Online gambling among Montreal adults nearly triples since 2018, public health report finds

Online gambling among Montreal adults rose from 4.4 per cent in 2018 to 13.3 per cent in 2025, according to a report published Thursday by the Montreal Regional Public Health Department (DRSP). About 38 per cent of Montrealers who gamble online use only unregulated websites rather than Loto-Québec platforms, which means those players have no provincial consumer protections. A further 16 per cent use both.

Over the same period, overall gambling participation fell. The increase is steepest among men aged 18 to 34, with casino games, sports betting and poker as the main online activities. The report was produced with Concordia University's Research Chair in the Study of Play.

The study surveyed 500 Montreal adults in 2025 and 2026. It does not say how respondents were selected or publish a margin of error, so the figures are best read as the department's findings rather than precise measurements. A large share of Montrealers want online gambling advertising prohibited or more strictly regulated; the report's figure for that share is not given.

Loto-Québec, the Régie des alcools, des courses et des jeux, and gambling operators have not responded to the report, and the department has not said what action it plans.