hy, a friend of mine is leaving Vienna, Austria, on the 24th of dec. to go to Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver for about 10 days.
We were wondering, are there any laws concerning smoking in public( the street), restaurants, bars etc she should look out for
THX for the help

edmonton - you can't smoke in restaurants or public buildings. can still smoke in bars for the next couple of years.

In Edmonton smoking is banned in restaurants, as well as in shops, malls, public offices etc.

Since I don't frequent bars I can't remember whether smoking is still allowed there or whether it has been recently banned as well.

You can still smoke on the street, in fact that's where most smokers smoke because they are not allowed to do so indoors.

But your friend won't be able to smell our fresh clean unpolluted air while smoking !!!

Smoking in Canada must be for the wealthy- $72 a carton CAD or $8 a pack. I was amazed !! We met Canadiens this summer where both smoked- you would have to rob a bank.

Alcohol was very expensive, too.

I had US priced cigs. with me so did not have to pay the price, why did the Can. residents allow this?

We were in Vancouver in September and we saw no evidence of smoking in any of the restaurants that we entered. Smoking is of course not permited indoors in places like malls or the airport.

Vancouver has some of the strictest smoking laws in Canada.

The following is from the Tourism Vancouver site:

"No person shall smoke in a restaurant, a limited food service establishment, a casino, a bingo hall or in a liquor outlet except in a patio or in a smoking room."

Basically, you can't smoke in an enclosed public space unless it is specially designated as a smoking room.

Smoking is banned in all public places in Vancouver-including but not limited to restaurants and bars.

In additon smokers have pariah status in our health conscious society and are regarded as and treated like third class citizens-which is the way things should be

When I took the kids to Canada, by the second day I decided it would be nice to have a drink by the pool at night. Our hotel did not have poolside bar service so I began looking for a liquor store. On the fourth day, still not having seen a liquor store, I asked the hotel clerk where the closest one was. It was inside a mall, which struck me as odd. Even odder, Crown Royal was less expensive than Jack Daniels.

The provinces set the basic laws regarding alcohol and tobacco consumption - primarily age limits, taxes and general availability, (i.e govt stores, grocery stores, etc), while the municipalities set the bylaws, (i.e. where liquor and alcohol can be consumed and the opening and closing hours). So you will find a whole hodgepodge of rules and regulations accross the country.

Generally speaking, however liquor and tobbacco restrictions are going in opposite directions. The former is becoming easier to be found and available in a greater number of establishments with fewer restrictions while the latter is, as one person put it, becoming a socially unacceptable practice and is becoming more and more restricted to the point that I believe in another ten years smoking and ashtrays will be about as common as chewing tobbacco and spitoons.

What most people don't realize is that tobbacco use and cigarettres in general is a twentieth century phenomenom which reached it's peak after both World Wars, (largely because of some genius in the industry sending free cigarettes to troops), while alcohol use has been around since caveman days and with a few very rare exceptions, (e.g. North American Native peoples), has been a part of virtually every culture's life. Consequently trying to eliminate alcohol would be futile while the elimination of tobbacco use is almost inevitable.

Nothing to do with the areas you are going to, but in Fredericton NB there is no smoking anywhere including bars. There are a few other communities with similar laws. If you wanna smoke you have to brave the elements to do so...It came into effect on July 1st and I have seen some silly people eating outside in the rain, just so they can smoke.

Personally I think it is wonderful not to have to take a shower at 3am to get the stink off of me before going to bed. For years over 75% of the population was told to stay home if they didn't like the smoke..made no sense to me at all that the minority ruled, but no more.

Bars thought that they were going to lose money, but every time I go out it is packed.

Silvia, sorry this reply is too late for your friend, but I'll post a reply anyway, in case people are searching this topic inthe future.

In Calgary, smoking is prohibited in all public buildings and restaurants which serve those under 18 (yes, there are restaurants - not bars - which are now 18+). Unlike Edmonton, you can still smoke in bars (at least for another couple of years).

These days, about the only place you will find smokers is huddled outside office buildings getting their fix.

Terry

Oh and the really great thing about smoking laws in Alberta...You are allowed to smoke inside bars/pubs but you are not allowed to smoke on a patio, outside. Doesn't make any sense to me. Yet you can walk around to the outside of the patio and smoke on the sidewalk. It's the most ridiculous thing that I have ever heard and I think that we are the only place in the world that has this stupid law.

Smoking laws are less strict in the Province of Quebec than anywhere else in Canada, so that includes Quebec city and Montreal; restaurants have designated non smoking areas but they could still be uncomfortable for people since the smoke is wasping around......