New Brunswick Vape Retail Rules 2026: Two Licences, Tobacco Flavour Only

New Brunswick regulates vaping retail through two separate statutes and, for most shops, two separate licences. It is also a tobacco-flavour-only province and a specified vaping province for excise purposes. This guide sets out what that means at the counter and in the stockroom.

It is written for retailers already operating in New Brunswick and for retailers elsewhere in Atlantic Canada considering opening there. It is not legal advice; the statutes named below are the ones that govern, and they are worth reading directly.

Part 1: Two Acts, and Which One Does What

Two pieces of provincial legislation apply, and they cover different ground:

• The Tobacco and Electronic Cigarette Sales Act and its regulation govern the sale of tobacco and vapour products, and the licensing of electronic cigarette sales outlets.
• The Smoke-Free Places Act governs where smoking and vaping are prohibited — enclosed public places, indoor workplaces and so on.

Most retailer questions land under the first Act. The second one matters for your own premises and for any consumption-on-site question a customer raises.

Part 2: You Probably Need Two Licences

This is the item most often got wrong by retailers expanding into the province:

• Any outlet selling electronic cigarettes or vapour products requires an Electronic Cigarette Sales Outlet Licence.
• Retailers selling tobacco products require a Tobacco Retailer's Licence.
• Retailers selling both require both.

A convenience store that adds a vape line does not simply extend its existing tobacco licence — it needs the second licence as well. Confirm which you hold before you place an order for a category you have not carried before.

Part 3: Age, Entry and Display

Under the Tobacco and Electronic Cigarette Sales Act:

• The minimum age is 19. Sale of tobacco and vaping products to anyone under 19 is not allowed.
• Products must be hidden from sight.
• No one under 19 may enter a tobacconist or vapour shop unless accompanied by an adult. This is an entry rule, not just a sale rule — it changes how you staff the door, not only the till.

The entry restriction is the one that surprises operators coming from provinces where a minor may enter the store but not buy. In New Brunswick the shop itself is age-controlled.

Part 4: Tobacco Flavour Only

New Brunswick's flavour rules are among the tightest in the country, and they cover more than the finished device:

• Flavoured e-cigarettes are not permitted to be sold, except tobacco flavour.
• Flavoured substances intended to be added to e-cigarettes are also not permitted, except tobacco flavour. A separate flavour concentrate is caught by the same rule.
• The Act also prohibits the sale of flavoured tobacco, including menthol.

Two practical consequences for buying:

Menthol and mint are not a safe middle ground here. Some provinces carve out mint or menthol; New Brunswick does not for tobacco, and the vapour rule permits tobacco flavour only. If your supplier's "New Brunswick compliant" list includes mint, check it rather than trusting it.

Filter at the order stage. A carton that is fine in a province with a wider flavour allowance is unsaleable here, and freight both ways on a rejected shipment costs more than the five minutes it takes to specify the destination on the purchase order.

Part 5: Promotion and Advertising

• Outdoor advertisement by tobacconists and vapour shops is not permitted.
• Promotional material inside the shop must not be visible from outside. A window-facing display counts as outside-visible.
• Promotional restrictions that previously applied only to tobacco in other retail shops now also apply to vapour products and smoking supplies.

If you have a general retail store rather than a dedicated shop, that last point is the one to check: material you were allowed to display for other categories may now be restricted for this one.

Part 6: Excise Stamps — New Brunswick Has Its Own

New Brunswick is a specified vaping province under the federal coordinated vaping duty system. Product sold in the New Brunswick duty-paid market must carry a New Brunswick specific vaping excise stamp, not the peach-coloured Canada stamp.

The specified vaping provinces, as set out in Canada Revenue Agency Notice EDN107, are Alberta, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec and Yukon, and now Nova Scotia — ten in all, each with its own stamp. British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador are not in the coordinated system and still take the peach Canada stamp.

For a multi-province operator this means stock is not freely transferable between stores. A transfer that looks like ordinary stock balancing can put a unit with the wrong stamp on a New Brunswick shelf.

Part 7: A Receiving Check That Takes Two Minutes

1. Stamp — is it a New Brunswick stamp? A peach Canada stamp means the unit cannot be sold here.
2. Flavour — tobacco flavour or unflavoured only. A fruit, mint or menthol name on the packaging is a reject.
3. Concentrates — flavoured additives are caught by the same rule as devices.
4. Nicotine concentration — the federal limit applies nationally; check the label, not the invoice.
5. Labelling — required health warning present and legible.
6. Paperwork — invoice filed, and your own licence numbers current.

Any carton failing step 1 or 2 should not be broken open. Photograph it sealed, log it, and raise it with the supplier the same day. A sealed carton is a returnable carton; an opened one usually is not.

Part 8: What to Ask a Supplier Before the First Order

1. Can you ship New Brunswick-stamped stock specifically, and will the order confirmation say so?
2. Is your New Brunswick catalogue filtered to tobacco flavour only, including concentrates?
3. What happens if non-compliant stock arrives — who pays return freight?
4. What is the lead time to New Brunswick, and does it change for stamped stock?
5. If I hold both licences, can you supply both categories on one account?

Where to Read the Primary Sources

• The Tobacco and Electronic Cigarette Sales Act and its regulation, and the Smoke-Free Places Act.
• New Brunswick's Electronic Cigarette Sales Outlet Licence and Tobacco Retailer's Licence application information.
• Canada Revenue Agency Notice EDN107 on specified vaping provinces, and EDN95 on how the coordinated vaping duty system works.

Rules change. Check the current provincial pages before relying on any of this for a purchasing decision.

Sourcing Into New Brunswick

Arctic Distributions supplies licensed retailers across Canada with no minimum order quantity. Our New Brunswick wholesale page sets out what we need before an account is opened, and you can browse current stock in our full catalogue.

Operating in more than one province? The rules differ in ways that change what you can buy: see our guides to Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec. For the receiving side, see our excise stamp receiving checklist, and for terms see MOQ, payment and stock rotation.

Ready to open an account? Start with our new client application.