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https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/canada-cigarette-warning-labels-1.6860301 Canada to put health warning labels directly on cigarettes in world first New cigarette packaging restrictions and warning images will also be introduced Adam Miller · CBC News · Posted: May 31, 2023 9:05 AM MDT | Last Updated: 2 hours ago Health Canada has announced new warning labels to be printed directly on cigarettes in an effort to deter new smokers, encourage quitting and reduce tobacco-related deaths. (Submitted/Health Canada) Health Canada has announced new warning labels to be printed directly on cigarettes in an effort to deter new smokers, encourage quitting and reduce tobacco-related deaths, in a world first that experts hope will have a significant impact. There will be multiple sets of six warnings on the cigarettes themselves that will change in rotation with messages like: "Cigarettes cause cancer," "Tobacco smoke harms children" and "Poison in every puff." Health Canada will also include new health warnings on cigarette packaging, taking up a minimum of 75 per cent of the main display area of the package, and will be able to update the content of the warnings without having to change the regulations. "Having a warning on every cigarette sold in Canada is a world precedent-setting measure," said Rob Cunningham, senior policy analyst at the Canadian Cancer Society. "The health warning is going to be there during every smoke break, and for youth who experiment by borrowing a cigarette from a friend, they'll have exposure to the health warning there as well. I expect that many countries internationally will follow this Canadian world first." Health Canada's new cigarette-labelling regulations come into effect starting Aug. 1. (Health Canada) The regulations will begin to come into effect as of Aug. 1. Tobacco companies will be required to implement the first sets of restrictions for retail on king size cigarettes (83-85 millimetres in length) by July 31, 2024, and on regular size cigarettes (70-73 millimetres in length) by April 30, 2025. A new round of 14 picture warnings will also be required to appear on the outside of cigarette packaging by April 30, 2024, with a second new set of 14 picture warnings to appear two years later. There will also be updated messages on the inside of cigarette packages required at retail stores by April 30, 2024. The new and finalized regulations announced Wednesday were previously proposed in June 2022 as a draft regulation. Canada aims to hit less than 5% tobacco use The federal government's decision was announced on Wednesday on what is also World No Tobacco Day by the Associate Minister of Health and Minister for Mental Health and Addictions Carolyn Bennett, and is part of Canada's Tobacco Strategy that aims to achieve less than five per cent tobacco use by 2035. "Tobacco use continues to kill 48,000 Canadians each year. We are taking action by being the first country in the world to label individual cigarettes with health warning messages," Bennett said in a news statement. "This bold step will make health warning messages virtually unavoidable, and together with updated graphic images displayed on the package, will provide a real and startling reminder of the health consequences of smoking." Health Canada said the health and economic costs associated with tobacco use in Canada were estimated at $12.3 billion in 2017, with direct costs to the health-care system of $6.1 billion. While tobacco prevalence in Canada is currently estimated at 13 per cent nationally, Health Canada said the health-care costs due to tobacco use represent 47 per cent of all health-care costs associated with substance use in Canada.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/ottawa-plain-packaging-vaping-law-1.4662112 All media are portraying this as cigarette plain packaging, but the bill quite specifically names tobacco products. I can see nothing that exempts cigars or pipe tobacco, so the end result will be devastating to the tobacconists in Canada (which I am one of).

Came across this on the net. A per Province breakdown of total tobacco revenues across all tobacco product types from 1990 - 2016. In short. For a country of ~30 million, taxing tobacco has brought in billions per years to government coffers. In 2016 total Provincial and Federal taxes have brought in $8.3 Billion. Link to PDF Tables Page 3 has a breakdown of cigarettes, cigars, pipe, etc.

