In 2009:

• Over 60% of Canadians who have ever been smokers are now quit.
• Six in ten smokers were seriously considering quitting in the next 6 months; three in ten were considering quitting in the next month.
• Similar percentages of males and females were seriously considering quitting, and smokers in all age groups were considering quitting at similar rates.
• Nearly half of smokers tried to quit in the past year. Many had tried more than once.
  • Similar percentages of males and females had made a quit attempt.
  • Greater percentages of younger smokers had tried to quit, compared to older smokers.
• Among respondents who had made a quit attempt in the past year, just over 10% were still abstinent from smoking at the time they were surveyed.
• The most common strategy for trying to quit smoking was to “reduce the number of cigarettes smoked,” used by 65% of smokers who attempted to quit.
• Six out of ten smokers who attempted to quit used some form of cessation assistance.
  • The most commonly used form of cessation assistance was nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), used by 41% of those who attempted to quit.
  • More than a quarter of smokers “made a deal with a friend or family member to quit together.”
  • Few smokers (<5%) used services such as telephone quitlines or workplace programs.
• Stop-smoking medications, including NRT, were used by nearly half (47%) of those who attempted to quit, but use varied by product and by province.
• Nearly 60% of smokers who visited a doctor in the past year had received advice to quit.