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- High-margin online casino products drive most operator revenue, incentivizing platforms to migrate sports bettors toward casino games.
- Following Ontario’s online market expansion, average monthly helpline calls to Connex Ontario more than tripled alongside rising indicators of gambling harm.
Canada’s move to legalize single-event sports betting in 2021 helped expand the country’s wagering market, but a new analysis argues the growth has also brought heavier advertising and more signs of gambling-related harm.
According to a Troy Media report published Sept. 16, Ontario’s 2022 decision to open online gambling to private operators accelerated that shift, turning the province into the main engine of Canada’s regulated online market.
Ontario’s private market helped reshape the industry
Before the 2021 reform, Canadian bettors had to place parlay wagers combining multiple outcomes. Legalization of single-event betting opened the door to products such as in-play and proposition betting.
The bigger commercial change came in 2022, when Ontario allowed private operators into the online segment. The report says active online accounts in Ontario nearly tripled after launch, while gambling revenue per adult resident also rose markedly.
The article also says sports betting was not the main financial story for operators. Instead, online casino products became the primary profit driver. Matthew Young, quoted in the report, said operators have a “massive financial incentive to migrate registered users toward casino products” because online casino carries higher margins than sports wagering.
Problem gambling and ad spillover are drawing attention
The report points to several indicators suggesting gambling intensity has increased even as broad participation has not surged. Citing Statistics Canada, it says the share of Canadians reporting sports betting in the past year declined slightly since 2018. But among those who still bet, the share wagering at least once a month rose from just under one quarter to more than 40 percent.
Statistics Canada also recorded an increase between 2018 and 2025 in the number of people reporting gambling-related difficulties, including behaviours such as chasing losses and borrowing money to continue gambling.
Ontario’s support systems are also seeing more demand. The report says average monthly calls to the Connex Ontario helpline more than tripled after the private online market launched.
Advertising is another issue now under scrutiny. Luke Clark, as quoted in the article, said Ontario operators’ ads are reaching other provinces where those companies are not licensed and “can saturate the media landscape, heightening risks for young people and those in recovery from problem gambling.”
What to watch next
The report says a federal bill on national gambling advertising regulation is already under discussion, though it does not identify the bill number or its status. For Canadian players and policymakers, that debate may become a key test of how the country balances market growth with consumer protection.
If gambling stops feeling like entertainment, support services such as Connex Ontario are available for people seeking help.
Source: As reported by troymedia.com.
