Home New Look. Tradition was, Canadians didn't smoke U.S. cigarettes. While Canadians watch American television and movies, gossip about American celebrities, eat at American food-chains and buy American goods, they have remained faithful to Canadian brand cigarettes. The reasons are as complex as nicotine addiction, tobacco politics and Canadian-U.S. relations. Virtually all the tobacco smoked in Canada comes identical plants grown in 5 counties in south-west Ontario.
Many Canadian smokers sneer at U.S. brands.
Even world-leaders like Camel and Marlboro have little appeal north of the border. Unlike American cigarettes, Canadian brands are not 'blended' or flavoured. Subtle variations between brands are achieved by filters, and by selecting different grades and different parts of the tobacco plant. Tobacco companies have kept the loyalty of smokers, farmers and politicians alike by using their monopsony with Canadian tobacco farmers to protect the farmers' monopoly in Canada. They have even argued that they need to protect Canadian brands from the spill-over advertising of the U.S. cigarette brands.