Vegas Robaina XV Aniversario: 2012 Canadian Regional Edition. Vital Stats: 54 x 164 (6.5") Sublimes/Double Robusto Cold notes: Excellent construction. Not very oily. Passes the "pinch" test. Definitely ready to smoke. Milk chocolate wrapper. Slight veins. Solid construction. Aroma at cold is cocoa powder. Cinnamon and nutmeg. Start time 2:55PM First third Toasty tobacco on the light. Good draw lots of smoke. Coffee. Smooth. Dirty grey ash. Tannic notes. Dry tobacco. Short finish on each draw. Flaky ash. Lovely summer day. Smoking in irony as this is one freedom that keeps dwindling. Nice hit of nutmeg. Subtle cocoa undertones. I don’t smoke many VR's. I really love the Unicos. I had a putrid Don Alejandro last winter. That stick brought shame to his name. My wife was sitting with me and even she remarked how bad it stank. That it didn't have a nice aroma to it. I one day hope to smoke a better sample. The Classico is a good smoke as well. Slight tannic note. Some sweet tobacco. Still mixed with some tannins. Windy day but my deck is immune. I can smoke in peace. Very mild body so far. Smooth and relaxing but no wow factor yet. These are young but they should be made with some good tobaccos. The cigar sings in blue white smoke. Lots of it. A swig of fizzy wager to clean the palate . Cocoa showing its face now. Slight pepper finish on the subsequent draws. Body is now more on the medium side. Second third Some sweet bread notes. Reminiscent of a Fundadores. Ash falls off to cap off some cocoa. The wife joins me with a pack of Prartagas Chicos. . Tannic again. Toasty tobacco. Hint of mint. Nice. Floral finish on the draw. More cocoa. Getting interesting now. Some wind chimes are going off at the condo across from me and they are grating on my nerves. Sounds like church bells in the distance. More toasty tobacco. Smoke billows out profusely . Some herbal sweet notes. Toasty tobacco. Herbs are back. Nutmeg. Herbal. Getting a bit boring. This is my second one since release. Not doing a great job of impressing me. Lots of toasty tobacco, dry finish. The Chicos I've lit and re-lit for my wife had more taste. I expect more out of a sublime format. Vegetal notes now. Ash falls off as i lay down the cigar. A few cocoa puffs keep my interest. Second third ends with some promise. Final third. A nit more tannic. Bitter cocoa I'd say. Another swig of water to prep the taste buds. Ash falls off as i remove the re band. Cocoa again. Better. The cigar has remained mild/medium throughout. Sad. Lots of toasty tobacco over the next few draws. Still loads of smoke. Finish is slightly peppery. Slight bean flavour emerges. Earthy notes. Slightly salty. Slight improvements but a little too late. Mint returns. Coffee on the next draw. Pepper on the finish. I take the R band off. Strong bean flavor emerges. Some strength is showing. Pepper finish more pronounced. I finish a drink of water. Cocoa is left over. Toasty tobacco, coffee grounds now. Very VR like, at least to me in terms of profile. Herbal notes swing this right around. More floral notes follow. A good sweet chocolate pops up. More cocoa. Beans. More cocoa, toasty tobacco. The strength has slowly crept up. It took over 70% of the cigar to get there though. The next few draws are nutmeg, slightly on the spicy side. Pepper lingers on the back of the tongue. I take a drink to wash the palate. The carbonation seems to activate some flavours. Earthy. Laid back cigar, just like us Canadians. Sweetness returns. Mocha flavours. Toasty tobacco again. Slight coffee finish. I've nubbed the cigar. Enjoyable, but not remarkable. Score : 87 Finish time: 4:30PM Conclusions: Gorgeous looking cigar but an underachieving one. My first sampling was better. That cigar had far more dimension but even still it was not as enjoyable to me as a VR Unico. It's been a few months since I first tried it, so this second one was going to be interesting I thought. Sadly, it wasn't. Now, with that said, this cigar was still very enjoyable. It was mild/medium and very smooth. It's an easy cigar to enjoy for a few hours. I'm hoping this was a bad sample from the box. To me many of the Candian RE's have either been excellent. (RA Super Allones, Unicos for instance) or just "good" Bolivar Simones, VR Petit Robusto) This Vegas Robaina XV Aniversario is still relatively young. I'll let these rest for another year and revisit them later. I do hope they can live up to their namesake and really become something special.

Thanks in advance: My wife is heading to Montreal CA next week for a few days. She will be in the downtown area. Even though she is not an advocate of my CC addition she is still willing to bring a few boxes back to the US for me. 1: need a respectable place to purchase near the Lowes hotel? 2: looking for special boxes (suggestions please)? 3: prices? Need to know what to expect. You guys know how it is, you spend 1k she gets even by spending 3k! thanks for the assistance.

