Checklist for Selling Tobacco and Vapes in Your Province

Last reviewed: November 1, 2026Next review due: May 2027

Key takeaways

Pick tobacco, vapour products or both and a province or territory, and the checklist lists the federal steps (age limit of 18, ID, signs, displays, promotion, flavours, the 20 mg/mL nicotine cap, excise stamps) plus the provincial steps we verified. Ticks stay in your browser unless you choose to save them.

The retailer compliance checklist turns the rules for selling tobacco and vapour products in Canada into a list of steps you can tick off. You choose what you sell and where your shop is, and it shows the federal steps plus the provincial steps we could verify, each linked to the page that explains it. It is for shop owners, managers and clerks who want to check a store against the rules.

How to use it

Choose tobacco, vapour products or both.
Choose your province or territory.
Press the button, work down the federal list, then the provincial list, and tick each step once it is done.
Open the linked page on any line you are unsure about.

You can print the list or clear the ticks and start again.

What you get

You get a federal list and a provincial list. The federal list covers the age limit of 18 under section 8 of the Tobacco and Vaping Products Act, ID checks, signs, display and promotion limits, flavour and nicotine rules, and excise stamps. The provincial list covers the age that applies in your province, permits where we confirmed one, signs, displays, places where sales are banned, flavour rules and penalties. A short block lists what we could not confirm for your province.

Where the steps come from

Every line comes from a federal or provincial government page or statute that we read, and the pages behind the checklist explain each rule in full. Selling to minors covers ID and penalties, vape retailer rules covers displays and no-sale zones, and retail licensing and display bans covers permits and tobacco displays. Promotion is in vape advertising rules, and packs are checked with the excise stamp guide.

Limits and privacy

The checklist runs in your browser. Ticks are saved only if you tick the box to remember them, and unticking it removes them. It covers the provinces and territories where we found retailer rules on an official page. Where we found nothing, the list says so and sends you to that province’s own page.

This is not legal advice. A cleared list does not prove that a shop complies, and cities, public health units and later amendments can add rules. For a decision with money or a licence at stake, ask the province’s tobacco or vaping enforcement office or a lawyer.

Retailer compliance checklist

Everything stays in your browser and nothing is sent to us. General information, not legal advice.

This checklist needs JavaScript to match the steps to your province. The federal steps are listed below. For your province, open its page: Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Yukon, Quebec.

Never furnish a tobacco or vaping product to anyone under 18. Section 8(1) of the Tobacco and Vaping Products Act bars furnishing in a public place or a place the public can access. The fine is up to $3,000 for a first offence and up to $50,000 for a later one (s. 45). Provinces set their own, often higher, ages, so the province steps below give the number that applies to you. Selling to minors: ID, signs and penalties

Ask for prescribed ID before a sale in doubt. Section 8(2) gives a defence to a seller who asked for and was shown prescribed documentation and reasonably believed it was authentic. The Tobacco (Access) Regulations accept a driver's licence, a passport, a Canadian citizenship certificate with a photo, a Canadian permanent resident document, a Canadian Armed Forces identification card, or another government-issued document showing photo, date of birth and signature. Selling to minors: ID, signs and penalties

Do not send or deliver to a young person. Section 9(1) bars sending or delivering a tobacco or vaping product to a young person, which matters for online and courier sales. It carries the same fines as section 8(1). Selling to minors: ID, signs and penalties

Check the federal age sign specification and your provincial sign. The Tobacco (Access) Regulations still publish a sign saying federal law prohibits providing tobacco products to persons under 18, at least 600 cm2 and at least 20 cm by 30 cm. They refer to section 9 of the Act, which carried a retailer sign duty until 22 May 2018 and now covers sending and delivering to young persons. We found no current federal section that creates the duty. Retailers in a province whose law sets a minimum age of 18 or higher and requires similar notices are exempt, so follow your province steps for the sign you post. Selling to minors: ID, signs and penalties

