Canadian substance abuse NGO demands national strategy against gambling harms

The crown provinces of Canada currently regulate gambling. This would be a major shift for the way that gambling is treated. CCSA, however, believes that a coordinated strategy is needed. It explained that apps and websites licensed by provinces which have liberalised their markets can be seen in other provinces. This reduces the ability of jurisdictions to restrict industry visibility.

The availability of drugs could increase harm

The CCSA’s report was based on a research study by Greo Evidence Insights and the CCSA. The report doesn’t provide any specific evidence that gambling harms have increased since 2022, when the Ontario market was liberalised or after the Safe and Regulated Sports Betting Act allowed single event wagering to be spread across Canada.

“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,” the report explains.

It focuses on how gambling proliferation could lead to a situation that increases harms in the country.

It explains that, for example, nine crown provinces now offer single-event wagering, and Ontario, with its liberal gambling regime, had 49 operators running 72 gaming sites by December 2023. According to World Population Review, the province’s population is expected to reach 15.2 millions in 2024.

What is the CCSA concerned about?

CCSA: The proliferation of gambling advertising and the increase in options for legal gaming are four major concerns.

1. The report does not include early evidence that suggests an increased level of participation is associated with gambling harms in vulnerable groups and the general population.
2. CCSA is concerned that certain types of gambling, such as sports betting on single events and betting in advance of an event are more harmful.
3. Advertising that promotes gambling is a major concern, especially for youth.
4. The expansion of legal gambling comes at a time when Canadians face greater gambling risks due to the high cost of living and the aftermath of the Covid-19 epidemic.
   

CCSA uses Ontario as a reference to support its claims of harm

Ontario, as the only liberalised province in the country, is used by the CCSA to support its concerns over an increase in gambling. The CCSA points out that CA$35.5bn in gambling was wagered on the internet during its first legal year. This sum, it says, “cannot simply be explained by people moving from illegal online gambling to legal”.

CCSA says that each player would need to wager $200,000 per year in order to reach this amount. The province has also seen a 3000% rise in bets, going from $4.08bn to $17.8bn between Q1 FY2022-23, according to a 2023 study.

Canada: increasing calls for restrictions on advertising

A parliamentary committee is currently debating Bill S-269, which would ban gambling advertisements.

The aim is to reduce the visibility of sports betting by limiting the amount, location and scope of advertisements and banning celebrities and professional athletes from promoting it.

Ontario already has enacted legislation banning sports and celebrity endorsements.

CCSA says that the number of ads promoting gambling and pairing it with sports, which are repeated, has normalised gambling. This leads to people thinking of betting as a part of sports.

We have witnessed a huge increase in gambling advertisements and the opportunities to play. “We can’t watch sports online or with our children without seeing a lot of gambling advertisements,” Dr Matthew Young said, Chief Research Officer at Greo and Senior Research Associate at CCSA. Canada is in a crucial moment when it comes to gambling management.

Need for a National Strategy to Combat Gambling Harm in Canada

CCSA has therefore developed a proposal for a strategy national to minimize the effect of recent changes in gambling harm rates.

1. The strategy should set up national standards for the marketing and distribution of gambling products.
2. The national organization must be able to avoid any perceived conflict of interests that might arise from proposals or initiatives coming out of provinces or industries.
3. The Crown provinces must provide adequate funding to support harm reduction and prevention initiatives, as well as research.
4. It is also important to ensure that gambling’s social and economic cost can be monitored.
5. It is also important to make sure that health professionals, social workers and the general public are aware of all gambling-related harms.
   

Dr Young said that a national framework or strategy, similar to the one we use for tobacco, alcohol and cannabis, is essential to managing gambling harms, particularly among young people and vulnerable groups.

The National Gambling Harm Strategy: Further Development

CCSA said that the strategy could be further developed by looking into and possibly regulating lootboxes and esports gambling to protect youth.

This could extend to the enforcement of laws, by coordinating across provinces efforts to stop unlicensed operators.

It was suggested that harm prevention messages could be standardised in all provinces and safer gambling could be mandated through regulations, backed up by a register of self-exclusion.

Dr Pam Kent of the CCSA, who is director of emerging trends and research at CCSA stated that increased gambling would “undoubtedly”, result in more harms to society and higher costs. This was again not supported by any evidence other than the increasing instances of gambling in Ontario.

She said that gambling-related suicide costs include increased healthcare costs, costs of criminal justice, costs for child welfare, and costs associated with unemployment, lost productivity, and higher unemployment.

We need to rethink our strategy. It is important to consider not just the short-term economic and government activity, but also longer-term social costs. “That’s why a national policy is needed.”