Under the Smoke-Free Ontario Act, 2017 (SFOA, 2017), public and private hospitals (hospitals) and psychiatric facilities are considered to be enclosed workplaces and enclosed public places. Smoking and vaping is prohibited inside these facilities. For more information, please see the Enclosed Public Places and Enclosed Workplaces fact sheets.
Smoking and vaping is also not permitted on the outdoor grounds and within a nine-metre radius surrounding any entrance or exit of a hospital or a psychiatric facility.
The sale of tobacco and vapour products is prohibited in hospitals and psychiatric facilities.
Proprietors (owners, operators and/or persons in charge) and employers of staff in hospitals and psychiatric facilities must make sure that smoking and vaping laws are complied with. They must:
The proprietor of a hospital or psychiatric facility must, at the request of an Indigenous resident, set aside an indoor area in the facility for the use of tobacco for traditional Indigenous cultural or spiritual purposes.
The restriction on smoking or holding lighted tobacco in the smoke-free areas of a hospital or a psychiatric facility does not apply to tobacco used for traditional Indigenous cultural or spiritual purposes.
An individual found to be smoking or vaping in the smoke-free and vape-free area (indoor or outdoor) of a hospital or psychiatric facility may be charged with an offence, and if convicted, could face a maximum fine of $1,000 (for a first offence) or $5,000 (for any further offence).
A proprietor or employer of a hospital or psychiatric facility that fails to fulfill their responsibility under the law may be charged with an offence, and if convicted, could face a maximum fine:
Any individual convicted of selling tobacco or vapour products in a hospital or psychiatric facility could face a maximum fine ranging from $2,000 to $50,000, depending on the individual’s number of prior convictions.
Any corporation convicted of selling tobacco in a hospital or psychiatric facility could face a maximum fine ranging from $5,000 to $75,000, depending on the corporation’s number of prior convictions.
Any operator of a hospital that fails to meet an Indigenous resident’s request for an indoor area to use tobacco for traditional Indigenous cultural or spiritual purposes may be charged with an offence, and if convicted, could face a maximum fine of $4,000 (in the case of an individual) or $10,000 (in the case of a corporation).