Star Metro - Senators Push for Sports Betting Ad Ban as Bill S-211 Advances

A bill aimed at regulating the advertising of sports betting has advanced through Canada’s Parliament, reigniting a debate over the federal government's role in curbing marketing that experts say is driving a surge in problem gambling.

Bill S-211, sponsored by Senator Marty Deacon, proposes that the federal government develop a plan to set national standards for sports betting ads and limit the risks associated with problem gambling. The legislation has cleared the Senate more than a year ago and passed through the House of Commons heritage committee with amendments on Nov. 4. It now returns to the House for final votes.

Dr. Steven Joordens, spokesperson for the Canadian Psychological Association, criticized the pace of the legislative process, stating it is "disappointing" that the bill has taken two years to reach this stage. He argued that the federal government must act immediately to ban sports betting advertisements while a new regulatory framework is considered.

"At the time they’re finally potentially going to pass this two years later, it does not seem enough," Joordens said. He emphasized that sports betting ads have a disproportionate impact on young people, who are frequently exposed to marketing because of their engagement with sports.

The concern over youth exposure is supported by data from the Ontario Student Drug Use and Health survey, which reported in 2025 that 23 per cent of students in the province saw or heard an online gambling ad at least once a day. The same survey indicated a significant rise in student participation, with the percentage of Ontario students engaging in online sports betting jumping from one per cent in 2017 to 10 per cent in 2025.

Joordens explained that younger individuals lack the cognitive development to gamble safely. "An 18 year-old has the primitive brain fully developed that’s going to make them love the experience of gambling, but they don’t have the frontal lobes developed to let them know, ‘Hey this isn’t smart, you should really stop,'" he said.

The proliferation of online gambling in Canada accelerated following the COVID-19 pandemic and the federal government’s 2021 decision to legalize single-event sports betting. In Ontario, the market expanded further in 2022 when the province opened online gaming to private operators, arguing that regulation was necessary to compete with unregulated international websites.

The Alberta Gambling Research Institute reported in 2025 that the number of people with gambling problems in Ontario more than doubled between 2018 and 2025, rising from approximately 43,000 to over 130,000.

Senator Deacon argued that the borderless nature of online advertising makes it a federal issue, despite gaming regulation being largely a provincial responsibility since 1985. "In B.C., they’re getting Ontario ads, in P.E.I., in the North. So what we have is our provincial jurisdiction took a little bit of a dive when the type of ways of being exposed to this changed," she said.

Support for stricter controls has grown within the Senate. In November 2025, shortly after Bill S-211 passed the upper chamber, 40 senators wrote to Prime Minister Mark Carney urging a ban on all sports betting website and app advertisements.

Senator Percy Downe, who signed the letter, compared the situation to tobacco regulation. "We banned ads for cigarettes because of the harmful effects of smoking on public health. We have mounting evidence that gambling is seriously harmful to Canadians’ health and so the same logic should apply," he said in January, describing the current advertising landscape as "relentless" and stating it has "crossed a line."

Industry representatives have pushed back against federal intervention. Paul Burns of the Canadian Gaming Association stated that provinces are best equipped to handle gaming regulation. "The provinces have set up regimes based on their wishes for the province, so we think they still have the best tools to do it," he said.

Burns also noted that gambling advertisements account for only two per cent of all television advertising and that sports betting revenue represents approximately five per cent of total gaming revenue in Canada.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 11, 2026.

F.T. Michaud--SMC