{"id":605688,"date":"2026-09-19T22:28:19","date_gmt":"2026-09-19T22:28:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/605688\/"},"modified":"2026-09-19T22:28:19","modified_gmt":"2026-09-19T22:28:19","slug":"ontario-gambling-disorder-er-visits-rise-after-igaming-launch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/605688\/","title":{"rendered":"Ontario gambling-disorder ER visits rise after iGaming launch"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"single-post__info-excerpt\">A provincial study suggests that visits to the ER for gambling problems after the launch of the online market rose, and the rate was 154% higher than expected by mid-2025<\/p>\n<p>                  <a href=\"https:\/\/next.io\/news\/author\/erik-gibbs\/\" class=\"author-block__img-link hover--opacity-fade\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n            <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"author-block__img\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Erik-Gibbs-author-at-Sportsbooks-Online-96x96.png\" alt=\"Erik Gibbs photo\"\/><br \/>\n          <\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ontario\u2019s expansion of online gambling was followed by a sharp rise in emergency department visits linked to gambling disorders.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A population study <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ajpmonline.org\/article\/S0749-3797%2826%2900294-1\/fulltext\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">published this week<\/a> in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine tracked more than 17.3 million Ontario residents from January 2012 through June 2025.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Researchers identified 952 gambling disorder emergency visits involving 757 people during that period. The average quarterly visit rate was 31.3% higher after market liberalisation than before it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The increase did not occur immediately after Ontario opened its regulated private online market in April 2022. Instead, the rate began climbing by 7% each quarter.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By the second quarter of 2025, it was an estimated 99% above the level expected from earlier trends.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Young men accounted for much of that change. Among males aged 10 to 29, the rate was 154% higher than expected by mid-2025.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It was 116% higher among men aged 30 to 44. Researchers found no statistically significant increase among women.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Those arriving at emergency departments often had problems extending beyond gambling. Mental health or substance use conditions appeared in 72.1% of visits.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Major depression was recorded in 33.3%, while acute stress reactions appeared in 21.8%. Nearly one-third of gambling-related visits led to hospital admission.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Researchers described the cases as severe manifestations of gambling harm, rather than a measure of overall problem gambling.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They also cautioned against assigning the increase to one regulatory change. Ontario\u2019s private market launch overlapped with wider access to legal single-event sports betting. The study therefore measured their combined effect rather than separating the two.<\/p>\n<p>Ontario market sees rapid expansion<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ontario <a href=\"https:\/\/next.io\/news\/features\/ontario-igaming-launch-day-one-as-it-happened\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">introduced its private regulated internet gambling market<\/a> in April 2022. Its growth since then has been substantial.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During the 2024-25 financial year, players wagered C$82.7bn through private operators. That was 32% higher than a year earlier.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Gaming revenue climbed 31% to C$2.9bn. The market ended the year with 50 active operators and more than 2.6m active player accounts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Casino games remain the largest part of Ontario\u2019s regulated online gambling business. They accounted for the clear majority of wagering during 2024-25.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The scale of that market matters when considering gambling-related harm. Mobile betting gives players continuous access to casino games and sports markets without visiting a physical venue.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Single-event sports betting has also widened the range of products available. In-play betting allows wagers to be placed repeatedly while a sporting event is underway.<\/p>\n<p>Other research points to rising gambling harm<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The emergency department findings add to other research examining gambling behaviour since online betting expanded.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A separate Ontario study examined more than 37,000 gambling-related contacts with the province\u2019s mental-health and addiction support service.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Researchers found that contact rates increased substantially after online gambling expanded. The largest increases were again concentrated among younger males.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">US research has produced similar warning signs. A 2025 study examining internet searches found increased demand for information related to gambling addiction after sportsbook legalisation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The increase was particularly noticeable in states offering online sports betting.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Ontario emergency department study goes further because it measures acute healthcare encounters rather than searches or support-line contacts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Researchers stressed that emergency cases remain rare. They also noted that many people experiencing gambling harm never seek formal treatment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That suggests hospital data captures only the most severe end of a much broader problem.<\/p>\n<p>      Share<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A provincial study suggests that visits to the ER for gambling problems after the launch of the online&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":605689,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[134,554,555,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-605688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mental-health","tag-health","tag-mental-health","tag-mentalhealth","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/605688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=605688"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/605688\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/605689"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=605688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=605688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=605688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}