Tobacco firms to pay $23.6bn in proposed Canada settlement

How much each company must pay is still being discussed, according to Philip Morris.

“Although important issues with the plan remain to be resolved, we are hopeful that this legal process will soon conclude,” said Jacek Olczak, chief executive of Philip Morris, which operates in Canada under the name Rothmans, Benson & Hedges.

In announcing the deal, the Quebec Council on Tobacco & Health said, if approved, it will mark the first time globally that litigation against Big Tobacco has resulted in direct compensation for victims.

The proposal sends roughly $C6.5bn directly to smokers and their heirs hit by illnesses such as lung or throat cancer, reserving roughly $C4bn for victims in Quebec who first brought the suits.

That amounts to awards of up to C$100,000 per person, depending on the illness and where and when the person started smoking.

Government health departments would also receive about $C24bn in funds over time.

Smokers and ex-smokers had filed suit against the cigarette-makers in 1998.

A Quebec court in 2015 ordered the companies to pay damages of about C$15bn, a decision that was upheld in 2019.

Philip Morris said that voting on the plan would happen in December this year and if accepted by claimants, a hearing to consider approval of the plan would then be expected in the first half of next year.