How Ontario's online gambling industry is faring 3 years into legalization
Ontario residents generated $2.2B for online gaming platforms during the 2023-2024 fiscal year
Three years after legalization, Ontario's online gambling and sports betting industry is booming, but some experts say there's cause for concern around how gaming is marketed.
PowerPlay, an international gambling website licensed under the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO), has expanded very successfully into the province over the last three years, Bill O'Brien, a sports book manager at PowerPlay, told CBC Toronto.
"Everyone always knew Ontario … was a market with huge potential," O'Brien said. "But it has surpassed what anyone kind of expected it to be."
He pointed to iGaming Ontario's 2023-2024 annual report, which showed Ontario residents wagered almost $63.3 billion and generated $2.2 billion in total gaming revenue in the second year since the market has been in operation. Those figures represent 78 per cent and 75 per cent increases respectively over the first year. iGaming Ontario is expected to publish its 2024-2025 findings after its fiscal year ends at the end of March.
The industry has also had a positive impact on the provincial economy, O'Brien said.
"The second full year of legalized sports betting contributed something like 15,000 jobs and … $2.7 billion to Ontario's GDP," he said.
Those figures come from a Deloitte report, commissioned by iGaming Ontario.
"That was only the second year. Like, that's just going to get bigger and bigger," O'Brien said.
But while the sector grows, advocates like Bruce Kidd worry about the negative impacts it can have on the public.
Advertising restrictions aren't enough, advocate says
Kidd is the co-chair of the Ban Ads for Gambling campaign.
"There has been an explosion of … in our view, unregulated ads, which have led to a huge increase in gambling, sports betting and related addictions," he told CBC Toronto.
The AGCO does have a number of restrictions on how internet gaming is marketed, most geared toward protecting minors.
Last year, the AGCO also banned the use of professional athletes and restricted the use of celebrities that appeal to minors in online gambling advertising.
Kidd, however, wants to see the ads banned entirely.
"There is a public health argument for reducing the ads," he said. "The industry could certainly do well without the ads and we cite the international research that indicates that advertising is directly related to increased participation and increased addiction."
Nigel Turner, a scientist with the Institute for Mental Health Policy Research at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), agreed there's too much advertising.
When it comes to the sector's direct impact on the public, he looked at the amount of calls CAMH has received related to problem gambling.
Following legalization, "there was a rapid escalation in … how many people were calling the helpline regarding online gambling," he said.
Support available for those struggling with problem gambling
In April 2024, Turner said the amount of calls seemed to level out, but he noted that calls often spike at certain times of year, including when sports playoff seasons begin.
He recommended anyone who thinks they might have a problem with gambling call the CAMH helpline or look into recovery programs.
"They are free, they are available to everyone," Turner said. "And it is a service that does work. … Sometimes it takes several tries before you actually get off, but eventually people do get their gambling under control."
For online gambling specifically, he also recommends that people use limit-setting and self-exclusion features. The AGCO requires online gambling platforms to include these features in a way that is easy and obvious to users.
"Use those tools, set them, and stick to it," Turner said. "Don't get impulsively sucked into the idea of gambling more because there is no such thing as being due to win and that is one of the most common erroneous beliefs that people have."
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