Hookah and Shisha Laws in Canada

Hookah and shisha are not banned across Canada. Waterpipe tobacco counts as a tobacco product under federal law, so the federal age of 18 applies, and whether you can use one in a lounge depends on your province and your city. Ontario bans using a waterpipe to smoke tobacco shisha in enclosed workplaces, enclosed public places and patios, and Toronto bars licensed businesses from permitting hookah use.

Start here

The municipal waterpipe bylaw guide lists which city rules we have confirmed and which are waiting for a check. For public health background, read waterpipe smoking and public health. For the evidence on carbon monoxide, charcoal and shared hoses, see hookah health risks in Canada. The provincial smoke-free Acts of Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia and Manitoba are compared on the hookah lounge laws page, and the treatment of tobacco-free blends is on the herbal and nicotine-free shisha page. To look up a specific place, use the rules-by-city database, the Toronto bylaw page or the provincial legislation comparison.

What federal law says

Waterpipe tobacco is a tobacco product, so the federal Tobacco and Vaping Products Act applies to it. It is an offence to furnish a tobacco product to a person under 18, and provinces and territories can set a higher age. Health Canada also requires waterpipe tobacco packages to carry its rotating health warning messages, for example that the product can be harmful to health and that its toxic chemicals can cause cancer.

What provinces say

Ontario. The Smoke-Free Ontario Act, 2017 prohibits using a waterpipe to smoke tobacco shisha in enclosed workplaces, enclosed public places and designated areas, including bar and restaurant patios. It does not prohibit smoking herbal shisha. This comes from an Ontario ministry fact sheet hosted on the City of Toronto’s site.

Other provinces. We could not confirm from an official page whether the smoke-free laws of British Columbia, Alberta, Quebec, Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba specifically cover waterpipes. Some of their official pages say nothing about hookah, so the answer may depend on how each Act defines smoking.

What cities say

Cities can add their own rules. In Toronto, Municipal Code Chapter 545 (Licensing), through By-law 1331-2015, bars licensees from permitting hookah use on licensed premises, and the city says it prohibits hookah use in licensed establishments. Calgary’s Smoking and Vaping Bylaw 23M2018 regulates smoking and vaping of tobacco and cannabis in public premises, but its text defines smoking by burning tobacco or cannabis and does not mention hookah or waterpipes.

Other cities, including Ottawa, Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg and North Bay, have been reported to regulate hookah, but we have not been able to read their rules on official pages.

Health

Health Canada’s page on second-hand smoke lists hookah among tobacco products whose smoke harms people who breathe it. The warnings that Health Canada requires on waterpipe tobacco packaging say the product can be harmful to health and that its toxic chemicals can cause cancer.

Before you open or visit a lounge

1. Check your province’s smoke-free law, and whether herbal products are treated differently.
2. Check your city’s licensing bylaw, which can be stricter than the province.
3. Use the rules-by-city database for confirmed local rules.

Where rules differ

The same hookah session can be legal in one province and not in the next, and herbal blends may be treated differently from tobacco. Where we could not read an official source, we say so above and do not guess.