iGaming Ontario Kept Problem Gambling Study Secret

Internal records describe officials worried by high early results, discussing a "gag order" for the researchers and weighing an election before deciding the findings would stay confidential.

Francis Gable

16/10/26 · 2 minOctober 16, 2026 · 2 min read

iGaming Ontario, the agency that runs the province's online gambling market, quietly decided not to publish a problem gambling study it had paid for, according to internal records obtained by the Toronto Star.

The records show officials were concerned after researchers reported rates significantly higher than expected.

The study was meant to measure harm in a market that took C$82.7 billion ($58 billion) in wagers in the year to March 2025, according to iGaming Ontario's own figures. The province has not run a public study of how legal online gambling changed problem gambling rates, the Star reported.

Records Show Talk of a 'Gag Order'

The first wave of surveys ran in February 2022, two months before the market opened. Undated notes say the baseline "came back with unexpected PG [problem gambling] rates that deviate significantly from other research."

Then-executive director Martha Otton wanted a telephone sample added to show the rates "are influenced by the methodology," the notes say. Online survey panels are a standard method but tend to produce higher rates.

Researchers Iris Balodis of McMaster University and Michael Wohl of Carleton University later parted ways with the project. In a joint statement to the Star, they said:

"Our participation was based on the explicit condition that we publish the findings of the study."

Notes from a 2023 meeting ask: "Is there a gag-order? … If we give them the data, maybe they won't bad mouth."

Agency Says the Study Fell Short

iGaming Ontario told the Star that "the study did not meet the standard required to inform policy development." The Responsible Gambling Council, which ran the study, said the findings belong to the agency. Neither would say what the research cost.

Notes dated January 2025 say the agency decided in September not to release the report. One heavily redacted section is headed "Upcoming election considerations." The Ford government won a third straight majority the following month.

The findings remain withheld entirely. The Star has appealed to Ontario's Information and Privacy Commissioner to force iGaming Ontario to release more of the records.

Treat gambling as entertainment you pay for. 18+, and if it stops feeling like entertainment, help exists at BeGambleAware and GamCare.