Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey, 2005-and-2006

The primary objective of the survey is to provide a continuous supply of smoking prevalence data against which changes in prevalence can be monitored. This objective differs from that of the National Population Health Survey (NPHS) which collects smoking data from a longitudinal sample to measure which individuals are changing their smoking behaviour, the possible factors which contribute to change, and the possible risk factors related to starting smoking and smoking duration. Because the NPHS collects data every two years and releases the data about a year after completing the collection cycle, it does not meet Health Canada's need for continuous coverage in time, rapid delivery of data, or sufficient detail of the most at-risk populations, namely 15 to 24 year olds. The Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey allows Health Canada to look at smoking prevalence by province-sex-age group, for age groups 15 to 19, 20 to 24, 25 to 34, 35 to 44 and 45 and over, on a semiannual and annual basis. Data will continue to be collected on an on-going basis depending on availability of funds. For the years 2005 and 2006 together a “clean” microdata file containing person level information was produced.