TLDR Online sports betting among Ontario students rose from 8% to 12% since 2023 One in five students reported some type of gambling activity in the past year Gambling helpline calls are rising fastest among boys and young men Regulators fined an online casino $120,000 for letting underage users access its platform More than 80% of students say they saw an online gambling ad in the past month
New research shows more teenagers in Ontario are gambling than in recent years. The data comes from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto.
The Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey found that one in 10 students bet on sports online at least once in the past year. Another one in eight took part in other forms of online gambling.
When online and offline betting are combined, one in five students said they gambled in some way during that period.
Compared to 2023, the share of students who gambled online grew from 8% to 12%. That is a jump of 50%.
Dr. Peter Selby, a researcher with CAMH, said the growth is concerning. He said it raises questions about how young people get around age limits meant to keep them out.
Growing Exposure Among Young People
The survey has run since 1977 and is Canada’s longest running study of its kind. Researchers gave the anonymous survey to over 11,000 students in grades 7 through 12.
Ontario opened its online gambling market to companies like DraftKings and FanDuel in 2022. The province now has close to 50 licensed operators.
In the last fiscal year, 2.6 million active accounts placed more than $82 billion in bets. Hayley Hamilton, the survey’s lead investigator, said the numbers point to a real problem.
She said gambling has become easier to access
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