confirmed with a measured buffer: vaping is banned in public areas within 20 metres of school grounds, as well as inside the school and on its grounds. British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan skip the distance and ban vaping on all school property. This page reflects government pages read on 27 October 2026.

Is there a set distance from schools where vaping is banned?

In Ontario, yes. The province’s own guidance says smoking and vaping are not allowed at public or private schools in three places: indoor spaces, outdoor grounds including playgrounds and sports fields, and public areas within 20 metres of the school grounds. That last part is what catches people standing on the public sidewalk just past the fence.

Elsewhere the approach is different. The ban follows the property line rather than a number of metres. British Columbia bans smoking and vaping on all school property at all times, and its page spells out parking lots, sports fields, driveways, courtyards and vehicles parked on school grounds. Saskatchewan uses the same phrase, all school property at all times, and says it applies whether or not classes are in session. Alberta lists school properties, along with hospital and childcare properties, playgrounds and sports fields, and its page gives no distance in metres.

Province by province: school rules and fines

Province	Rule at schools	Fine named on the government page
Ontario	Indoors, grounds, and public areas within 20 m	$1,000 first offence, $5,000 further, on conviction
British Columbia	All school property at all times	Not stated on the page
Alberta	School property is a prohibited place	$250 for vaping in a prohibited place; $100 for a minor possessing or consuming
Saskatchewan	All school property at all times	$150 for a person vaping on school grounds

We did not get usable official pages for the other provinces and territories, so they are left out rather than guessed. Quebec treats vaping like smoking under its tobacco law, but its legislation site did not load for our review.

Ontario’s number is a court fine after conviction. The page does not list the smaller set fine that an officer may write on a ticket, so do not read $1,000 as the amount a student will be handed at the door.

What other distances should people know?

Distances apply to more than schools. Ontario uses 20 metres around children’s playgrounds, publicly owned sporting areas and community recreational facilities, and 9 metres around restaurant and bar patios and the doors of hospitals, long-term care homes and similar health facilities. British Columbia sets a six-metre buffer around doorways, air intakes and open windows of public places and workplaces, and says municipal bylaws can be stricter. A city can add its own rules on top of the provincial ones, so a park bylaw may reach further than the provincial law.

Can a vape shop sit close to a school?

None of the provincial pages we read set a minimum distance between a vape shop and a school. What exists is advice. In January 2025 the Council of Chief Medical Officers of Health recommended that provinces and territories ban vaping product sales within at least 250 metres of a school, and that municipalities apply the same buffer when limiting how many vape retailers can open. That is a recommendation from public health officials, and it does not change what a shop is allowed to do today.

Rules that do exist for shops are about age checks, display and signs. They are covered in vape retailer rules in Canada. For the minimum age in each province, see legal vaping age by province, and for the bigger picture on federal and provincial law, start with vaping laws in Canada.

What schools themselves must do

Saskatchewan’s page for schools lists duties for operators, owners and employers: tell staff, students and visitors that vaping is banned on school property, post signs at entrances, exits and washrooms, and ask anyone breaking the law to stop and tell them it is an offence. A school operator who fails to post signs or meet the Act’s other duties faces a $500 fine there. Alberta lists $500 for a manager who does not post required signs. The reasons young people take up vaping, and what health agencies say about it, are in vaping and teens.