Online gambling exploding in Ontario at the expense of young males: Study

A recent study reveals that emergency department visits related to gambling disorders in Ontario have more than doubled since the expansion of online betting and legalization of single-event sports betting. The Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences analyzed data from January 2012 to September 2025, identifying a 99 percent increase in gambling-related emergency department visits among boys and men aged 10 to 44 compared to expectations prior to the relaxation of gambling rules.

The study found that by the study's end, gambling-related ER visits were 154 percent higher among males aged 10 to 29 and 116 percent higher among those aged 30 to 44. No significant changes were observed among females during the study period. Published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, the research attributes the rise to the legalization of single-event sports betting in August 2021 and the introduction of online gambling for private companies in Ontario eight months later.

The province now hosts over 80 licensed private gambling sites, which hosted 2.1 million active player accounts and facilitated $63 billion in wagers in 2023/2024. A separate study published earlier this year, in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, found that the rate of young men contacting Ontario's mental health helpline for gambling-related issues increased by over 300 percent following the province's decision to allow private online gambling.

Experts emphasized the need for stronger harm-reduction measures and increased access to treatment based on these findings.