The federal government is planning to ban e-cigarette promotions from convenience stores, public transit and all social-media platforms in response to a major rise in teen vaping and fears of health risks.
But the proposed new rules it announced on Thursday do not restrict the sale of flavoured e-cigarette products.
The move comes in response to months of increasing pressure to crack down on the vaping industry, which heavily promotes its products in stores, other public places and online. Social media are rife with ads and promotions from vaping companies.
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A recent Globe and Mail investigation found that many e-cigarette companies use Instagram, Facebook and other platforms to post about their products and sponsor product giveaways, and hire paid influencers. Many of those activities, such as the use of influencers, are already illegal under current federal vaping rules, and health organizations said a blanket advertising ban would be necessary.
The plan announced on Thursday is the first new measure to address the rise in youth vaping. Last week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau instructed Health Minister Patty Hajdu in her mandate letter to restrict vaping promotions and look at “additional measures.”
Ottawa now faces pressure to regulate e-cigarette flavours. Members of Canada’s vaping industry oppose a ban or restrictions on flavours, saying they are an essential component in attracting existing adult smokers. But health organizations cite flavours as the key driver of youth vaping, and say rules designed to stop the promotion of candy, dessert and other varieties that could appeal to teens aren’t working.
New figures released by Health Canada on Thursday show the number of students in Grades 7 to 12 who say they vaped in the past month doubled in 2018-19 compared with 2016-17. One in five students reported vaping in the previous 30 days, the new survey said.
Rob Cunningham, senior policy analyst at the Canadian Cancer Society, said the new measures are strong and that the ban on social-media ads would help curb ads aimed at young people.
“They will have a significant impact to reduce youth exposure to vaping promotions and, as a result, reduce youth vaping,” Mr. Cunningham said.
Under the proposed changes, vaping promotions would be permitted only in specialty vape shops for adults. Online promotions would also be limited to websites that restrict access to minors, although it’s unclear how this would be enforced. The new rules are subject to a 30-day comment period, after which the government can finalize them.
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Flory Doucas, co-director of the Quebec Coalition for Tobacco Control, said she was encouraged by the crackdown on promotions. But she questioned why the government didn’t also regulate flavoured e-cigarettes.
“How much more time is required for this?” she said.
Ms. Hajdu’s office said new rules are expected in the coming months on flavoured e-cigarette products and nicotine concentrations.
Eric Gagnon, head of corporate and regulatory affairs with Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd., said the government “needs to find a way to at least allow a dialogue with adult smokers.” Mr. Gagnon said the company wants to be able to indicate on e-cigarette products that they are less harmful than traditional cigarettes. Health Canada is considering whether to allow e-cigarette companies to use such claims.
He added that banning e-cigarette flavours would be “ridiculous” because adults want them, too.
In an e-mailed statement, Juul Labs Canada said it “supports Health Canada’s efforts to strike the right regulatory balance” for keeping products away from youth.
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Darryl Tempest, executive director of the Canadian Vaping Association, which represents specialty vape shops, said the organization supports the advertising restrictions. But he added that he doesn’t think flavoured products should be banned, saying they are not responsible for youth uptake and that many adult smokers like them.
A recent survey conducted by Smoke-Free Nova Scotia found 96 per cent of 16- to 18-year-olds who vaped said they preferred flavoured products. Nearly half of the 16- to 24-year-olds surveyed said they would likely stop vaping if flavours were eliminated.
Enforcement of the new rules could pose a challenge. In a letter sent on Thursday to the vaping industry and posted on its website, Health Canada said a recent enforcement blitz found more than 80 per cent of specialty vape shops sell and promote products in ways that violate federal rules.
The most common infractions include promoting flavours that could appeal to young people, including candy or desserts, and the use of testimonials or endorsements. Federal law defines testimonials as the use of people, animals or characters.
Inspectors seized more than 80,000 units of non-complaint products, the letter said.
“This level of non-compliance is unacceptable,” wrote Krista Locke, director-general of the consumer products and controlled substances directorate at Health Canada.
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Vaping-related illnesses have been in the spotlight recently amid accusations the makers of the products are targeting them at youth. Dr. James MacKillop outlines some strategies to use at home in conversations with your children about vaping. MacKillop is the director of the Peter Boris Centre For Addictions Research and co-director of the Michael G. Degroote Centre For Medicinal Cannabis Research.The Globe and Mail (staff)
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TOKYO (AP) — Japanese technology group SoftBank swung back to profitability in the July-September quarter, boosted by positive results in its Vision Fund investments.
Tokyo-based SoftBank Group Corp. reported Tuesday a fiscal second quarter profit of nearly 1.18 trillion yen ($7.7 billion), compared with a 931 billion yen loss in the year-earlier period.
