Key Takeaways
- Conservative MP Jamil Jivani has publicly supported nicotine pouch product Zyn.
- Imperial Tobacco said Zyn is not authorized for sale in Canada and that promoting it gives visibility to an “illegal” competitor.
- Imperial Tobacco said Zonnic is currently the only nicotine pouch widely available for sale in pharmacies in Canada.
- Adult Canadians are allowed to import nicotine pouches containing no more than four milligrams of nicotine for personal use.
- Zonnic was approved by Health Canada in July 2023 as a nicotine replacement therapy smoking-cessation aid.
2Firsts, March 18, 2026
According to National Post, Conservative MP Jamil Jivani’s public support for nicotine product Zyn has gained attention on university campuses, but the maker of Canada’s only similar domestic product, Zonnic, said it does not support the promotion of the grey-market competitor.
Jamil Jivani and other Conservative politicians are frequently photographed holding imported canisters of Zyn, which are not authorized for sale in Canada. Imperial Tobacco said that giving visibility to Zyn promotes an “illegal” and unauthorized competitor.
Imperial Tobacco vice-president Eric Gagnon wrote in an email to National Post that the increasing visibility of illegal nicotine pouches in Canada highlights how widespread and normalized the illicit market has become.
He said Zonnic is currently the only nicotine pouch widely available for sale in pharmacies in Canada and that these products are subject to strict controls on nicotine strength, flavour and point of sale, including pharmacy oversight.
However, adult Canadian consumers are not prohibited from importing low-dosage nicotine pouches from other countries for personal use. Products containing no more than four milligrams of nicotine are regulated as a natural health product. Many Zyn products fall under that threshold and are therefore legal for use in Canada.
Zonnic, which is made and distributed exclusively in Canada, was approved by Health Canada in July 2023 for sale as a nicotine replacement therapy smoking-cessation aid. After initially being widely available in multiple flavours, an August 2024 ministerial order restricted Zonnic sales to behind the counter at pharmacies. Health Canada also required that only mint flavours of Zonnic be allowed and capped nicotine dosage at four milligrams.
Zyn, a Swedish nicotine pouch brand marketed by Philip Morris International, is not licensed for sale in Canada, despite holding roughly 40% of global market share and about three-quarters of U.S. sales.
Conservatives had made it a campaign promise last year to remove the pharmacy-only restriction on nicotine pouch sales. The 38-year-old Jamil Jivani has since become a party voice on the issue, frequently referencing Zyn in social media posts and saying Canadians should have the freedom to buy the pouches to quit smoking. His slogan is “Free the Zyn.”
Zyn has appeared during Jivani’s ongoing “Restore the North” university campus tour across Canada. During a recent stop at the University of British Columbia’s Vancouver campus, he posed for photos with university-aged young men holding Zyn canisters and signed some of the canisters brought by attendees.
Eric Gagnon said promoting Zyn threatens public health by blurring the distinction between Zonnic and imported alternatives. He said it is important that there be a clear distinction between regulated cessation products and illegal products currently on the market, and that conflating the two risks undermining public health objectives and creating confusion among the public, particularly when such products are easily accessible to young people without age verification.
David Clement, North American Affairs Manager with the Consumer Choice Center, said that from a public health standpoint, the optimal policy would be to make a wide variety of nicotine pouches available to Canadian consumers. He said that the more legal products there are on the market, the more options smokers have available to quit.
Image source: National Post.
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