New Ontario legislation will prohibit the sale of cigarettes on university and college campuses, starting Jan. 1.
Of all the post-secondary schools in Ottawa, Carleton University is the only campus yet to make this change.
The University of Ottawa told the Ottawa Citizen they banned the sale of cigarettes on campus years ago.
Spokesperson for Algonquin College Phil Gaudreau said the college has “no record of cigarettes being sold on campus.”
“The measures taken by the Algonquin College and University of Ottawa are definitely applauded by the society,” Canadian Cancer Society spokesperson Nicole McInerney said.
Restricting the sale of cigarettes on campuses is an important aspect of protecting youth from second-hand smoke and de-normalizing tobacco use, she said.
The new legislation also bans smoking on restaurant and bar patios, sports fields, and playgrounds—regulations already imposed by the City of Ottawa.
In 2004, a survey funded by Health Canada found tobacco marketing prevalent on university campuses, looking at areas like on-campus smoking policies, cigarette advertisements in student newspapers, and the availability of cigarettes for purchase.
Carleton ranked near the bottom for discouraging tobacco use on campus, with a score of one out of five, along with the University of Manitoba and McGill University.
The University of Calgary ranked even lower, with a score of 0.5.
“It’s clear from our findings that universities and colleges in Canada remain a tobacco-friendly environment,” project co-ordinator David Hammond told the Edmonton Journal after the study was published.
Ottawa is not the only city whose post-secondary campuses have been voluntarily prohibiting the sale of cigarettes. Wilfrid Laurier University, for example, has banned on-campus sale of cigarettes and retail displays for more than a decade.
The three stores on Carleton campus that currently sell tobacco are Henry’s, Abstentions, and Mike’s Place.
