More young men contacting Ontario gambling helpline, new study finds
Global News
The rate of young men contacting Ontario’s mental health helpline for gambling-related problems has spiked after the province allowed private online gambling, a new study suggests.
The rate of young men contacting Ontario’s mental health helpline for gambling-related problems has increased by more than 300 per cent after the province allowed private online gambling, a new study suggests.
The researchers behind the study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal on Monday say the findings represent a need for stronger harm-reduction measures and more access to treatment.
The study analyzed the number of contacts to ConnexOntario, the province’s free 24-hour mental health and addictions helpline, for gambling-related concerns from January 2012 to September 2025.
It noted an increase after January 2015, when the government launched the gambling platform PlayOLG, as well as after the province expanded private online gambling in April 2022.
Over the 13-year period researchers looked at, ConnexOntario was contacted more than 745,700 times, the study said, and about 37,000 of those contacts were gambling-related.
The study found that among boys and men aged 15 to 24, the mean monthly rate of gambling-related outreach per million people rose by 317 per cent from the time before Ontario’s launch of PlayOLG to the period after the privatization of online gambling.
The rate increased about 108 per cent over the same time frame for men aged 25 to 44, the study further found. Prior to the policy changes, the rates were stable, it said.
While better awareness of the hotline could be a factor, the spike may not be solely explained by people seeking help for existing problems, said Dr. Daniel Myran, a research chair at North York General Hospital who co-authored the study.
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The rate of young men contacting Ontario’s mental health helpline for gambling-related problems has spiked after the province allowed private online gambling, a new study suggests.
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