Calls for national gambling harm strategy in Canada

A government-appointed research body in Canada has called for a national strategy to improve responsible gaming efforts across the country.

The Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction said it wants “national standards” governing gambling promotion and availability, as well as to address “inadequate funding” for gambling harm prevention and reduction initiatives and research.

Canada is at a “critical moment” in how it manages gambling, said Dr. Matthew Young, a senior research associate at the CCSA.

He said a national framework, similar to that for alcohol, tobacco and cannabis, is “critical to manage the expected increase in gambling harm, especially among youth and other vulnerable people.”

The call for a national strategy is the central focus of Gambling Availability and Advertising in Canada: A Call to Action – the CCSA’s new report produced alongside Greo Evidence Insights, a not-for-profit research and knowledge organisation focused on public health issues.

The report looks at the impacts of regulated gambling since the approval of the Safe and Regulated Sports Betting Act in 2021.

The province of Ontario subsequently opened its doors to regulated igaming and mobile sports betting in April 2022. Alberta is set to follow Ontario in creating a regulated online gaming model.

The report says the volume of gambling advertisements “repeatedly pairing sports with betting normalises gambling, leading people to think of betting as an integral part of being a sports fan.”

“Increased availability of gambling and in gambling advertising are happening at a time when many people in Canada are more vulnerable to problematic gambling and gambling-related harms because of the lingering health impacts of COVID-19 and a rise in the cost of living,” the CCSA added.

The CCSA wants a new national strategy to monitor systematic changes in gambling-related harm, including any assessments of its social and economic costs and increase awareness of gambling-related harm among health and social care professionals and the public.

“We need to think about our approach and ensure that it considers not only short-term government revenue and economic activity but also the longer-term societal costs. That’s why we need a national strategy,” said Dr. Pam Kent, director of research and emerging trends at CCSA.

In its latest report, iGaming Ontario, which oversees the management of the province’s igaming market, said the jurisdiction sustained 2,675 direct jobs in 2023-24, at 120 per cent of initial estimations.

The total number of full-time jobs sustained by the Canadian province’s igaming market hit 14,935 in year two – up from 12,072 in year one – and are now at 92 per cent of the long-term predictions.

Igaming Ontario is a subsidiary of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, the province’s overarching gambling regulator.