The odds of winning Lotto Max are about 1 in 33 million. You’re statistically more likely to be struck by lightning than to win it. But your government is betting that statistics won’t hold you back; they’re counting on it.
Across Canada, provincial governments not only regulate gambling, they also maintain a monopoly on lottery and gaming by owning and operating the entire legal market. That means every scratch card is government-issued, gambling odds are government-set, casino ads are government-funded and lottery billboards are government-paid.
And these are not incidental government activities. They generate significant revenues that governments have powerful incentives to expand, not constrain.
It would be one thing for our governments to encourage us to engage in healthy activities. We can quibble about whether the government should be trying to convince us to be more active or eat more vegetables. But there is no justification for the government promoting activities that put people at risk.
While many enjoy gambling, it can be highly addictive, so much so that organizations have dedicated their entire existence to helping those who get hooked. Gambling addictions, like most, can lead to depression, family breakdown, bankruptcy and even suicide. Yet despite these risks, governments continue to promote gambling.
That’s not to say that the government should discourage us from gambling. Canadians should be free to choose risky activities like smoking, drinking or gambling. But that freedom doesn’t require provincial governments running gambling enterprises themselves, let alone promoting these potentially harmful activities.
There is a clear conflict when governments profit from lotteries and gaming while also claiming to regulate in the public interest. They have a financial incentive to maximize gambling participation rather than minimize harm.
Provincial lottery corporations spend hundreds of millions of dollars each year to encourage gambling, considerably more than they spend trying to prevent or mitigate gambling-related harms. The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, for example, spent $184 million on marketing and promotion in 2023-24, compared to just $29 million on responsible gambling programming.
Nevertheless, some defend government-run gambling operations, arguing they generate revenue that helps support local communities. But that misses the point. It’s not about value for money, because no amount of revenue justifies the harm.
The source of these gambling revenues should concern us. Lower-income households spend a disproportionately higher percentage of their income on gambling, nearly three times the rate of the wealthiest households. A country that prides itself on being progressive should recognize that gambling revenue represents one of the most regressive funding sources available to provincial governments. This is, in effect, taxation by exploitation.
If provinces require additional revenues to pay for essential public services, those revenues should be generated transparently through our tax system, not covertly by exploiting vulnerable populations.
Provincially owned and operated lottery and gaming corporations continue to exist not because they serve Canadians well, but because they serve governments well. It’s far easier to collect gambling profits year after year than confront voters with the necessity of increasing taxes or cutting services.
Ask Canadians about the role of government and you’ll likely hear answers that include health care, education, infrastructure and defence. It’s hard to imagine operating a lottery and gaming corporation appearing on anyone’s list. And yet they exist across Canada with remarkably little public displeasure.
Many Canadians find entertainment and enjoyment in gambling, and there is nothing wrong with that. Let private operators run gaming. Let government regulate fairly, without conflict. And if Canadians want to gamble, that choice should remain theirs without their government enticing them to do so.
There has been some movement in the right direction. Ontario has relinquished part of its monopoly, allowing for private operators. Alberta plans to do the same. But allowing a few private operators is only a half measure. If government still directly profits from its ongoing lottery and gaming operations, and if government still engages in advertising that promotes a potentially harmful activity, then it remains both financially and morally compromised.
Canadians need governments that serve citizens’ interests, not their own. Provinces across Canada should get out of the gambling business altogether and return to their core responsibilities that Canadians depend on.
Conrad Eder is a policy analyst at the Frontier Centre for Public Policy.
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