According to the AFP, there are about 500 prostitutes working in Vancouver, Canada.

Source:  AFP, “Vancouver’s poor – dark side of the Games,” Google News, February 10, 2010.

2.4 Billion Canadian Dollars ($2.2 Billion US) is lost in tax revenue to the Canadian government due to cigarette smuggling.

Source:  Robert Benzie and Richard J. Brennan, “$2 billion in tax revenue up in smoke,” Toronto Star, November 15, 2009.

According to the Toronto Star, up to 50 percent of all cigarettes smoked in Canada could have been smuggled into the country.

Source:  Richard Brennan, “RCMP plays cat-and-mouse with cigarette smugglers,” Toronto Star, November 14, 2009.

30 percent of all cigarettes smoked in Quebec are contraband, leading to losses for the Quebec government of $300 Million in taxes.

Source:  Canwest News Service, “Quebec to crack down on contraband tobacco,” Gazette, October 28, 2009.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police stated that there are 105 criminal gangs who are involved in the illicit cigarette trade in Canada.

Source:  Jorge Barrera and Jack Branswell, “Black-market smokes could finance terrorists: RCMP,” Calgary Herald, October 27, 2009.

30 percent of the cigarettes smoked by high school students in Ontario and Quebec in 2009 were found to be contraband cigarettes.  These cigarettes were either cigarettes that were counterfeit or smuggled into the country without taxes being paid.

In 2008, 26 percent of the cigarettes were contraband.

Source: Canadian Press, “Researchers find teens Ont. and Que. buying more black market cigarettes,” Google News, October 14, 2009.

A study by the University of British Colombia found that use of OxyContin in British Colombia, Canada is primarily focused in rural areas of the province.

Source:  Vancouver Province, “‘Hillbilly heroin’ use common in rural B.C.: report,” October 5, 2009.

About 13 percent of high school students in Canada who smoke are smoking contraband cigarettes.  These cigarettes, according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, are contraband because “don’t comply with federal or provincial rules for importation, stamping, manufacturing, distribution, duty and taxes.”

Source:  Carly Weeks, “Young smokers choosing contraband cigarettes,” Globe and Mail, September 9, 2009.