This is why we at CasinosHunter took an effort to collect the most recent figures of the Canadian gambling statistics, both online and offline, from open data sources for the years 2019-2025. After a thorough research, we broke down big analytical articles into clear facts that are easy to comprehend and use.
In this post, we have collected over 25 interesting facts about gambling stats in Canada.
Key Canadian Gambling Statistics 2025
- In 2022, Canada’s total gambling revenue was around $16 billion
- In 2022, nearly 20 million residents of Canada were actively gambling
- 30% of the whole adult population in Canada are registered online gamblers
- In August 2022, higher proportions of women than men were reported playing bingo (5.7%) and buying instant lottery tickets or playing online games (34.8%).
- A surprising 2022 survey showed that 51% of gamers were female, and 49% were male.
- 48% of all online casino games wagers were made on slots. 32% went to table games, and 19% of wagers were made on Live Dealer games.
- In terms of sports betting, in 2022, basketball was the most popular sport for bettors collecting 28% of wagers. Other sports were soccer (15%), football (14%), hockey (9%), and baseball (8%).
Gambling Facts and Stats in Canada
- In April 2023, iGaming Ontario announced the province revenue of about $35.6 billion in total wagers and almost $1.4 billion in GR through sports wagering.
- According to the AGCO, there are currently 45 operators in Ontario alone, and over 5,000 certified games are allowed for playing within the province’s borders.
- In 2022, 85% of online gamblers in Ontario reported they gambled on regulated platforms over the previous three months. This makes Canada a successful case of legal online gambling globally and Ontario is a successful case within Canada.
- According to 2022, in the previous year, an average amount spent monthly per active player account was around $70.
- Online gamblers in British Columbia report spending 33% of their wagers at the BC Lottery Corp and the rest is spent on private operators’ platforms.
- The country-wise proportion of preference of private operators to governmental sites is 56% to 44%; only about 44% of their wagers go to one of the provincial government sites.
- Online gambling statistics show that most Canadian online gamblers have 3 or 4 accounts on different platforms (3.6 is the national average). Online players in Atlantic Canada have an average of 4.7 accounts, and the lowest numbers are in Manitoba/Saskatchewan with the number being 2.7.
- The same situation with preferences of private operators to the OLG-regulated casinos can be seen across the country, except Quebec, where the provincial government platform (Lotoquebec.com) has a slight lead of 23% over non-government platforms with 21% players registered.
- In 2022, 25% of Ontario players prefer to sign up with private gambling operators and 23% report being registered with OLG.ca
- 33% of adults in British Columbia, 26% of adults in Quebec, 24% of adults in Alberta, and 22% of the adult population in Manitoba/Saskatchewan report playing casino games or making bets on a regular basis.
- 41% of adults in the Atlantic Canada region report playing casino games; this is the highest proportion across the country.
- With the new regulations update, all Canadians and especially Ontarians are more than ever encouraged to play casino games and make bets on sports. According to the online gambling stats in Canada, 33% of Ontario adults alone report being registered on at least one website that offers online betting, while the Canadian national average is 30%.
- In the same study, 30% of Canadians reported playing casino games through an app or website online instead of the offline activities.
- In 2020, 84.4% of Canadians of different ages owned a smartphone. This is an increase of 4.1 percent since 2018. The trend continued and the amount of population using a smartphone grew in 2023 by 32.67 million, according to Statista. These numbers are not connected directly to the online gambling industry but they provide some insightful gambling statistics Canada on the total perspective for online gambling in the country, taking into consideration the global trend of online gambling moving to mobile devices.
- In 2021, the gambling sector was $12.54 billion, a decrease over the previous year’s total of $12.75 billion.
- According to the 2021 online gambling stats Canada collected from a study of 4,500 residents of Quebec found that during the pandemic, more women than men migrated to online gambling platforms.
- Before 2019, 40% of Canadians would report going to a casino at least once a year. In 2022, only 26% reported visiting a land-based casino facility at least once a year.
Problem Gambling Statistics in Canada
Problem gaming often goes hand in hand with a more transparent and regulated gambling market just because the ads and the general encouragement really increase in the jurisdiction, and Canada is not an exception. It has been a favorable environment for gambling years before but in 2022, the sheer volume of ads is reported to have a negative cumulative effect on players. Moreover, some players report feeling tired of being encouraged to play more.
Gambling addiction statistics in Canada from a new poll by Ipsos shows that 48% of Canadians 17% strongly agree and 31% somewhat agree that the amount of advertising is excessive and needs to be reduced.
Ipsos found that in social media, the effect is even more noticeable because negative posts about sports betting advertising had increased by 820% between July 2022 and October 2022.
This shows that people get really annoyed by the volume of encouragement and speak loudly about it (even though these people can be players themselves).
When asked about what companies should be allowed to offer online gambling and sports betting in their province, the Canadians had the following opinions:
While problem gambling issues develop in people regardless of whether the market is regulated or not it seems that regulated encouragement also increases the problem gambling risks. In 2023, a gambling addiction statistics survey among gamblers that have reported any gambling activity in the previous 12 months, 2% of men and 1% of women were identified as moderate to high risk problem gamblers. This is about 304,000 Canadians, total.
FAQ
How big is gambling industry in Canada?
In 2022, the total gambling revenue in the country reached $16 billion.
How big is the online gambling market in Canada?
The real size of the online gambling market in Canada is currently unclear due to legal nuances in each province, but in 2022, Ontario alone generated over $1.4 billion in total gaming revenue.
What are the most popular types of games?
In terms of popularity, Slots generate the most revenue and collect the most wagers; Table games are in second place while Live Dealer games and other types of games are in third place.
How many people gamble in Canada?
Around 20 million people in Canada were identified as regular gamblers in 2022.
What are the most popular sports in terms of betting?
Basketball collects the majority of wagers in Canada; it is followed by soccer, football, hockey, and baseball.
What gender gambles the most in Canada?
In contrast to the overwhelming majority of other countries, in Canada, statistically there are more female gamers than male gamers, although the difference is not that huge.
How many people suffer gambling addiction in Canada?
According to the latest survey, around 304,000 Canadians are at moderate to high risk of pursuing unhealthy gambling patterns.
I’m Eva, the opinionated voice behind every online casino review we make here on CasinosHunter. I’ve been working as a copywriter for 10+ years, half of the time in the online gambling niche, among others. Here on CasinosHunter, I write reviews, guides, all cornerstone content, and also make sure that every text on the site or our social media is well-written and correct.
- Ipsos
- Statistics Canada
- Statista
- Montreal City News
- The Hamilton Independent
