CBC: Ontario Problem Gambling Estimates Triple Since 2022 Expansion
The number of Ontarians showing signs of problem gambling has risen to nearly 130,000, up from roughly 43,000 in 2018, according to a CBC News investigation published on October 21, 2026.
The report also says gambling-related suicides in the province tripled after Ontario's regulated online casino market and sports betting opened to private operators in April 2022. Anyone affected can call ConnexOntario on 1-866-531-2600 or text CONNEX to 247247.
The figures come from new work by the Alberta Gambling Research Institute, which used the Problem Gambling Severity Index and data from Statistics Canada's 2025 Canadian Community Health Survey. CBC says the analysis found a 0.5 per cent jump in Ontario's problem gambling rate compared with 2018.
Researcher Carrie Shaw presented the findings at an institute conference in May. She told CBC the rate in Ontario climbed within six months of the private market opening in 2022 while it fell in the rest of Canada, and she linked that to gambling being normalised through easy access and heavy advertising. She added that online gambling removes the physical barriers to play, since a phone or desktop is enough at any hour.
Coroner Data And Earlier Studies
CBC also cites the Office of the Chief Coroner of Ontario. Before the expansion, the province averaged five gambling-related suicides a year between 2016 and 2021. The outlet reports that the number tripled after 2022.
Two peer-reviewed studies point the same way on help-seeking. A March 2026 paper in the Canadian Medical Association Journal analysed 745,716 contacts to the ConnexOntario helpline between January 2012 and September 2025, of which 37,087 were gambling-related.
The mean monthly rate of gambling contacts per million people aged 15 and over was 13.4 before the government-run PlayOLG platform launched in January 2015, 17.0 after it and 26.2 following the 2022 expansion of private online gambling. The increases were almost entirely among boys and men aged 15 to 44.
CBC adds that a September 2026 study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found a sharp rise in people with gambling disorders presenting at Ontario emergency departments.
Calls For Better Monitoring
Matthew Young, chief research officer at the research network Greo Evidence Insights, told CBC he asked government two years ago to track online gambling activity more closely, for fear of rising addiction, bankruptcies and suicides.
He said those calls went unanswered and that the data now shows the harms he warned about. Greo was formerly the Ontario Problem Gambling Research Centre, which the province defunded in 2019.
Young wants independent monitoring and a share of gambling revenue set aside for research into how to curb harm. He also questioned why provinces are opening their markets without a public health analysis.
CBC notes that Alberta joined Ontario in July in legalising online gambling run by private companies, while it remains illegal everywhere else in Canada.
