Online Gambling Participation Triples In Montreal As Unregulated Sites Attract Majority

Online gambling participation in Montreal has tripled since 2018, with more than half of online gamblers using platforms outside Quebec's provincially regulated system, according to new public health research.

A report published on 5 November by Montreal's Regional Public Health Department, in collaboration with Concordia University's Research Chair on Gambling Studies, found that 13.3% of adults participated in online gambling during 2025, compared with 4.4% in 2018.

The findings, based on data collected from approximately 8,500 Montreal adults surveyed during 2025 and 2026, also revealed substantial public support for tighter gambling advertising restrictions. Nearly three-quarters of respondents, or 73%, supported banning online gambling advertising.

Online Gambling Grows Despite Decline In Overall Participation

The research highlights a significant shift in gambling behaviour across Montreal, with online participation increasing sharply even as the proportion of adults gambling through any channel has declined.

Overall gambling participation fell from 54.5% in 2018 to 39% in 2025, representing a decrease of 15.5 percentage points. Online gambling moved in the opposite direction, rising by 8.9 percentage points over the same period to reach more than three times its previous participation rate.

The findings suggest that digital gambling has become an increasingly prominent part of the city's gambling landscape, despite fewer residents participating in gambling overall.

Men aged between 18 and 34 were identified as particularly likely to engage with online casino games, sports betting and poker. The research highlights the importance of younger adult demographics within Montreal's expanding online gambling audience, although the figures provided do not establish how much individual participants spend or how frequently they gamble.

Majority Of Online Gamblers Access Unregulated Platforms

One of the report's most significant findings concerns the proportion of Montreal residents using gambling websites outside Quebec's regulated provincial system.

Excluding online lottery ticket purchases, researchers found that 38% of online gamblers used only platforms operating outside the provincial framework. A further 16% accessed both those websites and services provided by Loto-Québec, while 46% used Loto-Québec's online gambling platforms exclusively.

Together, the first two groups account for 54% of online gamblers included in this analysis, indicating that platforms outside provincial oversight attract a majority of the surveyed online gambling audience.

However, the figure measures the proportion of players accessing these websites rather than their share of gambling expenditure, betting turnover or operator revenue. The research does not establish whether unregulated platforms receive a majority of the money spent on online gambling in Montreal.

The findings also demonstrate an overlap between regulated and unregulated gambling audiences, with 16% of participants using both types of platform. This suggests that access to Loto-Québec's services does not necessarily prevent players from also gambling through operators outside the provincial system.

Public Support Grows For Advertising Restrictions

Alongside changing participation patterns, the research identified widespread support for restrictions on online gambling advertising.

Some 73% of adults surveyed expressed support for a ban on online gambling advertisements, indicating considerable public concern about the promotion of gambling products.

The findings place additional attention on the relationship between advertising, consumer behaviour and the growth of online gambling in Quebec. However, the survey does not establish whether advertising restrictions would reduce participation or encourage players to move between provincially regulated and unregulated platforms.

The report presents a contrasting picture of Montreal's gambling market: overall participation has declined substantially, but online gambling has expanded rapidly, with a majority of online players accessing websites outside the provincial regulatory framework.

For policymakers and public health authorities, the findings provide further evidence of the challenges involved in overseeing digital gambling activity, particularly where consumers can access platforms beyond the reach of Quebec's existing regulatory system.