Tobacco companies in Canada are on the verge of losing their limited ability to advertise in print after last week’s decision in Ottawa to approve an amendment to the Tobacco Act.

The amendment, Bill C-32, was tabled in the House of Commons last month, passed by the House June 17 and awaits approval from the Senate.

Among its provisions is a directive to end all print advertising by tobacco companies, which were granted the right to place ads in publications with an adult readership of at least 85% in 2007 when a Supreme Court ruling clarified regulations laid out in the Tobacco Act of 1997.

The relevant language in Bill C-32 appears in Clause 11 of its section on advertising: “Clause 11 repeals section 22(2)(b), which permits the advertising of a tobacco product by means of information advertising or brand-preference advertising in publications that have adult readerships of not less than 85%.”

Speaking at the Senate’s second reading of the bill on Monday, Senator Wilbert J. Keon explained the rationale for shutting the door on print ads for tobacco products.

“The Tobacco Act currently prohibits most advertising but allows it in publications that have an adult readership of at least 85%. Over the last couple of years, there has been a marked increase in advertising for tobacco in these publications, including newspapers, magazines and free entertainment weeklies. A number of these publications are easily accessible to young people; they can be picked up from curb-side boxes in city cores and suburbs alike.

“This spillover of advertising to young people is, of course, unacceptable. Honourable senators, Bill C-32 will eliminate this avenue of advertising and protect those who might be seduced by slick advertising that glosses over the harm that tobacco can do.”

Bill C-32 also includes language that expresses skepticism about how publications determine the percentage of their readers who are adults.

Gary Garland, executive director, advertising services for Magazines Canada, said such determinations could in fact be made using data from the Print Measurement Bureau and other sources. But he also pointed out that even among those magazines eligible to run tobacco ads, relatively few had done so.

“Every publication looks at their readership to determine if they meet the test, and if they do, whether they want to see tobacco advertising,” said Garland. “From what we can tell, most publishers were not accepting [tobacco advertising] anyway, as a matter of policy.”

The apathy of publishers toward tobacco advertising, said Garland, meant Bill C-32 would likely not have a significant economic impact on the Canadian magazine industry.

Catherine Doyle, manager of corporate communications for Imperial Tobacco Canada, was resigned to the Senate’s eventual passage of Bill C-32, although she questioned its fairness.

“Right now, we have very limited opportunities to advertise and we do it in a very conscientious and serious way, understanding the risks of the product,” said Doyle. “We only advertise in 85% adult readership publications, we only do brand or information advertising—all of which was allowed by the Supreme Court of Canada—so it just seems like going an extra step to eliminate even that.”

A determination about when the amendments to the Tobacco Act proposed by Bill C-32, which also include a prohibition on flavoured cigarillos, “blunt wraps” and cigarettes, take effect will not be made until the bill receives Senate approval and royal assent.