Gambling Emergency Visits in Ontario Hit Boys and Young Men Hardest

Somewhere in Ontario today, someone will walk into an emergency department not because of an injury or an infection but because gambling has taken over their life. New research shows that this is happening considerably more often than it used to, and men and boys are overwhelmingly making gambling emergency visits in Ontario.

The study, published on 16 September in The American Journal of Preventive Medicine, tracked every Ontario resident aged 10 and over eligible for universal health coverage, more than 17.3 million people, across 14 years beginning in 2012, the year the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation first rolled out online gambling.

What did the study find?

What the study found was 757 people making a total of 952 emergency visits for gambling-related care, a 31.3 percent increase on the period before, when the numbers had been stable. The University of Toronto describes the more recent shift more bluntly: emergency visits for gambling disorders nearly doubled after the online market expanded. Both figures describe the same data from different angles, and the second made the headlines. Gambling emergency visits in Ontario were stable for years before this.

Why did the numbers move when they did?

Why the numbers moved lines up with changes in how Canadians can gamble. Canada legalized betting on single sports events in 2021. In April 2022, Ontario became the first province to open its online gambling market to private companies, and CBC reports there are now more than 80 gaming and betting sites run by over 40 private operators in the province. In July 2026, Alberta became the second province to allow private operators, and Myran notes other regions are considering or facing pressure to follow.

Where did the increase actually land?

This is the part that should stop you. Where the increase landed was not evenly spread at all. Men and boys accounted for 72 percent of the visits. Among males aged 10 to 29, visits rose 154 percent compared with the years before gambling laws were loosened. For men aged 30 to 44, the increase was 116 percent. There was no notable increase among females.

Daniel Myran, associate professor of family and community medicine at the University of Toronto's Temerty Faculty of Medicine, a scientist at ICES and the Gordon F. Cheesbrough Research Chair in Family and Community Medicine at North York General, said most people arriving at an emergency department because of gambling also had a substance use or mental health condition, including thoughts of suicide. He described those as the very severe end of a much larger problem, and said most people experiencing gambling problems will never seek care at all.

This is not the first signal. The same author team previously documented a sharp rise in gambling-related contacts to ConnexOntario, the province's round-the-clock mental health and addictions helpline, after online gambling expanded. A study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal in March found a 95.5 percent increase in men and boys making those calls between the 2015 launch of the province's regulated portal and September 2025, with calls from males aged 15 to 24 up 317 percent. The pressure lands in a system already stretched, and why psychiatric bed wait times are so much longer is where many of these people go next. Alcohol is frequently part of the same picture, and how much is actually considered low risk in Canada is lower than almost anyone expects.

Which signs should parents watch for now?

Emergency visits are the tip of the iceberg. Ryan Forrest, a public health doctoral student at the University of Toronto's Dalla Lana School of Public Health and first author on the study, told CBC that anybody who gambles can experience harms, and that these findings may not account for a much larger number of people who have not reached the point of seeking support.

The age data is why the signs parents should watch for matter more than the policy argument. Dr. Shawn Kelly, an Ottawa pediatrician specializing in adolescent addiction medicine who was not involved in either study, told CBC that gambling problems have long been more common in males across all ages, and that smartphones now put betting within reach at younger and younger ages. The signs he points to are a preoccupation with money and sports scores, withdrawal from family, school, work and other activities, worsening anxiety, slipping school attendance and depressive symptoms. Sports betting is already visible in this cohort, as the Ontario student survey showing a tenfold rise in betting recorded, and teenagers reaching for crisis text lines overnight is often where the distress surfaces first.

Where the research team and the industry part company is on what should change. Forrest hopes the findings make other provinces think carefully before following Ontario's model. Others, including people in recovery, want limits on the volume of gambling advertising during sports broadcasts. Operators continue to work legally within the rules each province has set. That debate will shape what gambling looks like in Canada over the next few years. What will not wait for that debate is the number of gambling emergency visits in Ontario arriving each month, alongside a broader shift in where young people take their worries, including the one in five students now asking a chatbot for emotional advice.

What else are readers asking?

Who is most at risk?

In this data, males aged 10 to 44, with the sharpest increase among those aged 10 to 29. Men and boys made up 72 percent of the emergency visits and there was no notable increase among females. Most people arriving in crisis also had a substance use or mental health condition alongside the gambling.

What are the warning signs in a teenager?

The pediatrician quoted in this report points to a preoccupation with money and sports scores, withdrawal from family, school, work and other activities, worsening anxiety, slipping school attendance and depressive symptoms. A conversation is a better first move than a confrontation, and a family doctor is a legitimate place to start.

Where can someone get help in Canada?

The Responsible Gambling Council offers resources across the country. ConnexOntario connects Ontarians to addiction and mental health services around the clock. Canada's Suicide Crisis Helpline is available by calling or texting 988 at any hour. A family doctor is also a reasonable first step, since gambling problems so often travel with anxiety, low mood or substance use.

Has online betting increased harm in Ontario?

The study found an association rather than proof of cause. Emergency visits for gambling disorders rose 31.3 percent across the period studied, with much larger relative increases among younger males, and the timing lines up with the legalization of single-event sports betting and the opening of the province's online market to private operators.

If the person you are worried about is not you, how to check in on a friend who is struggling covers what to actually say.

Gambling harm, substance use and suicide are difficult subjects, and reading about them can be hard. If gambling, substance use or thoughts of suicide are affecting you or someone close to you, support is available now. Canada's Suicide Crisis Helpline can be reached by calling or texting 988 at any hour. ConnexOntario connects Ontarians to addiction and mental health services around the clock, and the Responsible Gambling Council offers resources across the country.

This article is general information and not medical advice. If you are having a medical emergency, call 911. For anything non-urgent, speak with a doctor or another qualified health professional about your own situation.

If you or someone you love needs support, you can compare walk-in clinics near you and see current wait times on Medimap, or browse the Medimap Health Hub for more on mental health and addiction care.