Which Signs Must a Tobacco or Vape Shop Post in Canada?

A shop that sells tobacco or vapes usually has to put up two kinds of signs: an age notice at the till and no-smoking signs for the premises. Most of the detail sits in provincial law. The federal age sign has exact dimensions, and a shop in a province with its own age-sign rule is exempt from it. We also found that the section of the Act the federal sign rests on no longer carries a sign duty. This page covers what each government’s own pages and legal texts say, read on 31 October and 1 November 2026. Our guide to selling tobacco and vapes to minors has the ID rules and fines for the sale itself, and retail licensing and display bans covers permits and what may be shown.

What the federal age sign looks like

Section 4(1) of the Tobacco (Access) Regulations sets out the sign. It must have a surface area of at least 600 cm2 and minimum dimensions of 20 cm by 30 cm. The message is “It is prohibited by federal law to provide tobacco products to persons under 18 years of age.” with the French version after it.

• The message is centred, in black bold type on a white background, and fills 30% to 40% of the sign.
• A red border runs along the edges, 1 cm to 1.5 cm thick.
• The shop posts it conspicuously, unobstructed, at every location where tobacco products are furnished.

This sign carries an age message only. The regulation sets no federal health-warning sign for shops, and its text mentions tobacco products but not vaping products.

Section 4(2) then exempts a retailer from section 9 of the Act if it does business in a province whose law sets a minimum sales age of 18 or higher and requires notices to that effect in shops that sell tobacco. For retailers in provinces with their own sign rules, the practical sign is the provincial one.

Does any federal section still require the sign?

Section 4 of the regulation says the signs it describes are those “to be posted by a retailer at a retail establishment pursuant to section 9 of the Act.” Justice Laws keeps older versions of the Tobacco and Vaping Products Act, and the version of section 9 in force from 31 December 2002 to 22 May 2018 was headed “Signs.” It said every retailer shall post, in the prescribed place and manner, signs in the prescribed form and with the prescribed content that inform the public that selling or giving a tobacco product to a young person is prohibited by law, unless the regulations exempt the retailer. Section 4 of the Tobacco (Access) Regulations supplied that form, content and place, and section 4(2) is the exemption the old section 9 allowed for.

Section 9 was replaced on 23 May 2018 by S.C. 2018, c. 9, s. 15. Section 9(1) now bans sending or delivering a tobacco or vaping product to a young person, and subsections 9(2) and 9(3) give defences to senders and deliverers. None of it concerns signs. We searched the full text of Part II, which covers sections 8 to 14, and the word “sign” does not appear there. The regulation-making power in section 14 lists age documents, package quantities and exemptions from sections 11 and 12, with no mention of signs. The only sign provisions in the Act are sections 30(2) and 33(e), which let a retailer post signs showing availability and price and let regulations control them.

The regulation was last amended on 23 May 2018, the day the new section 9 took effect. That amendment is noted on section 1, which now defines “Act” as the Tobacco and Vaping Products Act, and section 4 carries no amendment note. Justice Laws still publishes section 4 as a current regulation, current to 30 September 2026.

In practice, the federal sign specification is still published and the provincial sign rules below apply. We found no current federal section that creates the duty to post the sign, because section 4 points at a section that no longer contains one. We found no official statement on how that gap is treated in enforcement, and that question is for a lawyer. Health Canada’s Forward Regulatory Plan 2026-2028 lists a proposal to repeal the Tobacco Access Regulations and replace them with new Tobacco and Vaping Access Regulations, with a Canada Gazette, Part I comment period expected in fall 2026. It is a proposal and does not change the law today.

Provincial signs at the till

Jurisdiction	Age or health sign	Where retailers get it
Ontario	Age restriction and identification signs for each product type sold	Local public health unit, or download and print
British Columbia	Two Ministry of Health signs at the point of sale from 1 April 2026	Ministry signs through regional health authorities
Alberta	Provincial sign of at least 20 cm by 30 cm saying sales to under 18 are prohibited	PDFs linked from Alberta’s enforcement page
Saskatchewan	Till sign for age 19, at least 8 cm by 10 cm	Local public health office, or download and print
Manitoba	None found in the Act or the regulation we read	Not applicable
Prince Edward Island	Signs by shop type, set out in regulation schedules	Not stated on the pages we read
Newfoundland and Labrador	Signs the minister directs to be posted	Form approved by the minister

Ontario’s retailer page lists four signs dated 1 April 2020: tobacco age restriction (18 cm by 35 cm), tobacco identification (9 cm by 18 cm), vapour age restriction (18 cm by 35 cm) and vapour identification (9 cm by 18 cm). The tobacco sign says tobacco products are addictive and kill 1 out of every 2 long-term smokers and that selling or supplying them to anyone under 19 is illegal. The identification signs say government I.D. with a photo and birth date must be shown when requested. The retailer must make sure the signs meet the size rules in Ontario Regulation 268/18, and a printed PDF may need resizing. The vendor fact sheet adds that signs for tobacco retailers go where they are clearly visible to the purchaser at the point of sale.

In British Columbia, from 1 April 2026, a retailer of tobacco, vapour products or both displays the same warning sign in two versions at the point of sale. One faces customers and says they must be at least 19. The other faces the employee and says only people 19 or older with government-issued identification can buy. The retailer must use signs provided by the Ministry of Health. The page gives no dimensions and offers no download.

In Alberta, section 7(2.1) of the Act makes the manager responsible for posting and continuously displaying signs saying it is illegal to sell tobacco or vaping products to minors. Regulation 240/2007, section 2.1, puts the sign at every location in the shop where those products are sold, visible to the sales clerk. It must be at least 600 cm2 and 20 cm by 30 cm and say “It is prohibited by provincial law to sell tobacco products or vaping products to persons under 18 years of age.” The layout matches the federal sign: centred black bold type on white filling about 30% to 40% of the area, inside a red border 1 cm to 1.5 cm wide. Only the manager or someone acting on the manager’s instructions may remove or deface a posted sign.

