Sports betting has moved far beyond the occasional wager between friends. It now sits inside the phone people use for work, banking, social connection, and entertainment. Odds appear during games, betting advertisements feature familiar athletes and celebrities, and a person can place another wager within seconds of a loss. For many people, gambling remains recreational. For others, that constant access can help turn a private concern into a serious health, financial, and family crisis.
A new Ontario study offers a troubling view of what has happened since the province expanded its regulated online gambling market. Researchers found that emergency-department visits involving gambling disorders were substantially higher after the April 2022 market expansion than the rates expected from earlier trends. The increase was concentrated among younger males, the same broad population heavily exposed to sports-betting promotion. The study does not tell us that every person who bets on sports will develop a gambling problem, and it does not prove that market expansion caused every individual emergency. It does show that severe gambling-related harm is appearing more often in Ontario’s health-care system and that waiting for a crisis is not an adequate response.
What did the Ontario gambling study find?
Researchers examined health records for more than 17.3 million Ontario residents aged 10 and older between January 2012 and June 2025. Using an interrupted time-series design, they compared emergency-department visit rates before and after Ontario opened its regulated online gambling market to private operators in April 2022. Over the full study period, 757 people had 952 emergency visits in which a gambling disorder was recorded as a main or contributing reason for the visit. These visits were rare in absolute terms, but their rate changed significantly following market expansion.
The average quarterly rate was 31.3 per cent higher after liberalization than before it. By April to June 2025, the overall rate was estimated to be 99 per cent higher than researchers would have expected if the earlier trend had continued. Among males aged 10 to 29, the estimated rate was 154 per cent higher than expected; among males aged 30 to 44, it was 116 per cent higher. The study did not find a statistically significant change among females. More than 70 per cent of the emergency visits also involved another mental health condition or heavy substance use, and almost one-third resulted in hospital admission (Forrest et al., 2026; ICES, 2026).
Those figures should be read carefully. An emergency-department record captures only a narrow and severe end of gambling-related harm. It does not count every person hiding debt, borrowing money to continue betting, losing sleep, withdrawing from family, or repeatedly trying and failing to stop. It also depends on gambling disorder being identified and documented during an emergency visit. The relatively small number of recorded cases does not make the issue insignificant. It suggests that the health system may be seeing only the point at which several pressures have already converged.
Why can online sports betting become so difficult to step away from?
The structure of online betting matters. Access is continuous, deposits are fast, and the next opportunity arrives almost immediately. Live betting can turn a single game into a long sequence of decisions involving the next goal, point, play, or player performance. Promotions, notifications, and bonus offers can bring gambling back into view even when a person had not planned to bet. Because the activity is private and cashless, losses may accumulate without the visible cues that once placed natural limits on time or spending.
Sports knowledge can also create a powerful sense that outcomes are more controllable than they are. A person may know the teams, follow injuries, understand statistics, and still be wagering on uncertain events. After a loss, the urge to recover the money can make the next bet feel practical or necessary rather than risky. When gambling has become tied to relief, excitement, identity, or escape, a conversation focused only on odds and finances may miss what the behaviour is doing emotionally.
At EPIC Recovery, we understand addictive behaviour within the whole context of a person’s life. The relevant question is not simply, “Why didn’t you stop?” It is also, “What happened before the urge, what did gambling provide in that moment, and what consequences followed?” That wider view does not remove responsibility. It helps a person understand the pattern well enough to interrupt it and begin repairing the harm.
What are the warning signs that sports betting may be becoming a problem?
There is no single amount of money or number of bets that defines a gambling disorder. Concern is warranted when gambling begins to interfere with control, honesty, responsibilities, relationships, or well-being. Warning signs may include spending more time or money than intended, increasing wagers to recreate an earlier level of excitement, returning quickly to win back losses, hiding activity or debt, borrowing money, becoming restless or irritable when trying to reduce gambling, and continuing despite repeated financial or relational consequences.
