Vaping rates among junior high and high school students are continuing to climb, but statistics on vape use in the young age groups are lacking.

That poses a challenge for the Alliance for the Control of Tobacco as it focuses on targeted programming to prevent young people from picking up the habit.

A newly released federal government survey shows smoking rates in this province and across the country rose slightly over a two-year period.

Melissa Moore of ACT says vaping rates among students in grades 7 to 12 are “very high” but the true numbers are not reflected in many stats.

“The new surveys are not looking at anybody below age 15, so we kind of have to rely on old data but also on school data, things that the schools are telling us.” She says their focus has been on vaping and “there are some levers when it comes to provincial and federal legislation that have yet to be pulled.”