Iris Gorfinkel: Teen sports betting is skyrocketing. Why won’t the Ford government act? - Toronto Star

Compared to lotteries, online wagering was 45 times more likely to result in problem gambling. Each lost wager raises desperation levels, trapping teens in a vicious cycle of chasing losses.

“The developing teen brain craves dopamine hits — and gamified sports betting apps are made to deliver them,” writes Dr. Iris Gorfinkel. “Aggressive, targeted online marketing campaigns fuel the need to play further, as does peer pressure.”

Iris Gorfinkel is a family physician and clinical researcher in Toronto.

“I’m ashamed to admit,” a 14-year-old patient tells me in my clinic, “but you’re either in or out. I want to be in.”

He’s talking about sports gambling — and his parents are desperate to get him out.

The newly released 2025 Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey reports student online gambling has skyrocketed. In 2017, 1-in-100 Ontario students participated in sports betting. By 2025, it was 1-in-10. Nearly 1-in-4 students saw ads every day that encouraged — and normalized — gambling. 

Gambling ads target teens already behind the eight-ball, preying on low-income and undereducated communities. Teenagers struggling with major life events like a separation or death are also at high risk, as are teens living with mental health problems. Young males are hit especially hard.

Online gambling isn’t like other forms of betting. A landmark report by the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction found that, compared to lotteries, online wagering was 45 times more likely to result in problem gambling. Each lost wager raises desperation levels, trapping teens in a vicious cycle of chasing losses.

Back in my clinic, the risks my patient faces go well beyond debt. Dangers of online gambling include sleep deprivation, skipped classes and failing grades. Problem gamblers can become secretive and lie to loved ones about where their money and time have gone. They’re often angry. Online gambling can lead to theft, fraud or selling personal belongings to pay off debt — consequences that are difficult for the teen brain to fully comprehend, let alone act on.

The developing teen brain craves dopamine hits — and gamified sports betting apps are made to deliver them. Aggressive, targeted online marketing campaigns fuel the need to play further, as does peer pressure. Video games train young players to gamble by offering features that randomly reward them when they “pay to spin.”

Young gamers quickly become tech-savvy teens who easily bypass Ontario’s 18-and-under digital walls by using a VPN or a fake, borrowed or stolen ID from older peers or parents. 

Despite online gambling’s many harms, Ontario’s Education Minister Paul Calandra ignores the elephant in the room and remains laser-focused on social media platforms like TikTok, cyberbullying and general screen addiction. Whether this is ignorance or wilful blindness, he has yet to call out sports gambling as a serious threat to teen mental health. 

Calandra has yet to mention that problem gamblers are eight times more likely to plan their suicide than nongamblers.

Meanwhile, Ontario’s gambling ad blitz is currently expanding in ways that cannot easily be tracked. They’re now more likely to target personal social media algorithms, unmonitored digital streaming platforms and direct-to-device marketing — all of which bypass public oversight. 

No doubt, the Ford government is drooling over the $1 billion that online gambling is expected to generate this year, but it comes with an uglier side that won’t go away, even when ignored. The World Health Organization warns that 60 per cent of global gambling revenues come from gambling addicts, even though they make up just 1 per cent of the population.

The conflict of interest is flagrant: The Ford government cannot ethically pocket iGaming profits from businesses bent on destroying young lives while pretending to protect children.

Step 1 is acknowledging that Ontario teens — especially males — face serious harm from aggressive, personalized ad campaigns that normalize and encourage gambling.

Step 2 is improving regulations. Telling Ontarians to “gamble responsibly” is useless without clearly defining what that means. Ontario’s auditor general needs the power to limit online gambling ads in content, distribution and scope. Strict biometric checks are urgently needed to crush fake teen accounts. As with tobacco, prominent risk warnings should be mandatory along with enforced breaks in play and built-in spending limits.

Allowing gambling corporations to self-regulate is like letting the fox guard the henhouse. The more Ontarians lose, the more these corporations have to gain. Responsible governance requires real oversight, not corporate trust.

Until then, the real shame doesn’t belong to students like my teenage patient. It belongs to the Ford government. 

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Opinion articles are based on the author’s interpretations and judgments of facts, data and events. More details

Iris Gorfinkel is a family physician and clinical researcher in Toronto.