The government agency responsible for online gambling in Ontario secretly shelved a research study intended to track rates of problem gambling in the province.
iGaming Ontario commissioned the study in the months before the province launched its regulated online market for sports betting and casino games in April 2022. The agency had vowed to make the research public, saying it would establish a baseline for problem gambling in Ontario while informing how they tailored their responsible gambling program.
However, records obtained by the Star through freedom of information legislation reveal that iGaming executives were concerned when researchers reported problem gambling rates significantly higher than expected, and quietly decided the research would be kept confidential.
