The Non-Smoking Bylaw In The GTA

Toronto, ON - According to a new Ipsos-Reid/Pfizer survey released today, one in five (18%) smokers in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) say they have thought about quitting or tried to quit because of the GTA non-smoking bylaw that was introduced this past June.

Since the non-smoking bylaw was implemented, many current smokers or ex-smokers who quit after the non-smoking bylaw was introduced say that they have had to change their normal smoking behaviour: Half (51%) have had to "go outside to smoke at a place where they would normally have smoked inside", 39% have had to leave their "friends or family in a public place to go outside to smoke", and 32% have said they have had to "refrain from smoking at a time when you would normally have smoked".

Among this group of smokers or ex-smokers that have had to make changes to their normal smoking behaviour because of the non-smoking bylaw, three in ten (31%) say that these restrictions have caused them to think about quitting smoking (13 points higher than among the overall GTA smoking population, as cited above).

And one in ten residents of the GTA (10%) say they know someone (other than themselves) who has quit smoking or thought about quitting smoking because of the non-smoking bylaw. Among GTA residents who have quit smoking (23%), 2% say that "yes" the introduction of the non-smoking bylaw was a reason why they quit.

Currently, one in five residents of the GTA (19%) are smokers, while 59% "have never been a smoker". Of remaining GTA residents, 20% used to be smokers but "quit smoking before June 2004", and 3% used to be smokers but quit smoking "some time between June 2004 and now."

These are the findings of an Ipsos-Reid/Pfizer survey conducted from September 1st to September 8th, 2004. For the survey, a representative randomly selected sample of 1630 adult residents of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) was interviewed by telephone. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within 1772.4 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire adult GTA population been polled. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population. These data were weighted to ensure the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual population according to the 2001 Census data.

Among Smokers In The GTA, One In Five (18%) Have Thought About Quitting Because Of The Non-Smoking Bylaw...

Among current smokers in the GTA, one in five (18%) say they have thought about quitting or tried to quit because of the non-smoking bylaw. However, eight in ten smokers in the GTA (82%) have not thought about quitting because of the non-smoking bylaw.

Many GTA Smokers Have Had To Change Their Normal Smoking Behaviour Because Of This Bylaw...

Since the GTA smoking ban was introduced in June, half of current GTA smokers or those who quit smoking after the smoking ban (51%) have had to "go outside to smoke at a place where they would normally have smoked inside", 39% have had to leave their "friends or family in a public place to go outside to smoke", and 32% have said they have had to "refrain from smoking at a time when you would normally have smoked". Meanwhile, 30% of these respondents have said they have had to do "none of the above" and a further 4% said they "don't know" if they had to change their smoking behaviour.

Of Those Smokers Who Have Had To Change Their Normal Smoking Behaviour, Three In Ten (31%) Say The Non-Smoking Bylaw Has Made Them Think About Quitting...

Of those smokers in the GTA who have had to observe restrictions on their normal smoking behaviour because of the non-smoking bylaw, three in ten (31%) say these restrictions have caused them to think about quitting smoking (13 points higher than among the general GTA smoking population), but a majority (68%) say they have not. The remaining 1% "don't know" if these restrictions have made them more inclined to quit smoking.

• Those with annual household income of less than $45,000 are more likely than those who have an annual household income of $45,000 or more to say they have thought about quitting because of this non-smoking bylaw restriction (44% vs. 23%).

Among Ex-Smokers, 2% Say The Introduction Of Anti-Smoking Bylaw Was A Reason Why They Quit...

Among GTA residents who either "quit smoking some time between June 2004 and now"(3%) or "quit smoking before June 2004"(20%), 2% say that "yes" the introduction of the non-smoking bylaw was a reason why they quit - 97% say "no" this was not a reason for them to quit.

And One In Ten Residents Of The GTA (10%) Say They Know Someone Who Has Quit Smoking Or Thought About It Because Of Non-Smoking Bylaw...

One in ten residents of the GTA (10%) say they know someone (other than themselves) who has quit smoking or thought about quitting smoking because of the non-smoking bylaw. Nine in ten residents of the GTA (89%) say that they do not know anyone who has quit smoking or thought about quitting because of the non-smoking bylaw.

• Residents of the GTA aged 18-34 are significantly more likely than residents of the GTA aged 35 and over to say they know someone who has quit smoking or thought about quitting smoking because of the non-smoking bylaw (15% vs. 7%).

• Residents of the GTA who live in the City of Toronto are slightly more likely than those who live in the Western and Eastern suburbs of Toronto to say they know someone who has quit smoking or thought about quitting smoking because of the non-smoking bylaw (12% vs. 8%).

One In Five Residents Of The GTA (19%) Are Current Smokers...

Currently, one in five residents of the GTA (19%) are smokers, while 59% "have never been a smoker". Of remaining GTA residents, 20% used to be smokers but "quit smoking before June 2004", and 3% used to be smokers but quit smoking "some time between June 2004 and now."

• Those residents of the GTA who have an annual household income of less than $75,000 are significantly more likely than those residents of the GTA who an annual income of $75,000 or more to be a current smoker (22% vs. 15%).

Please open the attached PDF to view the factum and detailed tables.

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For more information on this news release, please contact:

John Wright
Senior Vice-President
Ipsos-Reid Public Affairs
(416) 324-2900