Reduce your risk
There's a lot you can do to reduce your risk of cancer – starting with living a healthy, active lifestyle.
Can cancer be prevented?
About 4 in 10 cancer cases can be prevented through healthy living and policies that protect the health of Canadians. The good news is you can reduce your risk of cancer right now. There’s no time like the present to start making positive lifestyle changes to feel better and live longer.
Make healthy choices
There's a lot you can do to reduce your risk of cancer – starting with living a healthy, active lifestyle. Making healthy choices can be easy, affordable and quick. You can take small but important steps to stay on the path of great health no matter what age you are. We're proud to present simple ways to reduce your risk of cancer.
Live smoke-free
The single most important thing you can do to reduce your risk of cancer is to live smoke-free.
Have a healthy body weight
Besides living smoke-free, having a healthy body weight is one of the best things you can do to reduce cancer risk.
Move more, sit less
Not enough physical activity and too much sitting increases your cancer risk. Aim for 30 minutes of activity every day and take frequent, short breaks from sitting.
Limit alcohol
Drinking any type or amount of alcohol increases your risk of developing cancer. The less alcohol you drink, the lower your cancer risk.
How many cancers can be prevented?
Did you know that about 4 in 10 cancer cases in Canada can be prevented? It’s true. There are things we eat, drink, breathe and do that affect our cancer risk.
The ComPARe (Canadian Population Attributable Risk of Cancer) study found how many cancer cases we can prevent in the future by changing the world around us. This includes making healthy choices and protecting ourselves where we live, work and play.
If we act now, we can prevent thousands of cancer cases by the year 2042. It’s all about understanding what the risks are and taking action to protect ourselves in our everyday lives. We can reduce our exposure to cancer risk factors by changing the world around us.
The ComPARe (Canadian Population Attributable Risk of Cancer) study found how many cancer cases we can prevent in the future by changing the world around us. This includes making healthy choices and protecting ourselves where we live, work and play.
If we act now, we can prevent thousands of cancer cases by the year 2042. It’s all about understanding what the risks are and taking action to protect ourselves in our everyday lives. We can reduce our exposure to cancer risk factors by changing the world around us.
Make informed decisions
Follow these recommendations and help reduce your cancer risk.
Check your family history
Tell your healthcare provider if any of your close relatives have ever been diagnosed with cancer.
Understand hormones
The birth control pill and hormone replacement therapy may increase your risk of cancer. Understand the risks and benefits.
Get vaccinated
Some viruses cause cancer. Check with your healthcare provider about whether a hepatitis B or HPV vaccine is a good idea for you.
Be safe at work
Cancer-causing substances at work are responsible for a small percentage of cancers. Know your risk and protect yourself.
Know your environment
Learn how to reduce your exposure to cancer-causing substances (carcinogens).
Myths and controversies
Be cautious of any information obtained from unmonitored sources.
Discover our prevention programs
We recognize that making healthy behaviour changes can be difficult to achieve alone, that’s why we’re here to help. We have smoking cessation and health promotion programs for individuals, schools and workplaces.
Try our helpful tools
It's My Life!
It’s My Life! is an interactive, evidence-based tool. It teaches you how 16 factors affect your risk of getting cancer and how you can reduce your risk by making simple changes.
Try our helpful tools
SunSense fortune teller
The fortune teller is a fun resource for primary school age children that uses origami to create a trivia game with questions about SunSense practices. Instructions on how to assemble it are included.
One Step at a Time: You Can Quit
This booklet is for people who smoke and may or may not be ready to quit.
One Step at a Time: Help Someone Quit
This booklet is for friends and family who want to help someone quit smoking.
Do you know how many cancers can be prevented?
Your trusted source for accurate cancer information
With just $5 from readers like you, we can continue to provide the highest quality cancer information for over 100 types of cancer.
We’re here to ensure easy access to accurate cancer information for you and the millions of people who visit this website every year. But we can’t do it alone.
If everyone reading this gave just $5, we could achieve our goal this month to fund reliable cancer information, compassionate support services and the most promising research. Please give today because every contribution counts. Thank you.