Federal Bill To Restrict Sports Betting Ads In Canada Passed By Senate Committee

Federal restrictions on sports betting ads in Canada got a step closer to becoming a reality on Tuesday, reports Blacklock’s Reporter.

The Senate transport and communications committee cleared a bill mandating federal restrictions on such ads, even though professional sports leagues, including the Canadian Football League and NHL, oppose the measure.

Bill S-211 was passed at a 45-second hearing and there was no debate.

“The proliferation of sports betting advertising and other forms of gambling activities has become pervasive in Canadian society,” states the bill’s preamble.

“Research has shown increased exposure to advertising for gambling activities leads to increased participation.”

Bill S-211 An Act Respecting A National Framework On Sports Betting Advertising would mandate that cabinet “identify measures to regulate sports betting advertising in Canada with a view to restricting the use of such advertising.”

It’s similar to a bill that passed the Senate last Nov. 4 but lapsed with the Jan. 6 prorogation of Parliament.

Bill sponsor and Senator Marty Deacon (Ont.), earlier expressed surprise at the scope of advertising after Parliament legalized single event sports betting in 2021.

“It is foolish to gamble with the health and well-being of Canadians when we already know what the outcome will be,” Deacon said in debate on her bill.

“It makes absolutely no sense to wait for these problems to arise and then react to them at which point tens of thousands of Canadians’ lives will have been devastated through problem gambling.”

Deacon added: “I had a hope that by making single game betting legal we’d see some work to address its harms as well. That has not happened. I did not anticipate the level of promotion that we’re seeing, potentially creating a generation of problem gamblers.”