Mental Health Survey Finds Significant Increase in Gambling Among Ontario Youth

Outside of a peak in 2021, Ontario teenagers are gambling significantly more than they have previously, according to new research.

The latest Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey (OSDUHS) conducted by Toronto’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) found one in 10 students reported betting on sports online at least once in the previous year.  

The survey also found that one in eight (12%) admitted to participating in other types of online gambling. Considering both online and offline wagering, one in five, or 20%, said they partook in “any type of gambling” during that same time frame.

Compared with the 2023 survey, the number of students who reported gambling online grew from 8% to 12% — a 50% jump.

“The rapid growth of online gambling among young people is really concerning,” Dr. Peter Selby, Principal Investigator of CAMH’s INTREPID Lab, said in a press release. 

Selby, an expert in youth mental health and substance use, added: 

The results raise important questions about how young people are able to access gambling products despite age restrictions, and about the influence that widespread gambling advertising and its normalization have on attitudes and behaviours. We need stronger measures to reduce youth exposure during a vulnerable time of brain development and better prevent the long-term impact of these trends.” 

Ontario Youth Gambling More Post-Regulation

Conducted every two years since 1977, the survey is Canada’s longest-running school-based youth survey. The biannual report covers Ontario students’ mental and physical health indicators, bullying, social media use, video gaming, gambling, and other risk behaviors.

For the 2025 edition, CAMH researchers administered an anonymous online questionnaire to 11,108 students in grades 7 to 12. CAMH administered the questions across 1,147 classes, 246 schools, and 42 school boards between December 2024 and June 2025.

While the survey has a long history, online gambling became a topic of inquiry in 2003. Questions about online sports betting first appeared in the biannual study in 2017, four years before Canada legalized single-event sports betting. 

In 2022, Ontario opened its online gambling market to commercial operators, like DraftKings, FanDuel, and Points Bet. Ontario is now considered one of North America’s most competitive online markets, with almost 50 operators and over 80 online casino and sports betting platforms. 

Alberta recently followed suit, becoming the second Canadian province to launch regulated online gambling just last month.

In Ontario’s case, in its 2024-25 fiscal year, 2.6 million active accounts wagered over $82 billion. That success has been accompanied by increasing concerns around the gambling boom’s impact on public health. 

Speaking to the Globe and Mail, the survey’s lead investigator, Hayley Hamilton, said the results reflect a growing problem. A senior CMH scientist like Selby, Hamilton is also co-director of the Institute for Mental Health Policy Research.

“I just look at the numbers, and I think, ‘Oh boy. There is an issue,’” she said. 

Increased accessibility, and the fact that gambling is online – it’s opened up to young people more than in the past.”

Research Indicates Growing Youth Gambling Problem

The OSDUHS results are just the latest warning sign.

A recent Canadian Medical Association Journal research paper found troubling increases in gambling-related helpline calls, particularly among boys and young men (15-24). 

Since the launch of Ontario’s commercial market, boys and men (15 to 44) made 60.3% of all gambling-related helpline contacts. Considering contacts solely related to sports betting, that number hits 88.9%.

While the picture for boys and men looks particularly grim, the CAMH survey found gambling rates rising for girls, too. In 2023, just 3% of female students reported gambling online. In the latest findings, 6% of girls said the same.

Both results followed a study released late last year by the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction that found almost a quarter of young gamblers (18-29) experience substantial gambling-related harm.

Within that group, 23.5% reported a high level of gambling-related harms, including reduced savings and increased credit card debt. They also said their gambling led to feelings of regret and personal failure.

Regulation Helps, But is Not Foolproof

One of the main arguments for the expansion of online gambling is always increased player protections, particularly for vulnerable populations like youth. But according to this latest study, some young people are finding ways around the rules and requirements, like ID checks, meant to keep them out.

Ontario regulator the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) last month fined online casino operator Betty Gaming $120,000 over failures that permitted underage players to access the platform.

In a release announcing the penalty, AGCO CEO Karin Schnarr stressed the importance of effective age-gating in the province’s regulated market.

“The legal age requirement is one of the most basic and important safeguards in Ontario’s regulated gaming market,” said Schnarr. 

Young people must not be able to create accounts, deposit money, or gamble online. Registered operators are responsible for making sure their systems work before those systems go live. When those responsibilities are not met, we will take action to protect young people and uphold confidence in Ontario’s regulated market.”

Unregulated Sites, Parents Complicate Youth Gambling Problem

Regulated platforms are not always at fault when things go awry.

Unregulated gambling apps also operate in Ontario and are not required to stay within the same guardrails.

According to the North Bay Nugget, sometimes parents are part of the problem.

The outlet interviewed parents who have helped their teenagers open accounts using their identities, despite it being illegal to facilitate underage gambling.

One mother suggested “every single one” of her son’s friends has an account.

The Nugget also spoke with Harley Redlick, a lawyer and responsible-gambling advocate. Redlick is the executive director of the Canadian Addiction Recovery Association and teaches a gaming law course at the Law Society of Ontario.

He said he’s had several parents admit to opening accounts for their kids, citing an online betting “epidemic” that is hard to resist. He also said existing regulations have seemingly “offloaded” a lot of the responsibility onto parents.

The influx of post-regulation gambling advertising likely doesn’t help.

Since Ontario launched its regulated market, many have criticized what they see as excessive advertising, most recently during the World Cup.

That excess prompted Lee Fairclough, a member of the provincial government and Liberal leadership candidate, to introduce a bill to ban online gambling advertising.

Announcing her bill earlier this year, Fairclough said since legalization Ontario screens have been “hijacked by a relentless cycle of ‘risk-free’ bets, bonus codes and celebrity endorsements.”

Notably, 2025 is the first time the CAMH survey asked students about their exposure to gambling ads. Over 80% reported seeing or hearing an online gambling ad in the previous month. Roughly 25% said they see ads every day.