Brampton - Regional Council unanimously passed a by-law preventing smoking outdoors within nine metres (30 feet) of municipally-owned building entrances and exits and within nine metres of the perimeter of playgrounds, sports fields, parks and outdoor recreation areas in Peel.

Second-hand smoke is harmful to health and it is particularly harmful to children because they have smaller lungs and breathe in more second-hand smoke per body weight than adults. Children who are exposed to second-hand smoke are at higher risk of breathing and other health-related problems.

“As of Labour Day, children will be protected from the effects of second-hand smoke in the places where they play and no resident will have to walk through a cloud of tobacco smoke when they enter an arena, community centre or other municipal building,” says Dr. David Mowat, Medical Officer of Health, Region of Peel.

Each year, it is estimated 156 people in Peel are hospitalized for lung cancer or ischemic heart disease resulting from exposure to second-hand smoke and that 39 people die from these diseases.

In collaboration with the Cities of Mississauga and Brampton and the Town of Caledon, the Region of Peel joins approximately 70 other Ontario municipalities that have enacted legislation restricting outdoor smoking.

2011 data collected from Peel residents 18 years of age and older demonstrates that 89 per cent support a by-law making playgrounds smoke-free; 88 per cent support a by-law making outdoor sports fields and spectator areas smoke-free and 92 per cent support a by-law restricting smoking at entrances to workplaces and public places.
In Peel, 88,000 people, representing more than half of Peel’s smokers,have attempted to stop smoking for least 24 hours in the past year.

“One of the most important ways to help smokers quit is to create smoke-free places throughout the community,” said Dr. Mowat.”

For more information on the by-law, contact Peel Public Health at 905-799-7700. For information about quitting smoking, contact Smokers’ Helpline at 1-877-513-5333 or visit www.smokershelpline.ca.