Help to Quit Smoking
Last reviewed: January 6, 2025
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. Click here to print a handout with the information from this page.
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
Health811
Call 811 and ask to talk to a quit coach. You can call 7 days a week/24 hours a day.
Your family doctor or nurse practitioner
Ask your family doctor or nurse practitioner if they offer counselling or nicotine replacement therapy to help you quit smoking.
Your pharmacist
Many Ontario pharmacists are trained in counselling to help you quit smoking.
Public Health
Public Health Unit websites offer information to help you quit smoking. Search for ‘quit smoking’. Call the Public Health Unit closest to you to talk to a public health nurse.
- Region of Durham Public Health, call 1-800-841-2729. Website: durham.ca
- Haliburton Kawartha Lakes, Pine Ridge Health District Health Unit, call 1-866-888-4577. Website: hkpr.on.ca
- Peterborough Public Health, call 1-877-743-0101. Website: peterboroughpublichealth.ca
- Toronto Public Health, call 416-338-7600. Website: toronto.ca
Smoking Treatment for Ontario Patients (STOP) Program
Offers an online program to help you quit smoking. This program offers free nicotine replacement for 8 weeks. For more information or to register, go to the website found at nicotinedependenceclinic.com and click on ‘enroll to quit smoking’.
Smoker’s Helpline
Offers telephone and online support. Call 1-866-797-0007 to talk to a quit coach. You may qualify for a free trial of Nicotine Replacement Therapy. For more information or to register, go to the website found at smokershelpline.ca
Talk Tobacco
Offers free support and information about quitting smoking, vaping and commercial tobacco use to First Nations, Inuit, Métis and Urban Indigenous communities. Call 1-833-998-8255 to talk to a quit coach. An online chat and text support is also available. For more information, go to the website found at smokershelpline.ca/talktobacco.
- 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
Cancer Care Ontario
- Watch videos and complete online learning to help you quit smoking. Go to the website found at cancercareontario.ca/en/Quitting-Smoking
- For information about vaping and your health, read the patient information handout found at cancercareontario.ca/en/guidelinesadvice/types-of-cancer/62591.
Canadian Cancer Society
- Read the One Step at a Time: You Can Quit booklet found on their website at cancer.ca under ‘publications’.
Lung Health Foundation
- Download the Journey to Quit: A Workbook to Help You Quit Smoking from their website found at lunghealth.ca under ‘protect your lungs and smoking’.
- Call 1-888-344-5864 to talk to Certified Respiratory Educator for smoking cessation counselling.
The Canadian Lung Association
- Read information on steps to quit smoking on their website found at lung.ca. Look under ‘lung health and smoking and tobacco’.
Medications to help you quit smoking
Ask your pharmacist, family doctor or nurse practitioner about Nicotine Replacement Therapy as a choice for you. Some medications to help you quit smoking 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.