Family members may notice unpaid bills, unexplained transfers, secrecy around a phone, sudden mood changes connected to game results, disrupted sleep, or repeated requests for money. These signs do not justify surveillance, humiliation, or a public confrontation. They do justify a direct, private conversation grounded in observable facts. Shame often drives gambling further underground, while calm accountability makes it more possible to discuss finances, access to betting platforms, and professional support honestly.
What does early help look like?
Help does not have to begin in an emergency department. It can begin when someone notices that betting occupies more mental space than it used to, when a partner sees that trust is being damaged, or when losses are affecting rent, food, work, or sleep. Early support may include a clinical assessment, counselling, financial safeguards developed with informed consent, self-exclusion from gambling platforms, changes to payment access, peer support, and a plan for the emotional triggers that make betting feel urgent.
Recovery also involves more than stopping the transaction. The person may need to rebuild honesty, tolerate difficult emotions without seeking the rush or relief of a wager, address substance use or other mental health concerns, and repair relationships without demanding immediate trust. Family members may need their own support and boundaries. Sustainable change is more likely when the whole pattern is addressed, rather than treating the final bet as the only problem.
EPIC Recovery provides addiction counselling and recovery support in London, Ontario, including support for people and families affected by gambling concerns. A person does not need to wait until the consequences look dramatic from the outside. If gambling is affecting your quality of life, finances, relationships, work, or sense of control, that is enough reason to start a conversation.
Frequently asked questions
Did Ontario’s online gambling expansion cause emergency visits to double?
The study found that market expansion was associated with a near doubling of the overall emergency-visit rate compared with the rate expected from earlier trends. Because it was an observational population study, it cannot prove that the policy change caused every visit. The timing, size, and concentration of the increase nevertheless provide an important warning about gambling-related harm.
Can someone have a gambling problem even if they do not gamble every day?
Yes. Frequency alone does not determine whether gambling has become harmful. Loss of control, chasing losses, secrecy, financial pressure, emotional dependence on gambling, and continued behaviour despite consequences can all indicate a serious concern, even when betting is intermittent.
Where can someone in Ontario get help for gambling concerns?
EPIC Recovery provides addiction counselling and recovery support in London, Ontario, for individuals and families affected by gambling concerns. ConnexOntario can also help people locate free gambling treatment and support services anywhere in Ontario. It is available 24 hours a day at 1-866-531-2600 or ConnexOntario.ca.
For specialized gambling treatment, the Ontario Centre for Problem Gambling at Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare offers outpatient and bed-based services. Information is available at HDGH.org/problemgamblingservices or by calling 519-254-2112.
People aged 19 and older can also register with BetGuard.ca to exclude themselves from all regulated online gambling platforms in Ontario, including OLG. Registration prevents access to existing accounts, the creation of new accounts, and direct marketing from regulated gambling operators for the selected exclusion period. BetGuard does not cover unregulated gambling websites or land-based casinos. Separate self-exclusion from Ontario casinos and charitable gaming centres is available through OLG’s My PlayBreak program.
If someone is in immediate danger, call 911. If suicide is a concern, call or text 988. In London and surrounding areas, Reach Out is available at 519-433-2023 or 1-866-933-2023.
References
Forrest, R., Doan, N., MacDonald-Spracklin, R., Pugliese, M., Turner, N., & Myran, D. (2026). Emergency department visits for gambling disorders after the legalization of single-event sports betting and rapid expansion of online gambling. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Advance online publication.
ICES. (2026, September 16). Emergency room visits for gambling disorders nearly doubled after expanded online gambling market.
Romboy, D. (2026, September 16). What happened when Canada let private companies run online sports betting. Deseret News.
Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare. (2026). Ontario Centre for Problem Gambling.
iGaming Ontario. (2026, May 14). BetGuard, Ontario’s new tool to opt out of online gaming, is now available.
This article is for general education and is not a diagnosis or a substitute for individualized care.