SURREY — The City of Surrey is banning e-cigarettes and vaporizers in public places where conventional cigarettes aren’t allowed.
City council approved and gave the bylaw amendments third reading Monday night.
“These smoking devices will be treated the same as a common cigarette… regardless of the the type of substance being used inside the device,” the City of Surrey report report notes.
Calgary City Council enacted similar legislation in June 2015 and Vancouver enacted a similar ban in 2014.
Currently, the provincial Tobacco and Vapour Control Act prohibits smoking cigarettes and vapour products within 600 metres of public or workplace buildings, doorways, windows and air intakes.
The city defines an e-cigarette as a device that contains an “electronic or battery-powered heating element capable of vaporizing an e-substance for inhalation or release into the air.”
New provincial rules were finalized on Sept. 1 that prohibits the use of these products in public places in the same way as cigarettes.
But the city wants to take it one step further.
Surrey also plans to ban smoking at bus stops, following complaints from transit users about people lighting up there.
A staff report recommended changes to Surrey’s smoking bylaw that would prohibit anyone from smoking within 7.5 metres of a bus bench, bus pole or a bus shelter.
City council approved the recommendations Monday.