The 13th World Conference on Tobacco OR Health

The purpose of the Cigarette Ignition Propensity Regulations is to address the public health problem resulting from cigarette-started fires. Smokers' materials are the leading cause of residential fires and fire-related losses in Canada each year. From an analysis of Canadian fire statistics for the years 1995 to 1999, the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs reported that at least 14 030 fires were started by smokers' materials (includes cigarettes, cigars and pipes). These fires killed 356 people, injured 1615 people and cost more than $200 million in property damage during the five years covered by the study. The victims of these fires are often among society's most vulnerable: children, the elderly and the financially poor.

The Cigarette Ignition Propensity Regulations require cigarettes to have a reduced likelihood of igniting upholstered furniture, mattresses and bedding in order to reduce the death and injury associated with such fires. These regulations advance the purpose of the Tobacco Act by addressing one of the many facets of the national public health problem that is tobacco use.