Manitoba to join other provinces in excise tax on vape products
![Teens help researchers study vaping in Manitoba Teens help researchers study vaping in Manitoba](/content/dam/ctvnews/en/images/2023/10/19/teens-help-researchers-study-vaping-in-manitoba-1-6609311-1697756290151.jpg)
WINNIPEG -- Manitoba is preparing to join other provinces and increase the tax on vaping products next year as a way to discourage their use, especially among young people.
The NDP government is planning to double an existing federal excise tax on the products in the spring budget, with an eye to implementing the levy by July 1.
"A vape tax is one way for us to be able to send a stronger message to young people in particular, but all Manitobans, about the dangers of vaping," Premier Wab Kinew said.
"And it's another step to bring Manitoba in line with what other provinces are doing."
On a full-year basis, the excise tax is estimated to bring in $11 million, Kinew said, and the money will help pay for anti-vaping and anti-smoking programs.
The federal government implemented its most recent levy last fall, and some provinces have introduced their own. Saskatchewan announced in 2021 it would apply a 20-per-cent provincial tax.
Ontario announced last month it would double the federal excise tax, as Manitoba is planning to do. The combined tax would see manufacturers and importers paying $2 per two millilitres of vaping liquids for the first 10 millilitres, then $2 per 10 millilitres for volumes above that.
The Manitoba Lung Association welcomed Kinew's plan.
"We know that particularly youth are very price-sensitive, and anything that reduces the access by youth is very important," Neil Johnston, president of the Lung Association of Manitoba, said.
The vape tax is one of a handful of tax changes slated for Manitoba in 2024.
Kinew's New Democrats, elected Oct. 3, quickly passed a law to temporarily suspend the provincial fuel tax for at least six months starting Jan. 1. as a way to help motorists with inflation.
Income tax cuts and a reduction in a payroll tax paid by employers, announced by the former Progressive Conservative government, are also set to take effect Jan. 1.
One tax change that is no longer on the radar is an increase on high income earners. In the 2019 election campaign, Kinew's New Democrats promised to add a new tax bracket with a higher rate on incomes over $250,000 a year.
The NDP did not revive the promise in the most recent election campaign, and Kinew said the government is focused on the tax changes already in the works for the new year.
"We're just maintaining predictability for people who've already done their tax planning or financial planning for the year to come."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 26, 2023
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6979388.1722030190!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
BREAKING Celine Dion performs at the 2024 Paris Olympics
Beloved Canadian icon Celine Dion made her much-anticipated appearance during the closing of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games opening ceremony.
Jasper wildfire: 'Several weeks' before Jasper can return, premier says
Premier Danielle Smith said Friday afternoon in Hinton while weather conditions are cooler, the Jasper fire is still considered out of control and that Jasper residents can expect to be away from their homes "for several weeks."
'He was just gone': Police ramp up search for vulnerable 3-year-old boy in Mississauga, Ont.
Police in Mississauga are conducting a full-scale search of the city’s biggest park for a non-verbal toddler who went missing Thursday evening. Sgt. Jennifer Trimble told reporters Friday morning that there has been no trace of three-year-old Zaid Abdullah since 6:20 p.m., when he was last seen with his parents in Erindale Park, near Dundas Street West and Mississauga Road.
Driver charged after flashing high beams at approaching police
Orillia OPP arrested and charged a driver with impaired driving after flashing their high beams.
Canada's Christine Sinclair: 'We were never shown drone footage'
Canada soccer great Christine Sinclair said on Friday national team players were never shown drone footage during the more than two decades she was on the team, following a spying scandal that cast a shadow over the Canadians at the Paris Games.
Winnipeg senior's account overdrawn $146,000 for water bill
A Winnipeg senior is getting soaked with a six figure water bill.
Irish museum pulls Sinead O'Connor waxwork after just one day due to backlash
An Irish museum will withdraw a waxwork of singer-songwriter Sinéad O’Connor just one day after installing it, following a backlash from her family and the public, it told CNN in a statement on Friday.
At least 4 buildings burned at Jasper Park Lodge, others damaged: Fairmont memo
The Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge said Thursday afternoon most of its structures are 'standing and intact,' including its iconic main lodge.
She couldn't stop thinking about the guy she met at the Athens Olympics. Then a message from him changed her life
Omaira Gill grew up counting down the days to each Olympic Games. She wasn’t especially sporty, so she ruled out the prospect of competing pretty early on. But she still harboured Olympic dreams – even just spectating would do.