Ontario’s online gambling market has grown rapidly since private betting launched in April 2022, but new data suggest the province is still catching up with the harm it may be creating.

A new Ontario-focused analysis reported by CBC estimates that nearly 130,000 residents showed signs of problem gambling in 2025. The comparable estimate was roughly 43,000 in 2018.

That is nearly a threefold increase. It is also an estimate of people showing signs of gambling problems, not a count of clinical diagnoses.

The figure comes from Statistics Canada’s 2025 Canadian Community Health Survey and analysis by the Alberta Gambling Research Institute.

The market grew faster than the baseline

Ontario’s private online market opened on April 4, 2022. The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario regulates operators and suppliers. iGaming Ontario conducts and manages internet gaming through operating agreements with private companies.

The commercial market has expanded sharply. In the fiscal year ending March 31, 2025, iGaming Ontario reported $82.7 billion in wagers and $2.9 billion in total gaming revenue.

Those figures show the size of the market. They do not show player losses or the number of people with gambling disorders.

That distinction matters. Revenue is reported regularly, but gambling harm has been harder to track across time. The 2018 and 2025 survey results also come from different periods and market conditions.

Ontario has detailed figures on market activity, but a less consistent public baseline for gambling harm before and after the 2022 market opening.

Emergency departments add a second warning

A peer-reviewed study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine examined Ontario health records from January 2012 through June 2025. Researchers identified 952 emergency visits for gambling disorder involving 757 people.

Emergency-department visit rates were 31.3% higher on average after Ontario liberalized online gambling and legalized single-event sports betting. By April to June 2025, the rate was estimated to be 99% higher than expected without those market changes.

  • Visits rose 154% above expected levels among males aged 10 to 29.
  • Visits rose 116% among males aged 30 to 44.
  • The study found no comparable increase among females.

The researchers described an association between market expansion and rising emergency visits. The study does not prove that legalization alone caused every increase.

It also measured severe cases that reached hospital care. It cannot capture the full number of people experiencing financial, social or mental-health harm.

What regulators still need to measure

The two data sets measure different parts of the problem. The survey estimates the number of people showing signs of gambling problems. Hospital records track a much smaller group whose condition became serious enough to require emergency care.

Together, they reveal a measurement gap. Ontario can report wagers, gaming revenue, active accounts and channelization, but it has not had an equally visible, continuous public record of gambling harm before and after the market opened.

Future comparisons will depend on consistent surveys, health-system monitoring and clearer reporting on player-protection measures, including:

  • Self-exclusion programs
  • Treatment referrals
  • Age checks
  • Identity verification

Ontario’s public support system directs people experiencing gambling problems to ConnexOntario. The service provides free and confidential referrals at 1-866-531-2600.

ConnexOntario is separate from iGaming Ontario and the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario.

The market has already shown that it can grow. The harder policy test is whether Ontario will measure its human costs with the same precision.