New regulations will take effect next week, requiring all cigarette, cigar, and other tobacco product packages to display a second series of graphic health warnings.
The updated images will replace the current series and feature a cancerous colon, a shriveled lung, and a toilet overflowing with bloody urine. The graphic warnings are designed to be more striking and to increase public awareness of tobacco-related health risks.
In addition to the new images, the rules mandate six new phrases printed directly on cigarette filters and relocate quit‑line information from the rear of the box to an enlarged upper-side flap inside the package, ensuring the message is visible when a cigarette is pulled out.
Retailers must remove all stock bearing the first series of warnings by August 1 and sell only products with the second series thereafter. Cigarette packages sold after October 31 will be required to carry the updated labeling.
Graphic warnings first appeared on Canadian tobacco packages in 2000, occupying half of the front and rear surfaces. In 2012 the required area was increased to 75%, and in 2024 slogans printed on each individual cigarette were introduced for king‑size products, later expanded to regular‑size cigarettes, little cigars, and roll‑your‑own tubes.
The new rules form part of the Tobacco Products Appearance, Packaging and Labelling Regulations and aim to strengthen Canada’s tobacco strategy by making health warnings more prominent and difficult to ignore.
