January 21 to 27 marks National Non-Smoking Week, held annually by the Canadian Cancer Society.
The goal of the week is to educate and encourage people to stop smoking, among other things.
"It's also to take stock as to where we are as a province and a country, in effort to reduce smoking," said Rob Cunningham, Senior Policy Analyst at the Canadian Cancer Society. "We've made a lot of progress, but a lot of progress remains."
Cunningham said in 1965, 50 per cent of Canadians smoked. Of that number, 61 per cent were men. The latest data, collected in 2022, showed the number of Canadians who still smoke has decreased to 12 per cent.
"We have an objective of under five per cent tobacco use by the year 2035 and we can achieve that," Cunningham said. "But, we need to do more in terms of higher tobacco taxes, more investments in cessation programs and prevention programs, minimum age 21, getting tobacco out of convenience stores and gas stations."
According to Cunningham, smoking remains the leading preventable cause of disease and death in Canada, killing 46,000 Canadians every year. That includes 30 per cent of all cancer deaths.
As advocation continues on, a growing problem among youth is vaping. This is something that has caused great concern for the Canadian Cancer Society as Cunningham says prevention comes from stopping kids from smoking underage.
"Canada has been a world leader, there's tremendous public support for measures," added Cunningham. "We just have to keep at it to protect kids and to protect the public."
Cunningham adds that all flavours of vapes should be banned except for tobacco. Currently, gas stations and convenience stores can only sell mint and tobacco flavoured cartridges. But, vape shops can sell anything, including ones targeted towards teenagers.
If you're looking to get involved in National Non-Smoking Week, Cunningham said you can have conversations with your peers and loved ones about smoking. If you are looking to quit, you can call the Canadian Cancer Society's quitline, 1-866-366-3667.