A COMPREHENSIVE EVALUATION OF THE 1993 CITY OF TORONTO SMOKING BY-LAWS

Effective January 1, 1993, the City of Toronto's two smoking by-laws - one regarding a workplaces and another regarding public places - were replaced and amended respectively. Smoking is now prohibited in all w orkplaces (unless in a designated smoking area), and in at least 50% o f eating areas in restaurants. Through a workplace telephone survey an d restaurant inspection records, the implementation and enforcement of the by-laws were evaluated. Eighty-three per cent of the workplaces w ere completely smoke-free and 7% had restricted smoking to a designate d area. A majority (76%) of the managers and owners were in favour of regulatory controls on smoking in workplaces. Eighty-six per cent of r estaurants complied with requirements for a minimum 50% smoke-free are a and signage, and nearly 4% of the sampled restaurants banned smoking throughout the entire premises even though this is not currently requ ired.