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- Emergency room visits for gambling disorders in Ontario rose 31.3% following the introduction and expansion of online gambling.
- Young males drove the increase, with emergency hospital visits surging 154% for men aged 10 to 29.
A new Ontario-based study is adding to Canada’s debate over gambling advertising and market liberalization after finding a sharp rise in emergency department visits tied to gambling disorders. Researchers reported a 31.3% increase in such visits compared with the period before online gambling was introduced in Ontario, with boys and men accounting for most of the increase.
Published in The American Journal of Preventive Medicine, the study logged 757 individuals and 952 emergency department visits related to gambling disorders over 14 years beginning in 2012.
Young males drove most of the increase
Whether placing sports wagers or playing at an online casino, younger men are driving the surge in gambling-related crisis care.
According to the CBC report on the study, 72% of the hospital visits involved men and boys. The steepest increases were among younger males, with visits up 154% for males aged 10 to 29 and 116% for men aged 30 to 44. The report said there was no notable increase among females.
Dr. Daniel Myran told CBC these visits represent severe crisis points, with gambling either causing or contributing to the emergency presentation, sometimes alongside substance use or mental health disorders. The story also noted that some patients presented with suicidal thoughts.
The CBC piece included the experience of Teddy Wojtowicz, who described how his gambling escalated from small bets to payday loans and $22,000 in cheques written to himself from his workplace. He said he admitted himself to hospital in Dauphin, Man., in April 2023 after thinking about suicide.
Findings land amid scrutiny of gambling ads and market growth
The timing is significant for Canadian gambling policy because Ontario’s market has expanded rapidly in recent years. The CBC report noted that Ontario became the first province to allow private companies into its online gambling market in April 2022 and now has more than 80 gaming and betting sites operated by over 40 private companies. Canada also legalized single-game sports betting in 2021.
The article pointed to another recent study, published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, that found a 95.5% increase in gambling-related calls by men and boys to ConnexOntario between the 2015 launch of PlayOLG and September 2025. Among males aged 15 to 24, those calls were up 317%.
That evidence is likely to keep attention on gambling promotion rules. Dr. Shawn Kelly told CBC that sports broadcasts should not automatically expose viewers to the effects of gambling advertising, while researcher Ryan Forrest said the Ontario experience should be considered carefully as other provinces and territories weigh their own policy choices.
For Canadian players and policymakers, the latest data does not answer how much of the harm came specifically from online gambling versus other formats. But it does add to the public-health case for closer scrutiny of advertising, access, and responsible gambling protections as provincial markets evolve.
Source: As reported by Nick Logan.
