A health group is urging the Alberta government to increase the provincial tax on cigarettes to curb smoking among young people.

The call for an increase in the provincial tax on cigarettes comes after new data was released Tuesday that shows Alberta has the most affordable cigarettes of any Canadian province.

Les Hagen, executive director of Action on Smoking and Health, said in Edmonton that the government should increase the price of cigarettes by at least $2 a pack. He said such a move would make smoking a more expensive habit for young Albertans.

According to the Campaign for a Smoke-Free Alberta, a health group based in Edmonton, Alberta smokers between the ages of 15 and 24 have to work an average of only 44 minutes to purchase a pack of cigarettes.

Smokers in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, however, have to work an average of 70 minutes for that same pack.

Anti-smoking activists in Alberta have long argued that the combination of high wages, low cigarette prices and discounting by tobacco companies means young people in the province can easily afford to smoke.

"[Premier Ed Stelmach] himself has stated that we cannot allow our heated economy to have a negative impact on our quality of life," Hagen said.

"Tobacco affordability is a perfect example of where we have economic conditions that are otherwise good, but that are having a negative impact on the health of Albertans, particularly young Albertans."