Smoking

Smoking cigarettes remains the leading cause of preventable death in Canada

Many people who smoke have tried to quit before, may be thinking about cutting back, or feel unsure about what the next step should be.

Whatever your experience with smoking, this page provides clear information about how smoking affects lung health, why quitting can be difficult, and what support or tools may be available—without judgment or pressure.

What Is Smoking?

Smoking involves burning commercial tobacco and inhaling the smoke into the lungs. Cigarette smoke contains thousands of chemicals, many of which are toxic and cancer-causing. These include:

Unlike vaping, smoking involves combustion, which causes direct and lasting damage to the lungs and airways. Tobacco smoke contains over 7,000 chemicals, 70 of which are known to cause cancer¹. Burning commercial tobacco products releases chemicals like the following:

Swipe to explore what’s inside a cigarette ^{2 3}

Acetone

Found in nail polish remover.

A chemical that comes from burning plant material.

Ammonia

Found in cleaners.

Increases the uptake of nicotine in your brain. The result… you get a faster, stronger dose of nicotine and become more addicted.

Arsenic

Found in rat poison.

Ends up in cigarettes due to the pesticides used in tobacco farming.

Carbon Monoxide

Found in car exhaust fumes.

Produced through burning any combustible product.

Methane

Main part of natural gas.

One of the leading causes of climate change. The main hydrocarbon found in in cigarette smoke.

Nicotine

Used as an insecticide.

The highly addictive chemical found naturally in the tobacco plant.

Tar

Used for paving roads.

Residue from burning the tobacco and other plant material in cigarettes.

Sugars

Sugar is a major additive in tobacco products to reduce the harshness of tobacco and make it easier to smoke.

When sugar is burned harmful chemicals are created like

Acetaldehyde

Acetaldehyde boosts the addictiveness of nicotine and has a mood-improving effect that keeps you wanting more.

Formaldehyde

Found in glues and cleaning products.

A by-product of burning, specifically the sugars in cigarettes.

Smoking and Your Health

How Smoking Affects Your Lungs

Benefits of Reducing or Quitting

Even small changes can make a difference. People who reduce or quit smoking often notice:

What Happens To Your Body After You Quit Smoking

Within eight hours

Your body’s carbon monoxide level will drop in your body. The oxygen level in your blood increases to normal.

Within two days

Your sense of smell and taste will start to return.

Within one year

Your risk of suffering a smoking-related heart attack will be cut in half.

Within ten years

Your risk of dying from lung cancer will be cut in half.

Within fifteen years

Your risk of dying from a heart attack will be equal to a person who never smoked.

Quitting & Harm Reduction

It is not recommended to use e-cigarettes to quit smoking. These products are not approved in Canada as a quit-smoking aid by Health Canada. We also do not fully know their long-term health effects, and there are concerns about these implications on overall health. There are other quit-smoking medicines — like nicotine replacement therapy (patch, gum, lozenge) and prescription medicines — that have more research and are recommended first.

You have options for quitting! There are many ways to quit smoking. Maybe you’ve tried some of them. You can use more than one way to quit and we know adding more strategies increases your likelihood of quitting. Swipe through for some ways to become smoke-free.

Swipe through for more information about quit methods ⁵

Cold Turkey

Quitting cold turkey means that one day you just decide to stop smoking. Some people like to quit without anyone’s help. To make this work, have a plan, be ready to manage the cravings, and stick to it! Speaking to a Quit Coach or a trained Nicotine Cessation Mental Health counsellor and reading self-help materials such as this workbook can help you.

Behavioural Supports

You can talk to your doctor, nurse, or pharmacist for advice and help making a plan. Counselling — in person, in a group, or by phone through a free quitline — can help you manage cravings and stay motivated. You can also sign up for supportive text message programs or use self-help tools like our Journey to Quit Resource

Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT)

Nicotine replacement therapy NRT) gives you a small, clean amount of nicotine without the harmful chemicals in cigarettes. This helps reduce cravings and makes it easier to stop smoking. NRT comes as a patch, gum, lozenge, mouth spray, or inhaler. You can buy it at a pharmacy without a prescription, or you can talk to your Doctor or Pharmacist and get it prescribed with a treatment plan. Using a nicotine patch together with a fast-acting product like gum or lozenges often works best. Your pharmacist or health care provider can help you choose the right type and strength.

Prescription Medicine

You can get medicines with a prescription from your healthcare provider or a pharmacist. These medicines do not contain nicotine, though do come with side effects. They affect your brain to reduce your nicotine cravings. Some of these medicines may be covered under your province/territory or private healthcare plan. Every person is different. Find a way to quit that is right for you. Your doctor, pharmacist or other healthcare provider can help you to make this choice

Find support in your area

Nicotine replacement therapy coverage

Get help with quitting

Quitting nicotine altogether offers the greatest long-term benefits for lung and heart health.

Ready or Not...

You don’t have to be “ready” to quit to explore your options. Change often happens in stages.

You might choose to:

Take the Readiness to Quit Assessment!

Build a personalized quit or cut-down plan

Find free support in Ontario

https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/smoking-tobacco/health-effects-smoking-second-hand-smoke.html
https://www.lung.org/quit-smoking/smoking-facts/whats-in-a-cigarette
https://intrepidlab.ca/en/Pages/Treatment.aspx
https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/health-concerns/tobacco/smoking-your-body.html
Brett D. Thombs, Gregory Traversy, Donna L. Reynolds, Eddy Lang, Stéphane Groulx and Brenda J. Wilson; for the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care CMAJ August 25, 2025 197 (28) E846-E861; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.241584

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