Vaping and tobacco products sales following a vaping flavour ban in Québec from 2022 to 2024: Summary

According to data from the 2023 Enquête québécoise sur le tabac et les produits de vapotage (EQTPV) (a Québec survey on tobacco and vaping products), the proportion of the Québec population having used a vaping product in the previous 30 days was found to be particularly high among adolescents and young adults (Lasnier & Montreuil, 2025; Institut de la statistique du Québec, 2024). Flavours are largely responsible for the interest in these products (Montreuil, Tremblay, et al., 2021). To reduce the appeal of vaping products to young people, the Québec government adopted a regulation to ban the sale of flavoured vaping liquids (with the exception of tobacco flavour) (Règlement modifiant le Règlement d’application de la Loi concernant la lutte contre le tabagisme, 2023). This ban took effect on October 31, 2023.

Sales data represent a source of information that is complementary to survey data. Sales data allow us to describe the temporal evolution of a phenomenon on a more refined scale and are not subject to social desirability bias or recall bias. They can be used to document the impact of regulations in the months following their entry into force.

The INSPQ has published two reports analyzing sales of vaping products in Québec chain convenience stores and gas stations, from 2017 to 2020 and from 2020 to 2022 respectively (Montreuil et al., 2023; Montreuil, Lasnier, et al., 2021). Both reports noted an increase in sales of vaping products since 2019, and fluctuations dependent on legislative and regulatory changes.

This report analyzes sales data for vaping products from May 2022 to June 2024 in convenience stores and gas stations, i.e. before and after the ban on the sale of flavoured vaping liquids (with the exception of tobacco flavour). The evolution of the vaping products on offer (product diversity, main brands) is also presented. The analysis of tobacco product sales over the same period makes it possible to determine whether the vaping flavour ban coincided with an increase in tobacco product sales in participating stores, which might suggest a possible shift in use from vaping products to tobacco products.