Overview

• An editorial in the Canadian Medical Association Journal by Dr. Shannon Charlebois and Dr. Shawn Kelly calls for urgent passage of Bill S-211 to set national rules on sports-betting advertising.
• The proposal seeks limits on promotional content during games and on platforms used by young people, creating standards to restrict exposure where minors are likely to see it.
• Physicians describe pervasive marketing since 2021 across TV spots, rink and field signage, and commentator segments that present gambling as part of watching sports.
• The 2022 launch of iGaming in Ontario has made smartphones easy portals to betting, which clinicians say heightens risk for adolescents.
• Cited research links youth problem gambling to severe harms, including sharply higher suicide risk, while age-verification tools often fail to deter motivated teens; pre-legalization surveys already found measurable gambling urges and symptoms among students.