Saskatchewan allows only signs supplied or approved by the Ministry of Health, posted in a conspicuous manner and not obstructed from view. The till sign for the legal age of 19 goes at the cash register where tobacco and vapour products are bought. An optional age calculator sticker, about 5 cm by 10 cm, is available for staff.

In Prince Edward Island, section 6 of the Act bars the owner or person in charge from failing to display the signs the regulations require. Regulation section 5 sets a front-entry sign for a tobacconist shop, a sign on every cash register in view of the purchaser for other tobacco retailers, and cash register signs facing the cashier. The wording and sizes sit in image schedules we could not read.

In Newfoundland and Labrador, section 5 lets the minister direct which signs are posted. They must be visible, unobstructed and in a form the minister approves.

Vape-specific signs

Ontario is the only province above with separate vapour signs for the till. Alberta’s single sign names both product types, Saskatchewan’s till sign names tobacco and vapour products together, and British Columbia’s two signs cover tobacco and vapour products in one text. Prince Edward Island’s Act has a parallel duty for electronic smoking devices in section 6(2), though the regulation sections we read describe tobacco sales only. Newfoundland and Labrador’s Act covers vapour products in its title, but we did not read the signs the minister has directed. Age rules differ by province, so check the legal vaping age table and the vape retailer rules before ordering signs.

No-smoking signs on the premises

These signs come from the same provincial laws that ban smoking and vaping indoors, and the duty usually falls on the manager, proprietor or employer.

• Ontario: Employers and owners of enclosed workplaces and enclosed public places post signs at each entrance, exit and washroom. Individual tobacco and electronic cigarette signs are at least 10 cm by 10 cm, and the combined sign is at least 15 cm high by 20 cm wide. The vendor fact sheet says all retailers must also post No Smoking signs at entrances, exits, washrooms and other appropriate places.
• Alberta: A sign at each entrance of a public place or workplace, mounted 1 m to 2.4 m above the floor, plus signs inside in numbers the manager reasonably considers adequate. It carries the Schedule 1 symbol and the words “no smoking” and “no vaping” and must be at least 20 cm by 26 cm with a surface area of at least 520 cm2.
• Saskatchewan: A No Smoking, No Vaping sign at least 15 cm high and 20 cm wide for entrances, waiting areas and washrooms, and a sign at least 4.5 cm by 14 cm for doors, windows or walls to mark the three-metre zone.
• Manitoba: The proprietor posts signs at each entrance and inside. A text sign shows “no smoking” in letters at least 28 mm high, and a graphic sign uses the schedule symbol with a red circle at least 100 mm across.
• British Columbia: The government page offers a printable no smoking and vaping sign, but the page and the statute text we read do not say that posting it is mandatory.

Workplace smoking laws and the provincial legislation overview explain where indoor smoking is banned and what the bans cover.

What happens if a sign is missing?

• Federal: The offence sections that name specific provisions, such as section 45, do not list a retailer sign duty. Section 48 sets a fine of up to $25,000 for contravening the Act or the regulations where no other penalty is provided. We cannot confirm that it has been applied to a missing federal sign.
• Alberta: The Act sets fines of up to $10,000 for a first contravention of section 7 and up to $100,000 for a second or later one. The enforcement page lists $500 for a manager who fails to post the minors sign.
• Manitoba: Section 8(1) covers any provision of the Act other than sections 2, 5 and 5.2 and any regulation, with fines of up to $3,000, $5,000 and $15,000 for a first, second and third or later offence. That includes the no-smoking sign duty in section 6.1.
• Prince Edward Island: Section 8(1) sets fines of $1,000, $2,500 and $5,000 for an individual, and $5,000, $10,000 and $25,000 for a corporation. Each day a continuing contravention lasts is a separate offence.
• Newfoundland and Labrador: Failing to post signs as directed is an offence for a retailer. A first offence costs $500 and a 3 month ban on selling the product, a second $2,500 and 6 months, a third or later $5,000 and 9 months.
• Ontario: The retailer page lists failure to post required signs as an example of an “other” tobacco sales offence for the automatic location ban, which runs 6 months after 2 convictions within five years, 9 after 3 and 12 after 4 or more. It gives no fine for a missing sign.
• British Columbia: The retailer page says contraventions may have penalties and names no amount. The Act’s offence section does cover the sign a person must post during a prohibition order, with fines up to $2,500 or 3 months in jail for a first offence.

What we could not confirm

• Federal sign duty: We found no current section of the Act that creates it, and no official statement on whether or how section 4 of the Tobacco (Access) Regulations is enforced. We also found no Health Canada page with a downloadable federal sign.
• Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec and the territories: The government and legislature sites refused connections or returned access errors, so we state nothing about their signs.
• Ontario law text: The e-Laws pages did not load. Ontario’s signs, sizes and the missing-sign consequence come from ontario.ca pages, and Regulation 268/18 itself was not read.
• British Columbia signs: The regulation behind the 1 April 2026 signs was not read, so dimensions, wording and the penalty for a missing sign are unknown.
• Saskatchewan statute and regulation: We read the government’s retailer pages only. The current Act and regulation text was not available, and no fine for a missing sign appears on those pages.
• Manitoba age sign: We found none in the Act or Regulation 174/2004. We did not check other sources, so we cannot say whether the federal exemption applies there.
• Prince Edward Island schedules: The sign wording is in images, and the consolidation we read is current to 1 February 2025 and is not the official version.
• Newfoundland and Labrador directed signs: The Act lets the minister direct signs, but we did not find which signs are currently directed.