The Quebec Online Gaming Coalition has urged the provincial government to set out a clear iGaming framework after a Montreal public-health study found that many online gamblers use unregulated sites, either exclusively or alongside Loto-Québec.
The coalition said the next economic update offered Finance Minister Nicolas Marceau an opportunity to announce concrete measures under the Parti Québécois government’s commitment to address the online-gaming sector. It wants rules that apply to both Loto-Québec and private companies, arguing that this would give Quebec leverage over the entire market.
The Nov. 5 study, produced by Montreal’s Regional Public Health Department with Concordia University’s Research Chair in the Study of Play, showed online gambling becoming more common even as gambling overall declined. The share of Montreal adults who gambled online rose from 4.4% in 2018 to 13.3% in 2025, while overall participation fell from 54.5% to about 39%.
Among online gamblers, 38% used only unregulated websites and 16% used both unregulated sites and Loto-Québec platforms, excluding online lottery purchases. The researchers said overseas platforms outside Loto-Québec’s network made oversight partly beyond Quebec authorities’ control and raised concerns including capital flight, intrusive marketing, fraud, and player health and safety.
Young men emerged as a particular concern. Men aged 18 to 34 were more likely to take part in online casino games, sports betting and poker, and 7.4% showed problematic gambling behaviours, compared with 4.6% of gamblers overall.
Public attitudes in the study were also restrictive: 73% of Montreal adults supported banning online-gambling advertising, while 70% said gambling was too accessible. Concordia researcher Sylvia Kairouz told CBC News that gambling, particularly riskier games, was generally more attractive to men.
As we reported after Quebec’s Oct. 5 election, the Parti Québécois minority government had already put the prospect of a private iGaming market back on the political agenda, while the Quebec Liberal Party has also backed an operator-open model. The coalition’s intervention links that policy debate to the study’s evidence that a substantial share of online play occurs outside the province’s current regulated network.
No official date for a full provincial budget had been announced when the coalition made its call.
