Since its launch in April 2022, Ontario’s iGaming market has displaced the existing unregulated market and made Ontario an internationally recognized leader in this industry.
According to a survey commissioned by provincial regulators, nearly 15% of Ontarians who played online poker, casino gaming, and sports betting within the past three months only used illegal, unregulated sites.
The survey by Paris-based Ipsos Group found that while 85.3% of respondents had used a regulated site to gamble, the remaining 14.7% wagered exclusively on illegal sites. Ipsos also found that 19.5% of those surveyed used both.
By comparison, the provincial government estimated that 70% of online gambling was conducted on illegal sites before Ontario launched online poker, casino, and sports betting on April 4, 2022.
Last week, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) characterized the players’ shift toward legal sites as a “considerable success” story.
“Since its launch in April 2022, Ontario’s iGaming market has displaced the existing unregulated market and made Ontario an internationally recognized leader in this industry,” said Ontario Attorney General Doug Downey. “We are truly proud of this strong, responsible, competitive online gaming model.”
Tom Mungham, Registrar and CEO of the AGCO echoed that sentiment.
“A key objective in this first year has been to move Ontario players from playing on unregulated sites to the regulated market so that they would benefit from high standards of operator and game integrity, fairness, and player protections, including responsible gambling safeguards,” Mungham said.
“Although there’s still much work to be done, we’re pleased to see such a substantial shift towards gaming on regulated sites so far and everything that it represents for players and for the province.”
Ipsos, a market research and consulting firm, conducted the survey at the request of AGCO and its internet gaming subsidiary, iGaming Ontario (iGO).
AGCO noted that currently, there are 45 operators live in the province. Regulators have approved more than 5,000 certified games for Ontarians to play.
“This first-of-its-kind framework in Canada … has offered Ontarians more choice while protecting consumers and capturing an important new revenue stream for the province,” AGCO said.
Survey Shows Men, Young People Gamble More
The survey found that young people, men, and those with at least a university degree tend to gamble more.
According to Ipsos, 45.8% of respondents who gambled online within the past three months were aged 19-34. Respondents aged 35-54 accounted for 36.7% of players, while those aged 55 and higher comprised 17.5% of the total.
Broken down by gender, 61.8% of respondents who identified as male said they had either gambled or placed a wager with real money within the past three months, compared to 37.2% of female respondents and 1% who selected Other.
Bettors with at least a university degree accounted for 39.5% of the total, compared to 35.7% with some college experience and 24.8% with a high school diploma or less. Households with less than $75,000 in annual income comprised 54.9% of players.
Methodology
Ipsos conducted the survey from February 28 to March 13. The firm interviewed 1,850 Ontarians aged 19 and older.
The 1,850 people surveyed included a general population sample of 1,000 residents of the province plus 850 Ontarians who said they had gambled or placed wagers with real money within the past three months. That established a total sample of 1,170 Ontarians who gambled or wagered within the past three months.
A margin of error of plus-or-minus 2.3 percentage points is assumed for the survey.
