1. A ban circumvented on a massive scale
While the Quebec government has banned flavorings in vaping products, a new survey reveals that 76% of adult vapers say they purchased a prohibited product at least once in 2025—an increase of 8 points year-on-year. This illegal consumption includes closed systems larger than 2 ml and open systems larger than 30 ml, which escape the regulatory floodgates.
2. The decline towards physical stores
As online shopping declines, specialty retailers are on the rise: 52% of consumers will turn to these stores in 2025, compared to 40% the previous year. The shift toward physical retail outlets means a surge in clandestine sales, which escape government controls.
3. Health risks and EVALI hazard
The lack of control over these illegal products is not insignificant: unregulated, mislabeled substances could cause accidents similar to those of the American “EVALI” epidemic (more than 2 hospitalizations, 800 deaths). The risk of a recurrence of this type of crisis is very real.
4. Imperial Tobacco's warning
Éric Gagnon, vice-president of Imperial Tobacco Canada, denounces the law's ineffectiveness: more than 200 businesses have reportedly been fined for continued non-compliance, but very few have been sanctioned. According to him, the lack of systematic recalls and rigorous controls fuels this dangerous parallel market.
5. Media investigation: the challenge of flavor enhancers
Recent reports have highlighted the use of "concentrated flavors" sold as additives, as well as overdosed liquids sold in stores, often to circumvent the ban. The black market's imagination is vivid, and the laws are struggling to keep up.
6. Calls for strengthening controls
Imperial, along with several health associations, is calling for carefully considered measures: training of inspectors, blitz inspections, significant fines (up to $500), and even centralization of sales through public agencies similar to the SAQ or the SQDC.
7. Voices of prevention
More than twenty anti-tobacco organizations are calling for 2,7% of the $6,6 billion settlement with tobacco companies to be redirected toward prevention, cessation, and combating the illegal flavored vaping market. They emphasize that without adequate funding, existing policies will remain ineffective.
8. Lessons from elsewhere: the announced regulatory failure
This scenario is not unprecedented: in Nova Scotia, the sudden ban on flavors caused a boom in the illegal market, increasing the risk for users. Quebec appears to be following this dangerous trajectory, lacking appropriate sanctions and regulated alternatives.
Conclusion
Quebec faces a disturbing paradox: wanting to protect young people on the one hand, but allowing an uncontrolled black market to proliferate on the other. Without real strengthening of controls, without dissuasive penalties, and without regulated options that appeal to adults, the flavor ban risks becoming a public health failure—with potentially severe consequences.
