After Canada legalized single-event sports betting in August 2021 and Ontario opened its online gambling market to private operators in 2022, emergency room visits for gambling disorders nearly doubled in the province, according to a study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Researchers tracked visits among people aged 10 to 105 before and after those policy shifts.
The sharpest rises were seen among men aged 10 to 29. Lead author Ryan Forrest warned that online sports betting heavily targets that demographic. Senior author Daniel Myran noted that because most people with gambling problems never seek care, the ER increases likely reflect far larger harms. More than 70% of gambling-disorder visits also involved a mental health or substance-use condition.
