Quebec coalition renews online gambling licensing push

The Quebec Online Gaming Coalition has renewed its call for provincial regulation of private online gambling operators following research showing increased participation in Montreal. The industry group wants the government to clarify its plans ahead of its fall economic update, arguing that oversight should extend beyond the government-owned Loto-Québec platform to competing commercial websites.

The research, published November 5, was produced by Montreal’s Regional Public Health Department with Concordia University’s Research Chair on Gambling. It draws on information collected from 8,500 adults in 2025 and 2026. Its findings concern Montreal’s adult population and gambling practices, rather than measuring the revenue or province-wide market share of individual operators.

The proportion of Montreal adults reporting online gambling reached 13.3% in 2025, compared with 4.4% in 2018. Over the same comparison period, participation in gambling overall declined from 54.5% to approximately 39%. The public health department identified online casino games, sports betting and poker among the activities attracting younger adult men.

Platform use was examined separately. Excluding online lottery ticket purchases, 38% of Montreal adults who gambled online reported using only unregulated websites, while 16% used both those platforms and Loto-Québec. These are measures of respondents’ reported platform use; the study does not describe them as shares of gambling expenditure or operator revenue.

Public health findings accompany industry reform demands

Researchers identified men aged 18–34 as a group more likely to gamble online and experience problematic gambling behavior. Treatment providers have also reported changing demand. “We have more and more young men seeking help for online gambling addiction,” said Anne Elizabeth Lapointe, CEO of Maison Jean Lapointe.

The research also recorded substantial concern about advertising and accessibility. Approximately 70% of Montreal adults considered online gambling too accessible, while 73% thought advertising promoting it should be prohibited. Those findings form part of the public health assessment and should be distinguished from the coalition’s separate argument that introducing commercial licenses would improve regulatory control.

The coalition describes itself as an industry-led organization seeking a framework developed with the Quebec government, Loto-Québec and responsible gambling stakeholders. Its membership includes BET99, Betway, DraftKings, Entain, Flutter and Rush Street Interactive. Its advocacy favors licensing private operators and applying regulatory requirements across both public and commercial offerings. The renewed appeal is a policy demand, rather than an announcement that a licensing system has been adopted.

Quebec’s debate sits alongside separate provincial and federal discussions. Nova Scotia is considering market changes without having announced a commercial licensing timetable. At the federal level, lawmakers have advanced an amended advertising framework bill. That proposal concerns developing recommendations on sports betting advertising; it does not itself introduce private operator licensing in Quebec or an immediate nationwide advertising ban.