Canada’s passage of the Safe and Regulated Sports Betting Act in 2021 granted the country’s provinces and territories the right to offer single-event sports betting. In-person sports betting is now available in most jurisdictions, with nine provinces offering online sports betting.
In response to Canada’s changing gambling landscape, the Canadian Center on Substance Use and Addiction and the non-profit Greo Evidence Insights generated a comprehensive report this week, calling for a nationwide strategy to study and address gambling-related harms.
In their detailed report, the organizations cite several studies highlighting the risks of the normalization of gambling – especially among vulnerable populations.
While the majority of operations are offered through Crown corporations, Ontario opened their market to private online companies, including bet365 and DraftKings. In fact, since December 2023, 49 different companies operating 72 different websites offer sports betting in Ontario alone. Increased sports betting availability has predictably led to a surge in gambling-related advertising, leading to a surge in sports betting activity.
Additionally, there are no national advertising standards or regulations for gambling as there are for alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis. Of specific concern for Canadian Center on Substance Use and Addiction is the impact of unregulated advertising on children and young adults.
“The impact of these significant changes in gambling policy on the health of Canadians is largely unknown as there is no national or provincial/territorial monitoring and surveillance of gambling-related harm,” read the report.
The report’s recommendations include:
- Developing national standards governing gambling promotion and availability.
- Understanding and dealing with conflicts of interests among gambling stakeholders.
- Addressing funding for gambling harm prevention and research.
- Systematic monitoring of changes in gambling-related harm.
- Increased awareness of gambling-related harms among health and social service professionals and the public.
The report notes that Canada has an opportunity to establish a stronger gambling safety net while the industry is still in its relative infancy. Canada can draw on the lessons learned the hard way by countries with mature gambling industries. For instance, both the UK and Australia with long histories of legalized gambling are – even now – having to tighten regulations, hoping to improve the overall safety of the industry.