Smoking and Vaping Rules in the Northwest Territories

As of 27 October 2026, the Northwest Territories prohibits buying or selling tobacco and vapour products under age 19, and requires ID from anyone who appears under 25. Smoking is banned in public places and in vehicles with a person under 19, with a $500 fine for a first offence. Territorial tax is 34.4 cents per cigarette, or $68.80 per carton of 200.

What is the legal age in the Northwest Territories?

Nineteen. The territory says it is illegal for any person under 19 to purchase, or even attempt to purchase, tobacco and vapour products, and the same limit covers pipes, filters and clips. Anyone who appears under 25 must show identification. Giving or selling to a person under 19 is also prohibited, with an exception for tobacco used in Indigenous spiritual or cultural practices. See the legal smoking age across Canada.

Which laws apply?

Two laws that came into force in 2020: the Smoking Control and Reduction Act (Bill 40), covering where people may smoke, and the Tobacco and Vapour Products Control Act (Bill 41), covering sale, display and advertising of tobacco and vapour products and raising the purchase age to 19.

Where are smoking and vaping banned?

Smoking is banned in any place the public has access to by right or invitation, including places where people under 19 ordinarily gather. The list includes outdoor children’s playgrounds and outdoor fields, courts and rinks used for sport. Smoking is also banned in common areas of apartment buildings and condominiums. Smoking is banned in a motor vehicle when a person under 19 is present; the RCMP enforce that rule, and the fine is $500 for a first offence and up to $1,000 for additional ones.

The territory’s pages give no set doorway distance; signs on fences and near doors show where smoking is allowed or how far from the premises you must stand. Smoking and vaping are allowed in areas that are not public places, and for a rental the territory advises talking to your landlord. For more on this, see the tenants’ guide.

What are the retail rules?

• Display: tobacco and vapour products cannot be promoted or displayed in stores where people under 19 have access.
• Where sold: not in pharmacies or stores that contain one, not in recreational, health or educational facilities, and not from vending machines.
• Flavours: since 25 March 2022 the sale of flavoured vapour products is banned. Vendors may still sell unflavoured and tobacco-flavoured ones. See vape flavour bans by province.

Environmental Health Officers inspect tobacco and cannabis retailers.

How much is the tobacco tax?

34.4 cents per cigarette, or $68.80 per carton of 200 (our calculation from the per-cigarette rate). The territory says rates were last updated in August 2022; it does not state a specific effective date. With $38.92 in federal excise, government tax is $107.72 per carton before sales tax, the highest carton figure we have confirmed for any province or territory. The Northwest Territories was also among the first jurisdictions in the federal coordinated vaping duty system, which began 1 July 2024. See tobacco tax rates in Canada.

Where can you get help to quit?

Registered nurses trained to help people quit smoking are available daily by calling 811 or 1-844-259-1793. We did not find a statement about free nicotine replacement on that page. Compare territories in free quit-smoking help by province.

How does the NWT differ from its neighbours?

The Yukon also uses 19, but its distances and fines are not available to compare. Nunavut sets a 9-metre buffer around building entrances and bans smoking in staff and public housing; the NWT publishes no such figure and defers to landlords.

What we could not confirm

We did not find an official statement on patios, a precise doorway distance, or the exact wording of the vaping provisions in the Smoking Control and Reduction Act. The pages do not give fines for sales to minors.