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Smoking initiation, by age group and sex, household population aged 12 and over, smokers and former smokers, Canada, 2005


                               Smoking initiation
  Total 5 to 14 years 15 to 19 years 20 years and over Not stated
   number % number % number % number %
Total, 12 years and over 16,434,058 6,016,535 36.6 7,837,377 47.7 2,212,430 13.5 367,715 2.2
Males 8,785,202 3,403,123 38.7 4,121,861 46.9 1,061,599 12.1 198,619 2.3
Females 7,648,855 2,613,412 34.2 3,715,515 48.6 1,150,832 15.0 169,096 2.2
12 to 19 years 812,106 481,751 59.3 309,929 38.2 F F 20,426 2.5
Males 407,384 222,563 54.6 172,258 42.3 F F 12,563 E 3.1 E
Females 404,721 259,187 64.0 137,671 34.0 F F 7,864 E 1.9 E
12 to 14 years 89,401 82,764 92.6 F F F F 6,637 E 7.4 E
Males 37,840 35,168 92.9 F F F F 2,673 E 7.1 E
Females 51,561 47,597 92.3 F F F F 3,964 E 7.7 E
15 to 19 years 722,705 398,986 55.2 309,929 42.9 F F 13,789 E 1.9 E
Males 369,544 187,396 50.7 172,258 46.6 F F 9,890 E 2.7 E
Females 353,160 211,591 59.9 137,671 39.0 F F 3,899 E 1.1 E
20 to 34 years 3,800,371 1,498,434 39.4 1,935,119 50.9 316,379 8.3 50,439 1.3
Males 2,003,822 725,941 36.2 1,062,828 53.0 189,636 9.5 25,418 1.3
Females 1,796,549 772,493 43.0 872,291 48.6 126,743 7.1 25,021 E 1.4 E
20 to 24 years 1,266,004 559,231 44.2 645,181 51.0 47,163 3.7 14,429 E 1.1 E
Males 675,705 271,883 40.2 367,463 54.4 29,038 4.3 7,321 E 1.1 E
Females 590,298 287,348 48.7 277,717 47.0 18,124 E 3.1 F F
25 to 34 years 2,534,367 939,204 37.1 1,289,939 50.9 269,216 10.6 36,009 1.4
Males 1,328,117 454,058 34.2 695,365 52.4 160,597 12.1 18,097 E 1.4 E
Females 1,206,250 485,145 40.2 594,574 49.3 108,618 9.0 17,913 1.5
35 to 44 years 3,303,290 1,286,254 38.9 1,573,465 47.6 381,954 11.6 61,616 1.9
Males 1,767,181 650,976 36.8 842,579 47.7 234,175 13.3 39,450 2.2
Females 1,536,109 635,278 41.4 730,886 47.6 147,779 9.6 22,166 1.4
45 to 64 years 5,967,620 2,145,221 35.9 2,857,900 47.9 861,131 14.4 103,368 1.7
Males 3,199,845 1,335,102 41.7 1,409,638 44.1 401,149 12.5 53,957 1.7
Females 2,767,775 810,119 29.3 1,448,263 52.3 459,982 16.6 49,411 1.8
45 to 54 years 3,376,346 1,321,410 39.1 1,584,145 46.9 421,630 12.5 49,162 1.5
Males 1,760,155 765,075 43.5 752,540 42.8 219,778 12.5 22,761 1.3
Females 1,616,191 556,335 34.4 831,604 51.5 201,852 12.5 26,400 E 1.6 E
55 to 64 years 2,591,274 823,811 31.8 1,273,756 49.2 439,500 17.0 54,206 2.1
Males 1,439,690 570,027 39.6 657,097 45.6 181,370 12.6 31,196 2.2
Females 1,151,583 253,784 22.0 616,658 53.5 258,130 22.4 23,011 E 2.0 E
65 years and over 2,550,671 604,875 23.7 1,160,963 45.5 652,967 25.6 131,866 5.2
Males 1,406,969 468,540 33.3 634,558 45.1 236,640 16.8 67,232 4.8
Females 1,143,702 136,335 11.9 526,405 46.0 416,327 36.4 64,634 5.7
65 to 74 years 1,513,251 391,020 25.8 714,443 47.2 352,846 23.3 54,941 3.6
Males 851,285 301,889 35.5 385,956 45.3 133,781 15.7 29,659 3.5
Females 661,966 89,131 13.5 328,487 49.6 219,066 33.1 25,282 3.8
75 years and over 1,037,420 213,855 20.6 446,520 43.0 300,120 28.9 76,925 7.4
Males 555,684 166,651 30.0 248,601 44.7 102,859 18.5 37,573 6.8
Females 481,736 47,204 9.8 197,919 41.1 197,261 40.9 39,352 8.2

1. Population aged 12 and over who reported being either a current or former smoker and who reported the age when they smoked their first whole cigarette.
2. When comparing estimates, it is important to use confidence intervals to determine if differences between values are statistically significant. Confidence intervals describe sampling variability and give an indication of the precision of a given estimate.
3. Bootstrapping techniques were used to produce the coefficient of variation (CV) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).
4. Data with a coefficient of variation (CV) from 16.6% to 33.3% are identified as follows: (E) use with caution.
5. Data with a coefficient of variation (CV) greater than 33.3% were suppressed due to extreme sampling variability and are identified as follows: (F) too unreliable to be published.
Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS 3.1), 2005 (CANSIM table 105-0452).