Check which permit your province requires. Federal law has no retail licence: the Act does not require an authorization before products are sold, and federal excise licences cover manufacturers and importers. Retail permits are provincial, so tick this once you have read your province steps. Tobacco retail licensing and display bans

Keep tobacco off self-service displays and vending machines. Section 11 prohibits selling tobacco by a display that lets a person handle the product before paying, and section 12 prohibits dispensing devices, with limited exceptions. Section 30 lets a retailer display products at the point of sale and post signs showing availability and price, subject to regulations. Provincial display bans can be stricter. Tobacco retail licensing and display bans

Sell cigarettes, little cigars and blunt wraps only in packs of 20 or more. Section 10(1) of the Act bars selling these three products except in a package of at least 20. The part of the Act we read does not name larger cigars, so no minimum is stated for them. Cigars, pipe and hookah tobacco

Stock only plain, standardized tobacco packages with health warnings. Tobacco packages must be drab brown with only permitted text. Most cigarette rules started on 9 November 2019, and full implementation, including at retail, was reached on 9 February 2022. Plain packaging in Canada, Health warnings on cigarette packages

Do not sell menthol or flavoured cigarettes, little cigars or blunt wraps. Schedule 1 of the Act prohibits flavouring additives in cigarettes, little cigars, blunt wraps and certain cigars, and prohibits menthol and cloves in all tobacco products, with an exception for products made or sold for export. Some provinces go further. Menthol and flavoured tobacco rules

Check the excise stamp on every pack of cigarettes. A legal pack carries a stamp that seals it, reads DUTY PAID CANADA DROIT ACQUITTÉ, shows 20 or 25 cigarettes and names the province or territory of sale. Section 32(1) of the Excise Act, 2001 bars selling or possessing tobacco unless it is stamped, with listed exceptions. Raw leaf tobacco must be packaged and stamped (s. 30). How to check a cigarette excise stamp

Keep tobacco promotion inside the Act. The Act bans testimonials and endorsements (s. 21), lifestyle advertising, advertising that could appeal to young persons, and retailer sales promotions such as gifts, rebates and contests tied to a purchase (s. 29). Health Canada's online inspections check retailer websites and social media. Tobacco advertising and promotion

Keep vaping products out of sight of young persons. Sections 3 to 5 of the Vaping Products Promotion Regulations bar displaying vaping products, their packages and items showing brand elements where young persons can see them. A province that already prohibits such displays takes precedence. Vape advertising rules, Vape retailer rules

Limit any vape sign to availability and price. A permitted point-of-sale ad is a single ad showing only availability and price, with no attention-drawing effects and black characters on a white background. A permitted retail sign has similar conditions: one sign per establishment, a rectangular shape and no more than 3,600 cm2. Where provincial law governs signs, the provincial rule applies instead. Vape advertising rules

Do not use banned vape promotion, in store or online. Banned: advertising that could appeal to young persons (s. 30.1), lifestyle advertising (s. 30.2), testimonials and endorsements, including depicting a person, character or animal (s. 30.21), and giveaways or cash, gifts and contest entries tied to a purchase (ss. 30.5 and 30.6). Online ads must be shown so young people cannot see them, and a tick box or a typed birthdate does not meet that standard. The main bans carry fines up to $500,000, up to two years in prison, or both. Vape advertising rules

Check flavour names and images against Schedule 3. Section 30.48 bans promoting a vaping product, packaging included, with an indication or illustration suggesting confectionery, dessert, cannabis, soft drink or energy drink flavours. Federal law does not ban selling other flavours. Provinces decide that, so read your province steps. Vape advertising rules, Vape flavour bans by province

Sell only vaping products with 20 mg/mL nicotine or less. The Nicotine Concentration in Vaping Products Regulations (SOR/2021-123), in force since 8 July 2021, cap nicotine at 20 mg/mL. A product may not be packaged or sold in packaging showing a higher figure, and a nicotine product must carry a nicotine concentration statement. What 20 mg/mL means

