Opinion: Dangers of going all-in on online gambling
Read full article The Vancouver Sun Opinion Opinion: Dangers of going all-in on online gambling W. Spencer Murch , Luke Clark April 4, 2025 at 4:00 a.m. · 5 min read
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Gambling products — along with alcohol, tobacco and cannabis — are legalized and regulated by the government because, although they are popular among Canadians, they are addictive and cause a variety of harms when used to excess, write W. Spencer Murch and Luke Clark. (Credit: scyther5) Alberta, like Ontario before it, has just introduced a bill to legalize private online gambling companies. It would be a mistake for B.C. to follow suit.
B.C. has maintained a monopoly over the licensing and regulation of legal gambling since 1985. Through monopolies, B.C. and other provinces earn substantial gambling revenues while delivering programs that restrict youth gambling, promote safer gambling among adults, and discourage illegal offshore gambling operations.
Recently, Canadian provinces (alongside multiple other nations) have faced intense pressure from online gambling companies who are lobbying governments against gambling monopolies so that they can expand their businesses. It’s happening in Quebec , and it seems inevitable that B.C. will face the same. These groups argue ( with very little evidence ) that substantial revenues are being lost to illegal gambling operations, and that a model of licensed private companies would solve the problems of these “ old-fashioned ” monopolies.
Although many Canadians’ household finances are in a fragile state, online gambling is booming. Following Ontario’s 2022 move to privatize online gambling and tax it at 20 per cent, iGaming Ontario reported a staggering $2.4 billion in online gambling revenues from April 2023 to 2024. Less clear is the extent to which the province may really profit from this sum.
ADVERTISEMENT A 2024 report from the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction suggests that gambling-related problems are already rising following Ontario’s monopoly dissolution, but notes a lack of government monitoring that makes it difficult to estimate the broad social, health and economic costs of responding to them. Nevertheless, with taxable revenues apparently skyrocketing, other provinces seem to be deciding whether to follow Ontario’s example.
There are several reasons why B.C. should resist opening up to private online gambling companies. One key factor concerns the rate of gambling addiction and gambling-related harms among British Columbians. Gambling products — along with alcohol, tobacco and cannabis — are legalized and regulated by the government because, although they are popular among Canadians, they are addictive and cause a variety of harms when used to excess. In the case of alcohol, the World Health Organization recently endorsed monopoly control as advantageous for public health. Gambling-related harms include financial strain, poor credit rating, bankruptcy, relationship and employment problems, and a significantly increased risk for suicide.
This array of negative consequences impacts thousands of Canadian gamblers, their friends, relatives, coworkers and our wider communities. Online gambling amplifies these risks. A recent large-scale study of more than 10,000 Canadian gamblers suggests that online gambling carries an increased risk of harm compared to other gambling formats. This makes sense because online gambling apps are accessible 24/7 via smartphones, and because gambling apps can often be accessed covertly in a way that makes it hard for loved ones to notice when a problem is developing.
Evidence from around the world indicates that expanding the online gambling sector is very likely to increase the number of gambling-related harms. Another reason to maintain B.C.’s gambling monopoly is that existing laws are still not prepared to combat the high volume of competitive advertising that comes with private-sector gambling operations. Everyone who watched a sports broadcast over the last few years saw firsthand how far gambling companies will go to reach would-be customers. More than a repetitive nuisance, a high volume of gambling ads serves to normalize betting within the context of sports, appeals to vulnerable youth, and increases people’s risk for gambling-related problems.
In particular, prominent gambling advertisements pose significant risks for the thousands of British Columbians with — or in recovery from — gambling problems. Decades of research in gambling and other addictive products proves that exposure to drug- or gambling-related imagery stimulates cravings that can trigger gambling episodes and increase the likelihood of relapse among those in recovery. Put simply, the more gambling advertisements broadcast in B.C., the more frequent and persistent we expect gambling problems to be.
ADVERTISEMENT Several European nations have recently taken steps to protect youth and vulnerable groups from private gambling companies’ aggressive advertising tactics. In the Netherlands , online gambling companies may advertise only if they can prove the ads will not reach people under 24 years old. Spain has undertaken similar efforts to limit gambling advertisement in youth-visible spaces. More sweeping bans on most gambling advertisements have been adopted in both Italy and Belgium .
A third reason to not dissolve B.C.’s gambling monopoly concerns the efficacy of existing harm-reduction protocols. Currently, people experiencing gambling problems in B.C. can voluntarily exclude themselves from accessing casino and online gambling offerings through a service called GameBreak. If multiple new and unrestricted gambling platforms appear in the province, thousands of people enrolled in this self-exclusion program will be put at risk for relapsing into problematic gambling patterns. Further, expanding GameBreak to these new offerings is not a trivial undertaking: Although some European gambling markets have managed to install centralized self-exclusion registries, iGaming Ontario has so far failed to deploy their centralized self-exclusion system — more than two years after legislators opened the market.
The big question facing B.C.’s NDP government will be how to balance its essential tasks of generating revenue to keep the province running while safeguarding the health and wellbeing of those who live here. Based on the best evidence available, we argue that opening B.C.’s online gambling market and following Ontario’s example would increase the rate of gambling harms in the province, increase the burden on treatment and support services, and make many British Columbians financially worse off as their wages turn to wagers lost to multinational corporations.
The Lancet Public Health Commission on gambling reported in October that governments must start prioritizing public health over profit when setting gambling policy. As scientists, we agree that gambling policy decisions should be health-focused and evidence-based. We argue that any proposed expansion of the online gambling sector should first demonstrate it will not jeopardize the health of British Columbians. We call on David Eby and the B.C. NDP to put the health of British Columbians above the interests of multinational gambling corporations who will seek to open B.C.’s online gambling market in the coming years.
Dr. Spencer Murch is a postdoctoral fellow in the department of psychology at the University of Calgary, a sessional lecturer at UBC Okanagan, and a former graduate student at the Centre for Gambling Research at UBC. He is a member of the advisory board on Safer Gambling with the U.K. Gambling Commission; Dr. Luke Clark directs The Centre for Gambling Research at UBC, a research group in the department of psychology. The centre was launched in 2014 with funding by the B.C. government and B.C. Lottery Corp. to provide regional expertise on gambling. Its research aims to reduce the harms associated with gambling, and improve evidence-based gambling policy. The Centre has full independence of the BCLC and the B.C. government.
