Right now in Canada there are more than 80 permanent casinos, nearly 40,000 slot machines and an equivalent number of video lottery terminals, 70 racetracks, and finally, over 20,000 bingo sessions each year.
Gambling has become an increasingly important source of revenue for governments over the last decade. For the 1995 financial year, net revenues from gambling for all Canadian provinces stood at $4.5 billion, and in 2000 they totalled $5.5 billion. These revenues are almost equivalent to those generated by the taxes levied on tobacco and alcohol.
Gambling generates economic activity and huge revenues for the State, as we can see. In Canada, more than 47,500 people are employed in jobs related to the gaming industry. Gambling itself, however, also has the potential to cause personal, family and social problems in the general population and for individuals.
For the majority of Canadians, gambling is a form of entertainment that has no negative impact; however, a relatively high percentage of Canadians, between 3% and 5% depending on the study, develop a gambling addiction. This means that between 600,000 and 1 million Canadians are grappling with problems related to gambling. If we add their close relations, i.e., their family members and other social relationships, the number of people in Canada who are directly affected by gambling-related problems rises to 3 million.
The development of gambling-related problems among young people is also cause for concern.
According to the studies done thus far, the prevalence rate of addiction to gambling is two to four times higher for young people than for adults. Youth workers therefore give some priority to interventions aimed at preventing this problem among young people, despite the limited resources available.In 1999-2000, the provinces spent close to $28 million to develop services to help the individuals in need. This represents an average annual expenditure of $1.20 for every Canadian adult, while average losses per Canadian due to gambling are assessed at close to $400 for 2001. As for the services currently being developed by intervention professionals, it seems that they only begin to address a need for assistance and treatment that will grow very significantly in the coming years.
SourcesGambling in Canada 2001: an overviewCalgary, AB: Canada West Foundation, 2001.
Gambling is growing, and so are the problems
Ottawa, ON: Canadian Health Network (CHN), 2003.
Les jeux de hasard font de plus en plus d'adeptes chez les jeunes
Ottawa, ON: Canadian Health Network (CHN), 2002.
Newslink: responsible gambling issues & information (Ontario)Toronto, ON: Responsible Gambling Council, Winter/Spring 2003.
Place your bets, Canada: gaming in Canada: an overviewLipton, Michael D.
Toronto, ON: International Masters of Gaming Law, 2003.
Policy discussion paper on problem gamblingOttawa, ON: National Working Group on Addictions Policy (NPWG), Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse (CCSA), 1998.