Check the vaping excise stamp over the package seal. Health Canada says legal vaping packaging has a vaping excise stamp over the seal. In the ten provinces and territories in the coordinated duty system (Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Manitoba, Prince Edward Island, Alberta, Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut), products must carry a province-specific stamp, mandatory from 1 October 2024 for the first group. The tax page lists the later start dates. Vape tax in Canada, What 20 mg/mL means

Expect inspectors to look at stock, labels and your website. Health Canada says any party conducting a regulated activity can be inspected. Inspectors may examine facilities, inventories, packaging, labelling and websites, and responses range from education and warning letters to seizure and prosecution. Vape advertising rules, Tobacco advertising and promotion

Legal information only, not legal advice. Laws and bylaws change; confirm the current text in the official source before you rely on it. Read the full disclaimer.

Frequently asked questions

Does the checklist send my answers anywhere?

No. The steps are matched to your choices in your browser and nothing is sent to us. Your ticks are kept only if you tick the box to remember them, and unticking it removes them from the browser.

Do I need a federal licence to sell tobacco in Canada?

No. Health Canada's third legislative review paper says the Tobacco and Vaping Products Act does not require an authorization before products are sold. Federal excise licences cover manufacturers and importers. Retail permits are provincial, and British Columbia, for one, requires a certificate for each location.

What does a province with no steps mean?

It means we found no retailer rule on an official page we could read for that selection. The checklist then shows only the federal steps and a pointer to the province's own page. Quebec is in that position at the time of review.

Sources

Tobacco and Vaping Products Act, full text — Department of Justice Canada (Justice Laws). Accessed October 31, 2026.
Tobacco (Access) Regulations (SOR/99-93) — Department of Justice Canada (Justice Laws). Accessed October 31, 2026.
Vaping Products Promotion Regulations (SOR/2020-143) — Department of Justice Canada (Justice Laws). Accessed October 31, 2026.
Nicotine Concentration in Vaping Products Regulations (SOR/2021-123) — Department of Justice Canada (Justice Laws). Accessed October 31, 2026.
Protection of young persons: key prohibitions and related penalties under the Tobacco and Vaping Products Act — Health Canada. Accessed October 31, 2026.
Discussion paper on the third legislative review of the Tobacco and Vaping Products Act — Health Canada. Accessed October 31, 2026.
Excise stamps on cigarettes (flyer) — Canada Revenue Agency. Accessed October 31, 2026.
Excise Act, 2001, full text — Department of Justice Canada (Justice Laws). Accessed October 31, 2026.
Rules for selling tobacco and vapour products — Government of Ontario. Accessed October 31, 2026.
Smoke-Free Ontario Act, 2017, S.O. 2017, c. 26, Sched. 3 — Government of Ontario (e-Laws). Accessed November 1, 2026.
Tobacco vendor fact sheet — Government of Ontario. Accessed October 31, 2026.
Requirements for tobacco and vapour product retailers — Province of British Columbia. Accessed October 31, 2026.
Reducing smoking and vaping: rules and enforcement — Government of Alberta. Accessed October 31, 2026.
Information for vapour product retailers — Government of Saskatchewan. Accessed October 31, 2026.
The Smoking and Vapour Products Control Act, C.C.S.M. c. S150 — Government of Manitoba. Accessed October 31, 2026.
Tobacco and Electronic Smoking Device Sales and Access Act (Prince Edward Island) — Government of Prince Edward Island, Legislative Counsel Office. Accessed October 31, 2026.
Tobacco and Vapour Products Control Act (Newfoundland and Labrador) — Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. Accessed October 31, 2026.
Legislation addresses rise in youth vaping — Government of Nova Scotia. Accessed October 31, 2026.
Bill 30, An Act to Amend the Tobacco and Electronic Cigarette Sales Act — Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick. Accessed October 31, 2026.
Tobacco and the Law (Northwest Territories) — Government of the Northwest Territories. Accessed October 31, 2026.
Tobacco and the Law (Nunavut) — Government of Nunavut. Accessed October 31, 2026.