This is your last chance to weigh in on licenses for vaping shops

Ctvnews.ca
Sept. 20, 2019
Miriam Katawazi

The City of Toronto will soon wrap up its consultations with the public on whether or not to introduce a license requirement for retailers selling vaping products.

Toronto residents have until Monday to submit their thoughts on whether a licensing requirement should be needed for retailers to sell vaping products.

The City of Toronto said the change could help meet provincial requirements that mandate the municipality to track, register, and inspect vapor product retailers.

The consultations in Toronto began last month with a public meeting at City Hall on Aug. 13. More than 21 people attended the meeting to speak about the license, as well as a proposed penalty fee.

“Participants recommended that the proposed licensing requirement and fee be used to support enhanced compliance efforts,” Fiona Chapman, a licensing director with the City of Toronto, said in an email to CTV News Toronto on Thursday.

She added that participants suggested the fee and license should apply to all retailers that sell vaping products, including gas stations and convenience stores.

“Unlike tobacco retailers there is no license requirement for vapour product retailers,” she said. “This will make it easier for the city to carry out its mandate to enforce regulations under the Smoke Free Ontario Act.”

Vaping has been an issue of concern recently following a series of deaths and hospitalizations in the U.S. due to vaping-related causes. The first Canadian case was confirmed Wednesday in London, Ont.

A high-school aged person was put on life support after being diagnosed with a severe respiratory illness related to vaping. The youth has since recovered, but health authorities in the region are warning residents about the risks associated with vaping.

Minister of Health Christine Elliott also issued an order Wednesday requiring public hospitals in Ontario to provide the medical officer of health with statistical information related to incidents of vaping-related pulmonary disease.

The province is hoping the data will help shed light on the effects of vaping on health and youth.

City council will consider the suggestions submitted in the consultations, but Chapman said it could take months before a bylaw is implemented.