Hey there everyone, greetings. I'd like to thank Photo_Rob for pointing out this place to me! Are you ready for a wall of text? As you can probably tell from my handle, I'm into coffee, a lot. So much so I didn't do that well a job of disguising who I am (if you search CoffeeGeek, you'll find me lol). Dunno if that's a mistake or not; but I've never been one to kinda hide who I am online (not that there's anything wrong with that!) So let me see if I can do a late night introduction here (I've just been editing photographs for the last 6 hours, got a deadline tomorrow!). How I got into cigars So I got into specialty coffee in the late 1990s; as a fan first, then as someone who took on a consumer education role, barista training role, and product review and consultation role by the early 2000s. Along with that came annual visits to huge specialty coffee trade shows, and meeting with farmers from Central and South America, and in Canada, even farmers and reps from places like Cuba (where they do produce coffee!). In the social atmosphere of most evenings at these events, two things usually come out to play: rum and cigars. I'd never smoked a good cigar before 2002 (I had smoked cheapo wedding / child birth celebration cigars, not liking them much!); but I was a 1.5 pack a day cigarette smoker then (bad boy). So around 2002, I had my first introduction to some Nicaraguan cigars gifted me by one of the really good farmers down there. I immediately got why people liked these things. And I slowly got into them. The epiphany moment I thought cigars were cool and interesting, but not something I wanted to get crazy about, until around 2008 or so. That was when I had a Rocky Patel Vintage 1992 Robusto (or it may have been a toro). I still remember that moment - the first time I got genuine "espresso" taste in a cigar (and no, I hadn't just had an espresso!); got big juicy citrus notes too, again something I never experienced in a cigar. Bam! (sidenote - it helped that by that point, I'd been going through several years of sensory skills training and learning on the coffee side of things). 2008-2015 Era of spending a lot of dough I'm an addictive person. Also super anal retentive unless I put a conscious lid on it (I couldn't do what I do in photography and coffee if I wasn't). Once I discovered how amazing cigars could be, I had to seriously restrain myself. Here's why: I was almost always buying locally from B&Ms. If you know anything about the situation in Canada regarding tobacco and taxes, you know it's bad. In BC, it's even worse - we have, I believe, the highest tobacco taxes in Canada. By the time I quit smoking cigarettes (5 years ago this October!), I was spending $23/day just on that habit, and every 4 months or so I'd go to the B&M and drop $700+ on 20-30 sticks. Insanity. I guess it's good I don't have kids. I've never been to Cuba myself, but have had people buy me cigars over there from time to time, including several boxes of fakes (two out of 4 fake boxes actually smoked quite well). Anyway, this was an expensive habit, one that cost me about $10,000 or more a year (friggin' cigarettes); It was so bad, I had severe credit card debt by 2011, and something had to go - so both cigarettes went (cold turkey, e-cigs helped) and cigars (for 1 year, that was the plan). 2012, on the 1yr anniversary of quitting cigarettes, I lit up a RyJ LE Duke (2009). AMAZING. Holy cow. Worth all the $40+ I paid for it. After that, I had one cigar a month - my humidor still had about 60 sticks in it (during my hiatus); in 2013, I started buying again. B&M ouch prices in YVR. Moved to a cigar every 2 weeks, then once a week, and now maybe 2, 3 times a week. I think that's my limit. That's where I got to in 2015. I also had a bit of "double band" want (remember, I'm addictive to the good things in life), so I was paying $30, $40, $45 and more a stick in some cases. 2016 onward A friend introduced me to alternative methods for acquiring cigars. Along that way, I ended up here as well. I may order, I may not (who am I fooling). This year has also been one of my biggest acquisition years for some great cigars, including, but not limited to, My Father Bijou 1922 torps (not CC); RASSs, the 2013 RjJ LEs, all four Anejedos (meh, 'cept the HdMs), RyJ Short Churchills (my new-old-new again fave) and my serious g0-to cigar, the beautiful Ramon Allones Small Clubs (gawd, I love them so much). What I've been enjoying the last twelve months So I'm not sure if non-cuban mentions are kosher here, so slap my wrist if they aren't. Anyway, one of the most complex I've ever had was the HdM Epicure Especiale; bought 10 sticks a few years ago, enjoyed my last one this past year and need to get more. Creamy toffee mixed with spice and wood and what I call (in the coffee world) "pure sweet tobacco". Had several Oliva Serie V Melanio Robustos (yeah, the CA one) and for a strong, full cigar, they were amazing with the oaky-chocolate forward tastes and vanilla spice throughout. I'm always up for a RyJ Short Churchill - they consistently deliver nice cocoa/bitter chocolate and light citrus, changing into more bitter chocolate with cream and butter. A recent box I bought was the Aging Room Forte Perfectos, which I've come to really enjoy for their creamy, bright, slightly sweet earthy taste throughout. And, if I only had to smoke one cigar though for the rest of my life, it might be the Ramon Allones Small Club. I like the Specially Selecteds too, but there's something about the RASC. And no, I have not had a Rocky Patel Vintages 1992 since it was my epiphany moment. I don't want to ruin that memory, just in case it doesn't measure up today to the excellent sticks I get to partake in. Well there you go - sorry for the wall of text! I tend to go on, and typing 100+wpm helps. Anyway, looking for fellow Canadians to say hi to, my fellow Commonwealth brothers and sisters (hi New Zealand! Hi England! Hi Australia! etc) and of course, a special hello to the Americans out there! Meanwhile, here's some photos of stuff. - Mark (PS - I hope historical references to some random prices don't break forum rules?)

