New Peer-Reviewed Research Reinforces What the Data Has Shown for Years: Vaping Has Saved Canadian Lives

Ottawa, ON, Aug. 10, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In response to a recent wave of alarming media coverage about vaping, the Canadian Vaping Association (CVA) is urging journalists, policymakers, and the public to look past the headlines and toward the growing body of peer-reviewed research on nicotine vaping products (NVPs) as a smoking-cessation and harm-reduction tool. 

A study, Canada smoking and vaping model (SAVM): the public health impact of NVP availability in Canada, published this year in BMJ Public Health, built on Health Canada survey data using a validated simulation model known as the Canada Smoking and Vaping Model (SAVM), estimates that the legalization of nicotine vaping products under the 2018 Tobacco and Vaping Products Act has already helped prevent an estimated 125,300 smoking- and vaping-attributable deaths and preserve 2.6 million life-years for Canadians through 2060.  

Over that same period, smoking prevalence fell sharply among both men and women following legalization, a trend the study's authors attribute in significant part to smokers switching to lower-risk vaping products. 

The study also found that smoking rates continued to decline among Canadian youth and young adults following the legalization of regulated nicotine vaping products. In fact, young adults experienced some of the largest reductions in smoking prevalence, suggesting that increased access to regulated vaping products coincided with fewer young Canadians smoking cigarettes.  

This finding is not an outlier. A separate 2025 economic analysis by researchers at the University of Missouri and Yale University found that the U.S. decision to exempt e-cigarettes from pharmaceutical drug regulation was associated with an estimated 677,000 life-years saved between 2011 and 2019, a benefit driven primarily by smokers switching away from combustible cigarettes. Extrapolated to Canada's population, this represents approximately 41,962 life years saved per year.   

“The evidence is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore,” said Sam Tam, President of the CVA. “When adult smokers have access to regulated vaping products, fewer of them die from smoking-related illnesses. That is what two independent research teams, using two different countries’ data and two different methods, both found. Canadians deserve to hear that alongside the headlines.” 

The Tobacco and Vaping Products Act was designed with two public health objectives: protect youth from nicotine addiction while providing adult smokers with access to a less harmful alternative to cigarettes. Those goals are complementary, not contradictory, and effective policy should continue to advance both. 

Why Public Perception Doesn’t Always Match the Evidence 

A third study, Forget the science – you just know this is wrong! the moralization of vaping and trust in new scientific information, published in Addiction Research & Theory in 2025, offers a possible explanation for the gap between evidence and public perception referred to as “attitude moralization”. Researchers found that when people come to see vaping as morally wrong (rather than simply risky), they become significantly less willing to trust new scientific evidence about it, even independent of their general trust in science. Once an issue becomes moralized, in other words, evidence that contradicts the prevailing moral narrative can be dismissed regardless of its quality or source. 

“This tells us something important about the current public conversation on vaping,” Sam Tam added. “It’s not that the science is weak or contested, it’s that vaping has become a moral issue in Canada, and that changes how people process new information. Our job is to make sure Canadians have access to the full body of evidence so they can make informed decisions.” 

The CVA acknowledges that questions remain about the long-term studies on the effects of vaping, and that the researchers behind the SAVM model themselves caution that their results depend on assumptions about smoking-to-vaping switching rates and call for continued monitoring as new data emerges. The CVA supports this ongoing research, while also striking a balance that prevents youth access and uptake through education and prevention efforts, including support for Health Canada's 'I Quit for Me' program. Notably, youth vaping has already declined by nearly 60% from its 2019 peak, as reported in the 2024 Canadian Health Survey on Children and Youth (CHSCY).  

The Association maintains, however, that the core, well-supported finding that regulated vaping products help adult smokers quit combustible cigarettes, with measurable population-level health benefits deserves a place in public conversation. 

The CVA is calling on media outlets to include this research in their coverage of vaping, and on policymakers to weigh it as they consider future regulation that could affect Canada’s progress towards smoke-free status. 

For up-to-date information on the Canadian vaping industry and the latest on tobacco harm reduction, follow the CVA on X at @thecvaofficial 

Sam Tam
The Canadian Vaping Association 
stam@thecva.org

Ashley Bouman
The Canadian Vaping Association 
abouman@thecva.org