Canada’s gambling framework is relatively young. It is still in flux, morphing every day to adjust to the needs of users in the region as prescribed by legislation. Single-event sports betting was only just legalised in 2021, and Ontario’s regulated online gambling market launched a year later in April 2022. Yet, the results of these online gambling reforms have been staggering, with data showing that 86% of Ontario’s online players now gamble on regulated websites, access the fastest payout casinos mostly powered by crypto and blockchain technology, and sports betting sites that offer the best odds without compromise on consumer protection.
Even better is that there’s no sign that Canada will be slowing down anytime soon, evidenced by the bill sponsored by Hon. Sen. Marty Deacon that is designed to regulate the advertisement of online casinos and sports betting to ensure that consumers are not misinformed or exploited. Bill S-269, titled “An Act Respecting a National Framework on Advertising for Sports Betting”, has already passed the first reading completed on Tuesday, June 20, 2023 and a second reading on Thursday, May 9, 2024.
Senator Martha Deacon has been an active player in the Canadian sports scene since the 90s and believes that this piece of legislation is long overdue to combat the “really big torrent of advertising and promotions that is coming out in great, great quantities for all ages and on a regular and daily basis.” She posits that this national framework be designed to give express instruction on what is permissible and what is not as relates to sports betting advertisement and also makes provisions for the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to review its policies and regulations on how best they can offer adequate protection to users that consume gambling content via media.
The bill aims to provide answers to the “non-standardized approaches have been adopted across the country for sports betting” and the need to have a standardised approach nationwide. Doing so removes the grey area in which invested parties in the online gaming industry have operated and gives consumers legal recourse. Some of the measures proposed include limiting or an outright ban of the use of popular sporting athletes in betting ads as they believe seeing such influential figures can manipulate users, reduce the volume with which betting ads are produced and circulated as they currently take up as much as 21% of each gaming broadcast, and encourage research and provision of support that ensures consumers are adequately protected.
Proponents of the bill understand how important it is to get it right and how any lapses could stall innovation in the industry. For this reason, it is being proposed that consultations be put in place with government officials who directly tie into the industry be kept in the loop, such as the Ministers of Indigenous Services, Industry, and Justice. It is also being proposed that relevant stakeholders, organisations associated with ethics in sports and provincial gaming regulators be kept abreast of the consultations so they can play a part towards building this national framework in a way and manner that’s all-encompassing.
Just as important as developing and passing the bill is putting in place mechanisms that allow the progress and impact when it’s passed to be measured. One such mechanism is reports at different intervals. If the bill is passed after one year, a report is to be compiled and presented to parliament before being published online for the general public. Within five years, a second report is being proposed to gauge the impact of the regulations in that period. Lastly, the CRTC is expected to create a report to evaluate changes brought about due to regulatory changes as prescribed by the new bill.
