Ontario Liberals Move to Ban iGaming Advertising Four Years After Privatization

Key Takeaways:

• Ontario Bill 107 would prohibition online gambling ads crossed TV, societal media, and paid sponsorships.
• Fines scope C$1 million; 2nd condemnation triggers licence revocation.
• Ontario PCs clasp 80 seats; Liberals clasp 14, making transition unlikely.

A Legislative Backlash to the 2022 Privatization

Lee Fairclough, the Liberal professional for intelligence health, addictions, and homelessness, tabled the measure successful the Legislative Assembly of Ontario connected April 20. It cleared its archetypal introductory ballot and was ordered for 2nd reading, with statement scheduled for mid-May. The connection would amend Ontario’s Gaming Control Act, 1992, to prohibit astir 50 licensed sportsbook and iGaming operators — and the firms selling connected their behalf — from promoting their platforms done broadcast media, societal media, oregon paid sponsorships.

The measure frames itself explicitly arsenic a reversal of the Doug Ford government’s 2022 determination to unfastened Ontario to backstage iGaming operators. “Online gambling is becoming a nationalist wellness crisis,” Fairclough said successful the connection accompanying the bill, which besides states that calls to ConnexOntario, the province’s intelligence wellness and addictions helpline, person risen 144 percent since the regulated iGaming marketplace launched successful April 2022 – a fig that was apt derived from the Canadian Medical Association Journal’s March 2 survey this year.

Fairclough has argued that gambling platforms could beryllium “supercharging” addiction, pointing to the ubiquity of promotional contented arsenic a operator of normalization. The measure draws an explicit parallel with tobacco, alcohol, and cannabis – each taxable to advertizing restrictions successful Canada.

Per the measure draft, individuals convicted of breaching the advertizing prohibition would look fines of up to C$100,000, portion firm violators could beryllium liable for up to C$1 million. A 2nd condemnation triggers mandatory revocation of a supplier’s registration, designed to forestall operators from treating fiscal penalties arsenic a outgo of doing business.

While the measure is improbable to walk – the Progressive Conservatives clasp 80 seats successful the Ontario Assembly, the Liberals conscionable 14, leaving Fairclough’s caucus arsenic the 3rd enactment alternatively than the authoritative absorption – it is moving successful parallel with the national Bill S-211, titled the National Framework connected Sports Betting Advertising Act, which has passed the Senate and is awaiting further House of Commons information nether Prime Minister Mark Carney’s recently secured Liberal majority.

The Canadian Gaming Association issued a connection connected April 22 opposing Bill 107, arguing that Ontario’s existing model already constitutes “some of the astir rigorous selling regulations successful North America.” Licensed operators are already barred from advertizing promotional bonuses extracurricular their ain websites, apps, and nonstop lawsuit channels, and are prohibited from selling to high-risk cohorts, minors, oregon self-excluded players.

The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario strengthened these rules further successful 2024 by restricting the usage of athletes and celebrities successful ads. The CGA argued the measure would “essentially let amerciable operators to flood societal media with posts, making it intolerable for Ontarians to place licensed providers portion weakening the authorization of the AGCO.”

This statement mirrors a talking constituent based connected manufacture insights elsewhere successful the world. In the United Kingdom, probe published successful April by the Betting and Gaming Council has precocious forecasted that unlicensed relation advertisement walk volition transcend that of regulated firms for the archetypal clip by 2028. This is driven by the aforesaid structural pattern, wherever regulatory tightening connected licensed operators creates abstraction for offshore alternatives and different noncompliant actors.

Ontario’s regulated marketplace has grown substantially since launch. Figures from iGaming Ontario’s 2024-25 yearly report amusement C$82.7 cardinal successful wagers, C$2.9 cardinal successful gaming revenue, 50 operators, and much than 2.6 cardinal progressive subordinate accounts.

As the regulatory treatment continues connected a national and provincial level alike, Alberta is acceptable to go the 2nd Canadian state to motorboat a competitory iGaming marketplace successful July.