{"id":71547,"date":"2026-04-23T11:56:29","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T11:56:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/ontario-liberals-move-to-ban-igaming-advertising-four-years-after-privatization\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T11:56:29","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T11:56:29","slug":"ontario-liberals-move-to-ban-igaming-advertising-four-years-after-privatization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/ontario-liberals-move-to-ban-igaming-advertising-four-years-after-privatization\/","title":{"rendered":"Ontario Liberals Move to Ban iGaming Advertising Four Years After Privatization"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>(Originally posted on : Bitcoin News )<\/b><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><strong>Key Takeaways:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Ontario Bill 107 would ban online gambling ads across TV, social media, and paid sponsorships.<\/li>\n<li>Fines reach C$1 million; second conviction triggers license revocation.<\/li>\n<li>Ontario PCs hold 80 seats; Liberals hold 14, making passage unlikely.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>A Legislative Backlash to the 2022 Privatization<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Lee Fairclough, the Liberal critic for mental health, addictions, and homelessness, <a href=\"https:\/\/ontarioliberal.ca\/mpp-lee-fairclough-moves-to-ban-doug-fords-surge-of-online-gambling-ads\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">tabled the bill in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario on April 20<\/a>. It cleared its first introductory vote and was ordered for second reading, with debate scheduled for mid-May. The proposal would amend Ontario\u2019s Gaming Control Act, 1992, to prohibit roughly 50 licensed sportsbook and iGaming operators \u2014 and the firms marketing on their behalf \u2014 from promoting their platforms through broadcast media, social media, or paid sponsorships.<\/p>\n<p>The bill frames itself explicitly as a reversal of the Doug Ford government\u2019s 2022 decision to open Ontario to private iGaming operators. \u201cOnline gambling is becoming a public health crisis,\u201d Fairclough said in the statement accompanying the bill, which also states that calls to ConnexOntario, the province\u2019s mental health and addictions helpline, have risen 144 percent since the regulated iGaming market launched in April 2022 \u2013 a figure that was likely derived from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cmaj.ca\/content\/198\/8\/E281\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the Canadian Medical Association Journal\u2019s March 2 study this year<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Fairclough has argued that gambling platforms could be \u201csupercharging\u201d addiction, pointing to the ubiquity of promotional content as a driver of normalization. The bill draws an explicit parallel with tobacco, alcohol, and cannabis \u2013 each subject to advertising restrictions in Canada.<\/p>\n<p>Per the bill draft, individuals convicted of breaching the advertising prohibition would face fines of up to C$100,000, while corporate violators could be liable for up to C$1 million. A second conviction triggers mandatory revocation of a supplier\u2019s registration, designed to prevent operators from treating financial penalties as a cost of doing business.<\/p>\n<p>While the bill is unlikely to pass \u2013 the Progressive Conservatives hold 80 seats in the Ontario Assembly, the Liberals just 14, leaving Fairclough\u2019s caucus as the third party rather than the official opposition \u2013 it is moving in parallel with the federal <a href=\"https:\/\/www.covers.com\/industry\/canada-advertising-bill-sports-betting-passage-possible-majority-government-april-2026\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bill S-211<\/a>, titled the National Framework on Sports Betting Advertising Act, which has passed the Senate and is awaiting further House of Commons consideration under Prime Minister Mark Carney\u2019s newly secured Liberal majority.<\/p>\n<p>The Canadian Gaming Association issued a statement on April 22 opposing Bill 107, arguing that Ontario\u2019s existing framework already constitutes \u201csome of the most rigorous marketing regulations in North America.\u201d Licensed operators are already barred from advertising promotional bonuses outside their own websites, apps, and direct customer channels, and are prohibited from marketing to high-risk cohorts, minors, or self-excluded players.<\/p>\n<p>The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario strengthened these rules further in 2024 by restricting the use of athletes and celebrities in ads. The CGA <a href=\"https:\/\/www.canadiangamingbusiness.com\/2026\/04\/21\/ontario-bill-107-gambling-advertising\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">argued<\/a> the bill would \u201cessentially allow illegal operators to flood social media with posts, making it impossible for Ontarians to identify licensed providers while weakening the authority of the AGCO.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This argument mirrors a talking point based on industry insights elsewhere in the world. In the United Kingdom, research published in April by the Betting and Gaming Council has recently forecasted that <a href=\"https:\/\/news.bitcoin.com\/unlicensed-operators-set-to-overtake-uk-regulated-gambling-ad-spend-by-2028\/\">unlicensed operator ad spend will exceed that of regulated firms for the first time by 2028<\/a>. This is driven by the same structural pattern, where regulatory tightening on licensed operators creates space for offshore alternatives and other noncompliant actors.<\/p>\n<p>Ontario\u2019s regulated market has grown substantially since launch. Figures from iGaming Ontario\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/igamingontario.ca\/en\/annual-report-2024-2025\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">2024-25 annual report<\/a> show C$82.7 billion in wagers, C$2.9 billion in gaming revenue, 50 operators, and more than 2.6 million active player accounts.<\/p>\n<p>As the regulatory discussion continues on a federal and provincial level alike, Alberta is set to become the second Canadian province to launch a competitive iGaming market in July.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/news.bitcoin.com\/ontario-liberals-move-to-ban-igaming-advertising-four-years-after-privatization\/\">Source link <\/a><br \/>\n<br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(Originally posted on : Bitcoin News ) Key Takeaways: Ontario Bill 107 would ban online gambling ads across TV, social media, and paid sponsorships. Fines reach C$1 million; second conviction triggers license revocation. Ontario PCs hold 80 seats; Liberals hold 14, making passage unlikely. A Legislative Backlash to the 2022 Privatization Lee Fairclough, the Liberal [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3947362403,"featured_media":71548,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71547"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3947362403"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71547"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71547\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71548"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}