The Canadian Gaming Summit 2025 on June 29 will host the Player Protection Summit at the Toronto Metro Convention Center.
The focused track will feature policy experts, operators and responsible gaming specialists examining how Canada’s regulatory are developing safeguards for players in a maturing market.
“Protecting players should never be viewed as a compliance box to tick,” SBC Founder and CEO Rasmus Sojmark said in a statement. “It’s a complex, developing challenge that spans tech, policy, and empathy. This symposium brings together the people on the frontline of responsible gambling to share the insights that will help us build a truly sustainable gaming industry across Canada.”
Scheduled are six sessions covering contemporary challenges, from AI-driven player protection to national self-exclusion models. A release stated that the symposium will offers delegates insight into “evolving policies, technologies, and collaborations driving the next generation of responsible gaming in Canada.”
The Player Protection Summit opens with a special edition of Martin Lycka’s Safe Bet Show, featuring former NHL player Nick Kypreos. Kypreos, who played with teams including the Philadelphia Flyers, New York Rangers, and the Toronto Maple Leafs, will speak about his career.
The panel Regulation and Responsibility: How the New Politics Affect Player Protection, will explore what Alberta can learn from Ontario’s approach to responsible gambling and why one in five Ontario gamblers use unregulated platforms to gamble. Epic Global Solutions Senior Business Development Manager Craig Cornforth; Alistair Facciol, Vice President of iCasino, iGaming Ontario; Parleh Editor-in-Chief Steve McAllister; BCLC Director of Player Health Ryan McCarthy; and Geoff Zochodne, Covers Senior News Analyst, will examine how shifting political landscapes influence player protection strategies and consider whether a coordinated national approach could reduce player reliance on unregulated markets.
In Self-Exclusion: A Plus for Protection or a Boost to the Black Market? panelists will examine Ontario’s upcoming centralized self-exclusion system and assess whether it establishes an industry standard for responsible gaming or risks driving players toward unregulated markets. OLG Chief of Staff and Head of Enterprise Strategy Aaron GlynWilliams; Catherine Jarmain, iGaming Ontario Director – Operations & Player Relations; Isabelle Martin, Loto-Quebec Director of Responsible Gaming; RGC Senior Vice President, Accreditation, Advisory and Insights Tracy Parker; Dr. Kahlil Philander, Washington State University Carson College of Business; and Dataworks Group CEO Al Watson will explore how regulators and operators can strike the right balance between access, protection, and enforcement.
Technology in RG: From Targeted Messaging to AI Support will examine how artificial intelligence can transform responsible gambling measures by using behavioral data to spot at-risk players. Cory Fox, FanDuel Senior Vice President Public Policy & Sustainability, Playtech Chief Sustainable Gambling Officer Francesco Rodano, and Dan Umfleet, Kindbridge Group CEO, will discuss how their organizations are rolling out technology-driven solutions while tackling the ethical questions these tools create, including data privacy concerns, player consent issues, and the dangers of relying too heavily on automated systems when working with vulnerable people.
Also featured as part of the Player Protection Symposium is the session It Pays to Be Positive: Changing the Direction of Reinforcement in RG, which will unite leading experts to examine how shifting from punitive messaging to positive reinforcement can help ensure safer gambling behaviors.
