While problem gambling affects a small minority of the Canadian population, more than 300,000 are at “severe” or “moderate risk” for gambling-related problems, according to a Statistics Canada study of gambling behaviour.
Findings from the 2018 Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS), Gambling Rapid Response, released earlier this week, included interviews with over 26,000 respondents and are designed for longer-term research.
Despite being conducted before the pandemic, study authors note the findings provide “an important baseline” of gambling problems in Canada and make it possible to monitor changes that might occur as a result of new federal legislation that came into force in 2021, allowing single event sports betting. The authors say such studies could help develop more effective education, prevention, and treatment strategies for those who gamble and those who face gambling-related problems.
“While it is hard to predict the future, it is possible that changes after 2018 could lead to higher percentages of Canadians gambling,” Michelle Rotermann, one of the co-authors of the report and a senior analyst in the Health Analysis Division of Statistics Canada, told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview on Friday. She said the findings from the report provide a good baseline for longer-term research and capture any changes after 2018. RELATED STORIES
According to StatsCan, gambling was more prevalent among middle-aged Canadians aged 45 to 64 in comparison to other age groups. This age group was most likely (72.3 per cent) to have gambled in the past year.
Can’t see the graphs below? Click here
When it comes to gambling problems, the study said it was unclear exactly why more males than females developed them —although marketing, stigma, and a lack of social acceptance of gambling by women in the past have kept their participation lower. Another reason for the difference, Rotermann said, was that addictive behavior such as drug and alcohol use, which was more common amongst men than women.
Female gamblers were more inclined towards instant win lottery or online games than males. However, lottery or raffle tickets remained a popular gambling activity for both male and female respondents in 2018.
Males were three times as […]
Click here to view original web page at www.ctvnews.ca
