The government agency responsible for online gambling in Ontario secretly shelved a research study intended to track rates of problem gambling in the province.
asserted
agency → shelve → province
iGaming Ontario commissioned the study in the months before the province launched its regulated online market for sports betting and casino games in April 2022.
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province → commission → April
The agency had vowed to make the research public, saying it would establish a baseline for problem gambling in Ontario while informing how they tailored their responsible gambling program.
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they → vow → program
However, records obtained by the Star through freedom of information legislation reveal that iGaming executives were concerned when researchers reported problem gambling rates significantly higher than expected, and quietly decided the research would be kept confidential.
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research → obtain → legislation
The internal records show the agency was worried the findings would still be leaked, and brainstormed damage control at a meeting where they discussed a “gag order” and other strategies to minimize the chances the researchers may “bad mouth” iGaming Ontario.
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researchers → show → chances
iGaming Ontario declined to make any representative available for an interview and did not answer a detailed list of questions for this story.
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representative → decline → story
In an unsigned statement, the agency said Ontario’s online gambling market “has some of the strictest standards in the country, and we continue to work with our partners to strengthen responsible gaming and protect players across the province.”
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we → say → province
The records obtained by the Star — released after protracted delays and a successful appeal to the Information and Privacy Commissioner — are heavily censored and the researchers’ findings were withheld entirely.
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findings → obtain → Commissioner
Among the grounds relied upon by iGaming Ontario to justify the lack of disclosure is that releasing the records could harm the province’s economic interests.
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harm → rely → interests
(The Star has also appealed that decision to the Information and Privacy Commissioner to try to force iGaming Ontario to release more of the records.)
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Star → appeal → records
Ontarians wagered more than $82.7 billion in the 2024-25 fiscal year with nearly $3 billion of that added to provincial coffers, according to the agency’s most recent annual report.
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billion → wager → report
Preliminary data for the 2025-26 fiscal year and the first quarter of 2026-27 show more than a 25-per-cent increase on those totals.
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data → show → totals
That windfall has come at a cost, critics say.
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critics → come → cost
Suicides by people with gambling issues have increased, according to data from Ontario’s chief coroner.
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Suicides → increase → coroner
Emergency department visits for gambling disorders have doubled.
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visits → double → disorders
Insolvencies in which gambling is identified as one of the causes have more than tripled.
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gambling → identify → causes
Calls to Ontario’s problem gambling help line have also shot up.
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Calls → shoot → line
Despite the signals of increased gambling harms, the province has not conducted any kind of public study of how legalizing online gambling — and the advertising onslaught that came with it — affected rates of problem gambling in the population.
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that → increase → population
The research iGaming Ontario commissioned — and then hid — was meant to fill in some of those gaps.
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Ontario → commission → gaps
Province planned to release study
In the months before Ontario launched its online gambling marketplace, iGaming Ontario put out a request for bids to conduct a two-year research study “to gain an understanding of the prevalence of problem gambling in Ontario.”
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Ontario → plan → Ontario
The Responsible Gambling Council, a charity that aims to prevent problem gambling, was the successful bidder.
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that → aim → gambling
The RGC also runs the province’s responsible gambling accreditation program required for all gambling operators.
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RGC → run → operators
iGaming Ontario pointed to the RGC-led research study in both internal and external presentations as one of the key actions it was taking to promote responsible gambling.
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it → point → gambling
It was a longitudinal study, meaning researchers would follow the same group of people over a two-year period, and it was to include three waves of data collection.
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it → mean → collection
iGaming Ontario was clear about its intention to publicize the findings.
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Ontario → publicize → findings
The province announced on Aug. 1 that it has selected a vendor to build a centralized self-exclusion system.
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it → announce → system
The province announced on Aug. 1 that it has selected a vendor to build a centralized self-exclusion system.
“Through this study … we can both establish a baseline for gambling participation and problem gambling in the province and see how our responsible gambling program can be modified according to player needs.
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program → announce → needs
We look forward to receiving the final study results and sharing them with the public,” iGaming Ontario communications adviser Josh Elliott previously told the Star in 2024.
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Elliott → look → 2024
Given the extent to which the records are redacted it’s not entirely clear why iGaming Ontario’s executives changed their mind about making the results public.
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results → give → mind
The records suggest that, from the start, they were uncomfortable with what researchers found.
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researchers → suggest → what
Methodology at heart of disagreement
The first wave of data collection took place in February 2022, two months before Ontario launched its online gaming market.
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Ontario → take → market
It was to establish a baseline for the rates of problem gambling in the province.
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It → establish → province
“Baseline came back with unexpected PG [problem gambling] rates that deviate significantly from other research,” reads a sentence in undated meeting notes.
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sentence → come → notes
The meeting notes and other records disclosed to the Star suggest the researchers’ use of online survey panels was a point of contention.
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use → disclose → contention
Online panels are considered a legitimate survey method, but they have been found to produce higher rates of problem gambling than other methods, likely because participants in online surveys typically spend more time online than the average person.
“To address this we want to add a telephone sample to Wave 2,” the unsigned notes read, noting that iGaming Ontario’s then executive director, Martha Otton, was “in agreement with this approach.
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director → consider → approach
Wants to have the telephone sample to demonstrate rates are influenced by the methodology.”
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rates → want → methodology
Otton, who retired in February, did not respond to questions sent to her LinkedIn account.
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who → retire → account
Gambling researchers regularly use online panels, despite their limitations, because the alternatives are often prohibitively expensive.
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alternatives → use → limitations
A recent national study of problem gambling among young adults used online panels and included a note acknowledging their association with higher rates of problem gambling.
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study → use → gambling
In a December 2022 email, iGaming Ontario senior manager for responsible gambling, Melissa Ball, wrote to a colleague who had requested the data from the study’s first wave.
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who → write → wave
…and 39 more, not listed.
The Aporia
