CGA President: iGaming Ontario study handling erodes trust

Paul Burns, President and CEO of the Canadian Gaming Association (CGA), said iGaming Ontario's (iGO) decision not to publish a problem gambling study could damage the industry's foundation of trust and transparency. Burns said, "Better choices could have been made."

According to a Toronto Star report based on freedom of information requests, iGO commissioned research from the Responsible Gambling Council before Ontario opened its market in April 2022. The study examined problem gambling rates. The findings were not released, even though a promise had previously been made to share them with the public. According to information obtained by Casino.org, iGO identified concerns about the methodology of the 2021 study and decided that it did not meet the standard required for policymaking.

The Star's initial request identified more than 1,750 pages of potentially responsive records. When the documents were finally provided, they were heavily redacted. The researchers' findings were blacked out, and hundreds of pages were withheld entirely. iGO stated that releasing some of the records "could harm the economic interests of the province."

Burns said that without data, gaming policy and regulation would be shaped by headlines and anecdotes. The debate comes amid reports of rising gambling-related emergency room visits, bankruptcies and helpline calls in Ontario. On October 19, the Star's editorial board called on Premier Doug Ford to respond directly to the issue. An iGO spokesperson, in a statement to Casino.org, argued that Ontario has some of the strictest consumer protection standards in North America.