Canadian lawmakers are considering a national framework to restrict sports betting advertising during game broadcasts, on social media and in online video games. Bill S-211 would give the minister of Canadian Heritage one year to present an advertising plan to Parliament.
The Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage plans to vote on the bill this week. Bardish Chagger, the Liberal MP for Waterloo, Ontario, is sponsoring the measure. She says curbing betting promotion could help reduce gambling addiction and prevent suicides.
“People are being impacted in a very harmful way,” Chagger said. “They are losing their livelihoods, they’re losing their homes, they’re losing their savings, they’re losing their lives.”
Proposed role for the CRTC
The bill would also assign the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) responsibility for regulating the spread of gambling ads. Its remit would include considering the volume and placement of sports betting advertising, along with limits on celebrity endorsements.
Support has come from members of the Liberal Party, Conservative Party and New Democratic Party, as well as the Canadian Mental Health Association and Public Health Physicians of Canada.
Sen. Marty Deacon, who sponsored the bill in the Senate, said gambling brands are prominent in national sports broadcasts and venues. “These ads are ubiquitous across the country, especially in national broadcasts that are sponsored by betting companies, with logos plastered across broadcast desks, arenas, and fields. This encourages Canadians in every province to gamble, even in those provinces who have held back,” she said. “We know where this is going, but we’re allowing it to happen anyway.”
Chagger wants gambling branding removed from team uniforms and restricted during certain television hours. A 2024 CBC study found viewers saw thousands of ads and logos across five NHL games, at a rate of as many as three per minute.
Provinces challenge federal proposal
Ontario and Alberta oppose the bill. Both have regulated online gaming and sports betting: Ontario in 2022 and Alberta this year. Regulators in the provinces cite responsible gambling protections already established at federal and provincial levels.
“Ontario has already established comprehensive and modern regulatory framework for online gaming and sports betting, which came into force in 2022,” Ontario Attorney General Doug Downey wrote in a letter to the federal government earlier this year. “Advertising standards and protections were a central component of this work.”
Alberta Minister of Service and Red Tape Reduction Dale Nally said the proposal could create a two-tier regulatory system and put provincial revenue at risk. Critics also argue that advertising aimed at Ontario can appear during broadcasts shown across Canada.
The debate comes amid other efforts to tighten gambling safeguards in North America. Colorado lawmakers advanced proposals to limit sportsbook advertising and prohibit credit card use for sports betting. The New York Gaming Commission urged operators last week to improve identification of players at risk of problem gambling. In September, Illinois regulators unanimously advanced three proposed rule changes to expand self-exclusion enrollment options.
Virginia, New York, Oregon and Missouri have restricted at least some college and team prop bets. Nebraska, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Washington and Wisconsin have legalized retail sports betting without computer or mobile app wagering.