Quarterly sales edged up about 6% to nearly 1.77 trillion yen ($11.5 billion).
SoftBank credited income from royalties and licensing related to its holdings in Arm, a computer chip-designing company, whose business spans smartphones, data centers, networking equipment, automotive, consumer electronic devices, and AI applications.
The results were also helped by the absence of losses related to SoftBank’s investment in office-space sharing venture WeWork, which hit the previous fiscal year.
WeWork, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2023, emerged from Chapter 11 in June.
SoftBank has benefitted in recent months from rising share prices in some investment, such as U.S.-based e-commerce company Coupang, Chinese mobility provider DiDi Global and Bytedance, the Chinese developer of TikTok.
SoftBank’s financial results tend to swing wildly, partly because of its sprawling investment portfolio that includes search engine Yahoo, Chinese retailer Alibaba, and artificial intelligence company Nvidia.
SoftBank makes investments in a variety of companies that it groups together in a series of Vision Funds.
The company’s founder, Masayoshi Son, is a pioneer in technology investment in Japan. SoftBank Group does not give earnings forecasts.
Shopify Inc. executives brushed off concerns that incoming U.S. President Donald Trump will be a major detriment to many of the company’s merchants.
“There’s nothing in what we’ve heard from Trump, nor would there have been anything from (Democratic candidate) Kamala (Harris), which we think impacts the overall state of new business formation and entrepreneurship,” Shopify’s chief financial officer Jeff Hoffmeister told analysts on a call Tuesday.
“We still feel really good about all the merchants out there, all the entrepreneurs that want to start new businesses and that’s obviously not going to change with the administration.”
Hoffmeister’s comments come a week after Trump, a Republican businessman, trounced Harris in an election that will soon return him to the Oval Office.
On the campaign trail, he threatened to impose tariffs of 60 per cent on imports from China and roughly 10 per cent to 20 per cent on goods from all other countries.
If the president-elect makes good on the promise, many worry the cost of operating will soar for companies, including customers of Shopify, which sells e-commerce software to small businesses but also brands as big as Kylie Cosmetics and Victoria’s Secret.
These merchants may feel they have no choice but to pass on the increases to customers, perhaps sparking more inflation.
If Trump’s tariffs do come to fruition, Shopify’s president Harley Finkelstein pointed out China is “not a huge area” for Shopify.
However, “we can’t anticipate what every presidential administration is going to do,” he cautioned.
He likened the uncertainty facing the business community to the COVID-19 pandemic where Shopify had to help companies migrate online.
“Our job is no matter what comes the way of our merchants, we provide them with tools and service and support for them to navigate it really well,” he said.
Finkelstein was questioned about the forthcoming U.S. leadership change on a call meant to delve into Shopify’s latest earnings, which sent shares soaring 27 per cent to $158.63 shortly after Tuesday’s market open.
The Ottawa-based company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, reported US$828 million in net income for its third quarter, up from US$718 million in the same quarter last year, as its revenue rose 26 per cent.
Revenue for the period ended Sept. 30 totalled US$2.16 billion, up from US$1.71 billion a year earlier.
Subscription solutions revenue reached US$610 million, up from US$486 million in the same quarter last year.
Merchant solutions revenue amounted to US$1.55 billion, up from US$1.23 billion.
Shopify’s net income excluding the impact of equity investments totalled US$344 million for the quarter, up from US$173 million in the same quarter last year.
Daniel Chan, a TD Cowen analyst, said the results show Shopify has a leadership position in the e-commerce world and “a continued ability to gain market share.”
In its outlook for its fourth quarter of 2024, the company said it expects revenue to grow at a mid-to-high-twenties percentage rate on a year-over-year basis.
“Q4 guidance suggests Shopify will finish the year strong, with better-than-expected revenue growth and operating margin,” Chan pointed out in a note to investors.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
TORONTO – RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust says it has cut almost 10 per cent of its staff as it deals with a slowdown in the condo market and overall pushes for greater efficiency.
The company says the cuts, which amount to around 60 employees based on its last annual filing, will mean about $9 million in restructuring charges and should translate to about $8 million in annualized cash savings.
The job cuts come as RioCan and others scale back condo development plans as the market softens, but chief executive Jonathan Gitlin says the reductions were from a companywide efficiency effort.
RioCan says it doesn’t plan to start any new construction of mixed-use properties this year and well into 2025 as it adjusts to the shifting market demand.
The company reported a net income of $96.9 million in the third quarter, up from a loss of $73.5 million last year, as it saw a $159 million boost from a favourable change in the fair value of investment properties.
RioCan reported what it says is a record-breaking 97.8 per cent occupancy rate in the quarter including retail committed occupancy of 98.6 per cent.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