Hey all, This is gonna be my first time visiting Whistler BC for a snowboard trip. Anybody know where I can smoke and or buy cigars in Whistler? It might be too cold to smoke cigars outside, but I do have some Partagas D6 for quick outdoor smokes... I hear the smoking laws are horrible in BC? Thank you! Eddie

*You can check this review in its original setting over here! Here is a follow up to Keith's (John was there too no?) review of these at the pre-launch in Havana last November. La Flor de Cano Siboney (110mm x 42mm) made exclusively for the Canadian market just like the Bolivar Simones, Ramon Allones Gordito de Allones, Vegas Robaina XV Anniversario were. 2000 numbered Semi Boite Nature Box of 25 cigars were made. Named after the Siboney tribe of indigenous people living in Cuba before the landing of Columbus. Their practices introduced the explorers to the use of tobacco. Construction: These have a compact feel to finger pressure, the wrapper is pretty uniform with few veins. They have a perfect draw and a clear tobacco taste at cold. 1st half ( these are too short to do thirds!): The first few puffs reveal a creamy smoke with a little pleasant sourness feeling to it. Toasted tobacco and floral notes are appearing as I smoke this cigar. It seems to want to go towards a tropical fruitiness but it shies away for now. The burn is perfect and straight with a dirty gray ash. It sits at medium-light body for me and boast a pretty long after taste. I have to say I haven’t had many Flor de Cano cigars but this seems to a good choice for a first cigar of the day. The floral and creaminess of the Siboney would pair quite nicely with a good tea. I would suggest Oolong or an herbal tea. 2nd half: It has evolved to a medium body cigar with richer taste and smoke. The flavors are not as defined as before but the creaminess and sourness are still present. The bottom half shows signs of the cigar’s young tobacco composition. The body increases, the cream remains but the subtleties of the first half are a bit tamed. I must say I am pleased with this small cigar, given it still needs to mature for 2-3 years before they become a good morning cigar. I have to smoke a few more examples to have a solid idea of the Siboney but so far so good. This is nice cigar to try for Flor de Cano lovers. 7/10 for now but potentially 8/10 and in crazy canadian winter context....who knows, too cold to think man (-36 outside right now)

Ah - the benefits of an international forum. One thing that resonates perfectly across all cultures is music. Within these borders, I've found two childhood songs that make my skin crawl every time i think of my childhood days singing these in classes. First one is a great little tune with a patriotic message too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0v3MAaQLSSI Second is a nice little Deutsch (spelt 'Dutch' in North America) Canadian influence. Happy polka times: What are your culturally relevant folk songs you reminds you of your childhood?

Hi all - I'm a relatively new cigar smoker from Victoria, British Columbia. So far I am just trying all sorts of different cigars, Cuban and Non-Cuban, but I have to say my favourites to date have all been Cuban! I think right now the Hoyo Epicure #2 is my top cigar, but there are so many I have yet to try. Cigars are expensive here in Canada, but on the plus side we have access to both Cubans and many American cigars, so there is plenty of choice. I enjoy watching the FoH reviews on YouTube and they led me to this forum. I'm looking forward to participating!

Ok, so here in Canada we have a mostly French speaking province called Quebec. Therefore, Canada has two official languages (French & English). It is mostly necessary to deliver services to taxpayers and more importantly, it facilitates the ordering of Montreal smoked meat sandwiches. But here's a new twist on things. Bilingual dogs.