Selling Tobacco and Vapes in Canada: A Retailer Guide

Three levels of government write the rules for a shop that sells tobacco or vapes. Ottawa sets who may be sold to, what may be promoted and how products must be packaged. Provinces and territories decide on permits, displays, signs and fines. Some cities add a licence of their own. This section collects those rules for the people who work behind the counter, and for anyone who wants to know whether a seller is operating legally.

Start here

Pick the line that matches your job.

• I own or manage a shop. Read the guide for your province first: Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, Quebec, the Atlantic provinces or the Prairies and territories. Then use the retailer compliance checklist.
• I am opening a vape shop. Follow the ordered steps in how to open a vape shop in Canada.
• I serve customers at the till. The selling to minors page covers ID checks and penalties. Promotions, coupons and discounts covers what you may offer at the till.
• I buy stock. Buying tobacco and vape stock legally explains licensed suppliers and stamps. To check a pack, use how to check a cigarette excise stamp.
• I am checking whether a seller is legal. Start with the permits page and the page on where sales are banned.

The rules by topic

Question	Page
Who issues the retail permit	Tobacco retail permit by province
Which cities license shops	Municipal retailer licences
Places where sales are banned	Where tobacco and vape sales are banned
What may be seen from the shop floor	Display bans and power walls
Which signs to post	Required signs
Discounts, coupons, gifts	Promotions and discounts
Price floors	Minimum prices and pricing rules
Nicotine pouches and heated tobacco	Selling pouches and heated tobacco
Who inspects, and the penalties	Inspections and penalties

Older pages on the site still apply and go deeper on some points: retail licensing and display bans, vape retailer rules, tobacco advertising and promotion and vape advertising rules. For taxes, see vape tax in Canada.

What the federal rules cover

The Tobacco and Vaping Products Act applies everywhere in Canada. It sets the minimum age for sale, limits promotion and sponsorship, and requires certain package information. The Tobacco (Access) Regulations describe the age sign a retailer posts, with a minimum surface area of 600 cm2, and exempt shops in provinces that have their own sign rules. Provinces then add the permit, the display rules and the fines, and those differ more than most people expect.

Where the rules differ or are unconfirmed

Each page in this section shows what we could read on an official source on its review date. We link only to government and other official sources. Where a site refused our requests or an official text was not available, the page says so under “What we could not confirm” and states nothing about that point. Quebec’s current consolidated act, Yukon’s rules and parts of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia law are the main gaps today. If you have an official page that fills one, use the report an error page.