Ontario is getting $7B from the tobacco settlement. Why the silence on where it’s going?

Healthy Debate
Jul 6
2 min read

Jul 2, 2025

by Lesley James Sarah Butson Hillary Buchan-Terrell

Ontario should pledge to invest part of the $7.3 billion it receives in tobacco and vape control initiatives and preventative measures. However, the Ontario government has not said a word – even with perfect opportunities like the release of the 2025 provincial budget and World No Tobacco Day on May 31, a day when governments often pledge their commitment to address tobacco use and vaping.

Heart & Stroke, Canadian Cancer Society and Canadian Lung Association have been clear in their call: Ontario Minister of Health Sylvia Jones and Minister of Finance Peter Bethlenfalvy ought to direct funding from the tobacco settlement into targeted cessation, prevention and other tobacco control efforts. The goal? To create a healthier Ontario and reduce health-care costs inflicted by Big Tobacco and vape companies on Ontario’s future generations.

Investing just six per cent of the approximate $7.3 billion into tobacco and nicotine control would double the current Smoke-Free Ontario Strategy budget to $88 million a year for 10 years and put the province on track to meet the goal of five per cent tobacco use by 2035. This is warranted given that Ontario’s reduction in smoking rates, currently at 11 per cent, have slowed compared to other provinces, and youth vaping rates remain high with those in Grades 10-12 at 21.5 per cent, and Grades 7-9 at 8.5 per cent. Vaping rates among the younger age group have risen each year, a trend unique to Ontario.

The purpose of the provincial lawsuits was to hold the tobacco industry accountable for decades of wrongdoing, deception and health-care system burden. Since 2000, cigarettes have killed more than 1 million people in Canada and remain the leading cause of premature death. Canadians are devastated by the death and suffering of their loved ones, many of whom began smoking at a time when tobacco companies deliberately hid evidence on the health consequences of their products. Taxpayers are frustrated that they’ve been footing the health-care bill while the tobacco industry continues to profit from the sales of traditional cigarettes and new nicotine products such as vapes that continue the cycle of addiction and poor health.