Tobacco Lawsuits in Canada: A Timeline of Major Cases

Court decisions and settlements are public records, which makes them the most reliable way to follow what the three largest manufacturers did and what governments recovered. This page lists them in order. We refer to “three manufacturers” and cite the court file instead of naming companies.

Timeline

Year	Court or body	What happened
1988 to 1995	Parliament; Supreme Court of Canada	The Tobacco Products Control Act (1988) allowed a ban on tobacco advertising. In September 1995 the Supreme Court, by 5-4, struck down the challenged advertising and promotion prohibitions as more severe than needed, and suggested narrower options such as a lifestyle advertising ban.
1997	Parliament	The Tobacco Act received Royal Assent on 25 April 1997, covering advertising, sponsorship, testimonials and point-of-sale displays.
1998	Superior Court of Quebec; Province of British Columbia	The Quebec class actions were filed in 1998 (one in November 1998). British Columbia also sued that year to recover the cost of treating tobacco-related disease.
2007	Supreme Court of Canada, file 30611	On 28 June 2007 the Court found that the challenged Tobacco Act provisions infringed freedom of expression but were reasonable limits justified under s. 1 of the Charter, and restored the trial judgment.
2008	Federal and provincial governments	On 31 July 2008 two manufacturers each pleaded guilty to one count of aiding the sale or possession of non-compliant tobacco and settled civil claims; fines and payments totalled $1.15 billion.
2010	Ontario Court of Justice	On 13 April 2010 a $550 million settlement with three more companies included a $150 million Excise Act fine and a $75 million Criminal Code fine.
2015	Superior Court of Quebec, 2015 QCCS 2382	Judgment of 27 May (corrected 9 June) against three manufacturers: $6,858,864,000 in compensatory damages in the Blais action and $131,090,000 in punitive damages in total.
2018	Supreme Court of Canada, file 37524	On 13 July the Court allowed British Columbia’s appeal and dismissed a manufacturer’s application for production of the province’s health care databases.
2019	Court of Appeal of Quebec	On 1 March the court allowed the appeals in part, amended the class description in the Blais file, and confirmed the Superior Court judgment in all other respects.
2024	Mediator; provinces and territories	On 12 December all provincial and territorial governments and class action plaintiffs voted to accept a plan proposed by a court-appointed mediator, valued at more than $32 billion.
2025	Court approval	The plan was approved on 6 March 2025 at a total value of $32.5 billion, according to the B.C. government.

The Quebec class actions

The two Quebec cases looked at the period 1950 to 1998. In the Blais action the class was smokers who had developed lung cancer, throat cancer or emphysema before 12 March 2012 after smoking a given quantity of cigarettes. In the second action the class was people addicted to tobacco, and the judge found liability but declined to order compensation to members, while awarding punitive damages.

The appeal judgment describes the plaintiffs’ claims: breach of the general duty not to cause harm, breach of the manufacturer’s duty to inform, violation of the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms, breach of consumer protection obligations, and an allegation that the manufacturers conspired for nearly five decades to hide or minimise the risks of smoking. Some of the claims also relied on Quebec’s 2009 law on recovering tobacco-related health care costs. The Court of Appeal’s ruling is dated 1 March 2019.

The 2025 plan

The plan resolved claims by provinces, territories and class members in a process where creditors voted, with payments spread over about 18 years. According to the B.C. government, it provides “direct compensation to people harmed by the effects of smoking,” funds health-care systems across Canada and creates a foundation to support treatment research. British Columbia expects about $3.7 billion, earmarked for cancer treatment, primary care, treatment research and smoking cessation. Federal government figures for the plan were not found in the sources we reviewed.

What the cases changed

Litigation shaped regulation in two directions. The 1995 and 2007 Supreme Court decisions set out how far Parliament can go in restricting tobacco advertising and promotion. The settlements and pleas gave governments compliance terms over contraband tobacco, and the findings fed into debates covered under front groups and lobbying.

Case law moves, and appeals and payment schedules can change. Treat this page as a snapshot and check the linked court or government source for current status.