The Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA), Greo Evidence Insights, and Mental Health Research Canada jointly reported in November 2025 that one in three young adults aged 18 to 29 engage in online gambling and that nearly 24% of these young gamblers experience high levels of gambling-related harms. Compared to those who only play the lottery, the report found that people who gamble online are 10 times more likely to exceed lower-risk thresholds and 45 times more likely to meet criteria for problem gambling.
"Online gambling is one of the strongest predictors of gambling problems in young adults," said Sarah Graham, executive director of the Manitoba Lotteries Foundation.
Problem gambling levels jumped after Ontario legalized single-event sports betting and greatly expanded the online gambling market, opening it to private operators, according to a 2026 study published by the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES).
Emergency room visits for gambling disorders nearly doubled in the years immediately after the market expansion. More than 950 visits for gambling disorders were analyzed across a 14-year study period, largely among young men, according to ICES analysis. The increase in visits was primarily observed among males, with no changes noted among females.
Of the total visits analyzed, 73% of individuals with gambling disorders also suffered from at least one other mental health condition or displayed heavy substance use.
The research findings come as even teens in Ontario appear to be deeply engaged in online gambling, with participation rising 4% in the latest iteration of the Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey, which has been conducted biennially by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and the Ontario Ministry of Education. More than 82% of teenagers surveyed said they had seen or heard an online gambling advertisement in the past month.
Ontario's expansive market jumped to 2.6 million active accounts and more than $82 billion in total online wagering in the 2024–2025 fiscal year, according to a Globe and Mail report citing provincial data.
A 2023 Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction study found that 69.4% of online-gambling young adults aged 18 to 29 met criteria for problem gambling.
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The study, a literature review published in the journal Frontiers in Public Health, also flagged rising urgency on three fronts. Firstly, more frequent advertising and the proliferation of gambling methods, from fantasy sports to daily fantasy sports, have increased young peoples' likelihood of gambling online. Secondly, most countries lack sufficiently stringent advertising restrictions to serve as templates. Third, policy-makers and public-health officials, while agreeing on the problem, disagree on how to address it.
The authors suggest a dual strategy: first, more data on the types of advertising young adults are exposed to, including the volume and the risks posed by online gaming, specifically. Secondly, public education, explaining the real odds involved and offering treatment options.
The CCSA advises that to protect young people from a wide range of physical, financial, and mental health conditions, there are several areas for policy makers to consider, including:
Creating policies that address advertising, including on sports broadcasting, to reduce gambling normalization and to create a mandatory waiting period between advertising breaks.
Going further than the currently-held minimum standard that the majority of a platform’s revenues must be used for public-health and safer gambling initiatives. "If you're making that money off of problem gambling, it must be treated as problem gambling revenue," noted Graham.
Maintaining the regulation at the provincial level rather than transferring regulatory authority to the federal government, as has occurred with other federal bodies, such as with Canada's data protection regulators under the new Consumer Health Privacy and Safety Act.
Ensuring that the industry shifts the burden of gambling harm onto companies, rather than lending them regulatory benefit.