While participation in traditional types of gambling is decreasing in Montreal, online gambling is gaining popularity, especially among young adult men, a new report shows.
Montreal public health and Concordia University conducted a survey among 8,500 adults in 2025-26 to better understand the evolution of gambling in the city, as well as risks associated to the practice. Their findings, made public Thursday, revealed that trends are changing — raising concerns where online gambling is concerned.
“We’re observing everywhere, including in Quebec, that the way people gamble has been changing drastically with the expansion of online gambling,” said Sylvia Kairouz, professor in the department of sociology and anthropology at Concordia University and research chair on gambling.
Gambling online through websites and apps is attracting a larger proportion of Montreal adults today than it did the last time they were surveyed eight years ago, the report shows, with 13.3 per cent of respondents saying they participated online in 2025 compared to 4.4 per cent in 2018.
