Help to Quit Smoking

When you are ready to quit smoking, you don’t have to do it alone. There are people and programs available in your community to help you quit smoking.  Making a quit plan and getting help increases your chances of quitting and staying smoke free.

Benefits of quitting smoking

Did you know?  

• Quitting smoking before surgery can make your surgery safer, help you heal faster and let you go home sooner.
• Quitting smoking may lower your chances of COVID-19 and helping your cancer treatment work better.
• It's never too late to quit smoking (video) 
• Vaping can cause serious lung damage, trouble breathing, or a cough that lasts a long time or does not go away. For more information read the Vaping and Your Health handout. 

Programs and supports available to help you quit smoking

1. Your family doctor or nurse practitioner may offer counselling or other nicotine replacement therapy to help you quit smoking.
2. Your pharmacist. Many  pharmacists are trained in counselling to help you quit smoking.  
3. Health Connect Ontario Call 811 (TTY: 1-866-797-0007)
4. STOP on the Net Program  This Program is an online research program designed to support individuals            18 years of age and older​ in an attempt to quit smoking.
5. Smokers’ Helpline, call 1-877-513-5333. You may qualify for a free trial of Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT).
6. Talk Tobacco – Indigenous Quit Smoking and Vaping Support. This service offers culturally appropriate individualized support and information about quitting smoking, vaping and commercial tobacco use. Interpreter services are available in French and 16 Indigenous languages.  A quit coach is available 7 days a week. Call 1-833-998-8255. 
7. Public Health.  Websites for local Public Health Units offer information to help you quit smoking. Search for ‘quit smoking’.  You can also call your local public health unit to talk to a public health nurse.

• Durham Region Public Health, call 1-800-841-2729. 
• Haliburton Kawartha Lakes, Pine Ridge Health District Health Unit, call 1-866-888-4577.
• Peterborough Public Health, call 1-877-743-0101. 
• Toronto Public Health, call 416-338-7600.

For more information to help you quit smoking

1. Quit Smoking for People With Cancer (online learning module - it takes 20 minutes to complete). 
2. One Step at a Time: You Can Quit booklet found on the Canadian Cancer Society's website.
3. Journey to Quit: A workbook to help you quit smoking found on the Ontario Lung Association/The Lung Health Foundation website.
4. The Canadian Lung Association.

Medications to help you quit smoking

Some medication such as Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) are available without a prescription. This means you can buy them over the counter.  Other medications are available with a prescription. Your private health insurance or some government programs may help you with these costs. You need to qualify for the government programs.

The government programs include:

• Ontario Drug Benefit (ODB) Program
• Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP)
• Non-Insured Health Benefits (NIHB) Program for First Nations and Inuit People 

Talk to a member of your healthcare team if you have questions on how to quit smoking.