Emergency department visits for gambling disorders in Ontario doubled after Canada legalised single-event sports betting and the province opened its online market to private operators, a 14-year study has found. The increase was concentrated among males aged 10 to 44, while researchers found no change in emergency visits among females.
The Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences examined data from January 2012 to September 2025. Its study, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, found an overall increase of 99 per cent in gambling-related emergency department visits above the number expected before gambling rules were relaxed.
Canada legalised single-event sports betting in August 2021. Ontario then became the first province to permit private companies to run services in a regulated online gambling market in April 2022, alongside the existing government-run platform.
By the end of the study period, the number of visits observed among males aged 10 to 29 was 154 per cent higher than expected. Among males aged 30 to 44, observed visits were 116 per cent higher than expected. Almost three-quarters of the people attending emergency departments for gambling disorders were male.
The research recorded 952 emergency department visits involving 757 people. A gambling disorder was listed as either the principal reason for the visit or as a contributing factor. More than 70 per cent of the visits also involved another mental health condition or heavy substance use, and almost one-third resulted in hospital admission.
The findings describe patients reaching emergency care with needs extending beyond gambling itself. The study does not establish whether the rise reflected new gambling disorders, existing problems leading more people to seek emergency help, or other factors connected with the changing gambling environment.
Ontario's legal online market now contains 83 gaming and betting sites run by 43 private companies. Ontarians wagered $82.7 billion CAD on those sites in 2024 through 2.6 million player accounts.
Other measures of demand for support also rose during the study period. Contacts to ConnexOntario increased 96% overall during 2012–2025. After privatisation, helpline contacts among men and teen boys ages 15–24 rose 317%.
Exposure to gambling advertising was widespread among young people surveyed in Ontario. More than 80 per cent of teens said they had seen or heard an online gambling advertisement in the past month. Roughly a quarter of Ontario students said they encountered such advertisements daily.
The Ontario study covers data only to September 2025, so it does not show the longer-term course of emergency visits or the effects of private online gambling in other provinces.
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