The Convenience Industry Council of Canada Sounds the Alarm and Issues a Warning to Minister Christian Dubé
MONTREAL, March 6, 2025 /CNW/ - The Convenience Industry Council of Canada (CICC) issued a formal warning today to the Minister of Health, Mr. Christian Dubé, regarding the widespread deterioration of the legal vaping market in Quebec, as well as the blatant and unacceptable inaction of his ministry in enforcing its own regulation prohibiting the sale of flavored vaping products more than a year after it came into effect.
"Under the guise of good intentions, Quebec has implemented a dysfunctional system that rewards offenders and punishes the 5,000 convenience store owners in Quebec who comply with the law. The government must act without delay to correct its mistakes and restore fair, healthy, and honest competition in the market," said Michel Gadbois, Quebec Vice President of the CICC.
Indeed, the illicit market is growing so much in Quebec that there are now concerns that major legal manufacturers may stop supplying convenience stores, as has happened in Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick—two provinces that have also banned flavors.
A Legal Market on the Brink
Since the adoption of the regulation banning the sale of flavored vaping products in October 2023, the Quebec market has turned into a Wild West where laws are completely disregarded. Consumers are increasingly turning to the illegal purchase of flavored vaping products online, through websites hosted outside Quebec's jurisdiction. These sites offer the full range of flavors banned in Quebec at competitive prices while engaging in illegal practices such as promotions, discounts, and bulk price reductions, along with free delivery.
Furthermore, hundreds of vaping shops have reinvented themselves as publicly accessible stores to continue selling flavored products individually. However, instead of fining these shops, Quebec is tolerating them. In fact, according to statistics compiled by the CICC based on data released by the MSSS, only 12 out of 388 shops received a fine for selling flavored products in the first year of the regulation—barely 3% of the total. Additionally, only 148 of the 388 active vaping shops were inspected over the course of a year, representing just 38% of the total.
"The government must get its act together and take urgent action to strengthen the legal vaping market, restore commercial fairness, and stop rewarding lawbreakers. If we lose supply from major manufacturers, convenience stores will suffer, and the market will be completely handed over, on a silver platter, to cheaters and offenders," concluded Mr. Gadbois.
About the CICC
The Convenience Industry Council of Canada (CICC) is a national, not-for-profit council that unites the largest convenience store chains in the country as well as numerous regional banners and their affiliated retailers. It represents their interests at all levels of government, provide data and research for informed business decisions, organize networking and development events, and protect the industry's reputation. The convenience store industry employs 193,056 Canadians (including 51,138 Quebecers), generates $53.7 billion annually (including $14.2 billion in Quebec) in goods and services, and annually contributes $25.6 billion in taxes nationwide (including $6.7 billion in Quebec).
SOURCE Convenience Industry Council of Canada (CICC)
Michel Gadbois, Vice-President, Convenience Industry Council of Canada (CICC), C: 514-946-1522; Email: [email protected]
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