Five years after Canada legalized single-event sports betting, the country’s regulated gambling market has grown while concerns about gambling-related harm have also increased. The change, which came into force in August 2021, allowed provinces and territories to offer bets on individual sporting events rather than requiring customers to combine multiple outcomes into a single wager. Ontario later opened its private online gambling market in April 2022, giving licensed operators a larger role in the country’s betting sector. Since then, gambling participation and spending have increased in parts of the country, while researchers and treatment organizations have pointed to signs of greater gambling-related harm. The result is a policy debate that is less about whether sports betting is legal and more about whether existing protections are keeping pace with how people now gamble.
Canada’s Legal Betting Market Has Expanded Since 2021
Canada’s move toward single-event sports betting began with Bill C-218, which received Royal Assent in June 2021 and came into force on August 27, 2021. The federal government said the change would allow provinces and territories to regulate single-event betting and bring activity into a legal and regulated environment. The change also gave provinces considerable discretion over how they would operate their markets. Ontario went further than simply offering sports betting through its provincial lottery system. In April 2022, it launched a regulated online market that allowed private operators to offer sports betting, casino games and other products. The scale of that market has grown considerably.
According to iGaming Ontario’s 2024-25 annual report, 50 operators were active during the fiscal year, with more than 2.6 million active player accounts recorded. Those accounts do not represent 2.6 million individual people, since one person can hold accounts with multiple operators. Sports betting is only part of that market. Casino products accounted for 75% of gaming revenue in 2024-25, while betting revenue grew 25% from the previous year, according to iGaming Ontario. The growth has also changed how gambling appears in everyday life. Ontario has introduced restrictions on certain gambling advertising, including a 2024 rule limiting the use of athletes and other figures likely to appeal to minors, except when they are promoting responsible gambling.
Wtf are we (and/or the Ontario government) doing in regards to gambling ads?
by
u/baruchspinoza23 in
ontario
Public reaction has been mixed. Posts on Reddit from Ontario residents frequently focus on the amount of sports-betting advertising appearing during games, on public transit and online. In one 2026 discussion, users described seeing betting advertisements repeatedly during sports broadcasts, while others argued that the visibility of betting had become difficult to avoid. These comments are anecdotal and do not establish the prevalence of gambling harm, but they illustrate the public debate surrounding advertising.
More Betting, More Questions About Gambling Harm
The growth of the legal market has coincided with concerns about how frequently people gamble and the effects on those who experience problems. The article that prompted this story cites Statistics Canada data showing that the share of Canadians who reported betting on sports in the previous year has declined slightly since 2018. At the same time, people who do bet appear to be betting more frequently, with the proportion of sports bettors wagering at least monthly rising from below one-quarter to more than 40%. The same data also points to increases between 2018 and 2025 in gambling-related behaviors such as chasing losses and borrowing money to continue gambling.
Ontario’s experience provides another measure. The same report notes that calls to ConnexOntario’s problem-gambling helpline rose after the province’s private online market opened and remained above earlier levels. That does not, by itself, establish that legalization caused the increase, since helpline use can be influenced by awareness, population changes and other factors. Researchers have also raised questions about the accessibility of online gambling. Unlike traditional betting, online platforms can be used from home or through a phone, with betting available throughout sporting events. Ontario’s regulator says operators are required to identify customers who may be experiencing gambling-related harm and take steps to assist them. The legal-market case rests on safeguards that cannot be applied to offshore sites. Ottawa argued at the time that regulated provincial markets would be safer than the unregulated alternative. Add a support-resources line here: readers in Ontario can contact ConnexOntario, and other provinces have equivalent services.
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