MONTREAL - New Health Canada regulations that require warning labels to be printed on individual cigarettes are coming into effect tomorrow.
The move, announced earlier this year, makes Canada the first country in the world to take that step.
It's goal is to help smokers kick the habit and deter potential puffers from picking it up.
The wording on every cigarette, written in English and French, ranges from warnings about harming children and damaging organs to causing impotence and leukemia.
Rob Cunningham, a senior policy analyst at the Canadian Cancer Society, says the labels will dissuade teens who get cigarettes from friends and foster discussion in homes where parents smoke.
He notes dozens of studies in Canada and elsewhere have supported the move to print warnings on each cigarette, with several countries now looking to follow Canada's lead, including Australia and Norway.
Health Canada says king-size cigarettes will be the first to feature the warnings and will be sold in stores by the end of July 2024.
They're set to appear on regular-size cigarettes and little cigars with tipping paper and tubes by the end of April 2025.