Puffers in Ontario and Quebec will now have to smoke outside as laws in both provinces banning smoking inside any public place have taken effect.

While the laws are similar in both provinces, they are enforcing the ban in different ways.

Ontario will let early offenders off with a warning but Quebec has cautioned that it will crack down immediately.

"With any law, there tends to be a transition period,'' Ontario Health Promotion Minister Jim Watson said Tuesday, adding that the Smoke-Free Ontario Act applies to virtually every indoor public space, including restaurants with covered patios.

"We think a reasonable approach is the phased-in approach, with the education, warnings and then fines," Watson told reporters at Queen's Park.

Under the Quebec law, however, owners who allow for illegal smoking will face a $400 fine for a first infraction.

If workers at an establishment do anything to hinder the work of inspectors, owners will face an extra $300 fine.

Quebec Health Minister Philippe Couillard has 75 inspectors poised to inspect 6,000 bars and restaurants by the end of summer.

The Quebec law also bans smoking in bingo halls, shopping centres, pool halls, bowling alleys, convention centres, common areas in apartment buildings of six to 12 units, among others.

Bar owner Voula Demopoulos, who owns businesses in both Ontario and Quebec, opposes the legislation.

"We believe in human rights," Demopoulos said, appearing on CTV. "We believe that smokers should not be discriminated.... We believe in regulating smoking, but we do not believe in prohibiting a product that the government has legalized and has left legal in our society."

Critics say the new laws will cost businesses millions of dollars.

"We see no reason why we should not be able to welcome our smokers in our establishments -- 85 per cent of our clientele are smokers," Demopoulos said. "Therefore, we're looking at a high clientele that from May 31st onward would not be welcome into your establishments."

While Ontario's law is similar to Quebec's, there is a significant difference.

Many Ontario municipalities, including Toronto and Ottawa, have been smoke-free for years although some still allow designated smoking rooms and smoking on patios.

But the new provincial legislation outlaws designated smoking rooms, as well as patios with roofs, even if they just partially cover patrons.

Provincial officials will publish a conclusive list of potential fines later this week.

While Ontario scofflaws will receive a warning, they shouldn't expect the grace period to last very long.

Inspectors will return to any site within a few days after issuing a warning, Ontario's chief medical officer Sheela Basrur said.

"If the offence is reoccurring, then enforcement measures will be taken," she said.

Paul McDonald, co-director of the Population Health Research Group at the University of Waterloo, applauded the Ontario-wide restrictions, saying the regulations are long overdue.

"I have absolutely no doubt that the new regulations will improve and protect thousands of lives over the coming decades," McDonald said in a written statement.

McDonald believes the regulations will have three significant impacts:

• protecting both smokers and non-smokers from second-hand smoke
• assisting current smokers to quit or reduce the amount they smoke
• restricting the visibility of smoking, "which studies have shown influence whether or not young people smoke," the statement says.

Most of the Atlantic provinces have smoking bans, plus the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, the Prairie provinces and British Columbia prohibit smoking in public places. Nova Scotia's ban takes effect at the end of the year.

With a report from CTV's Jed Kahane