Health Minister rejects calls to ease nicotine pouch restrictions amid illicit market concerns
Health Minister Marjorie Michel said she will not relax Canada’s strict rules on nicotine pouches, despite industry pressure and worries about a black market.
Federal Health Minister Marjorie Michel announced she has no plans to loosen current regulations on nicotine pouches, which are treated as smoking-cessation aids and must be sold behind pharmacy counters to adults only. Since 2024, only Imperial Tobacco’s Zonnic brand has been approved, with flavor limits intended to deter children. Industry lobbyists, including Unsmoke Canada, are urging the government to permit retail sales similar to cigarettes, claiming it would curb the illicit market.
Michel acknowledged the problem, noting that Philip Morris’s Zyn products are already appearing among Canadian youth. Advocacy groups such as the Quebec Coalition for Tobacco Control and Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada warned that loosening rules would make the product easier for minors to obtain and called for stronger enforcement. The minister emphasized a public-health approach focused on education rather than attempting to monitor every illicit package.
Why it matters
The decision shapes how youth can access nicotine products and influences the size of Canada’s illegal tobacco market.
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