Responsible gambling in Canada

Legal gambling age by province

The legal age for gambling in Canada is set by each province and territory. It is 19+ in most of Canada, and 18+ in Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec.

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Provincial services

Each province runs or funds its own gambling support. These links go to the official pages, which list current phone numbers and hours.

• British Columbia: Gambling Support BC
• Alberta: Alberta Health Services Addiction Helpline
• Saskatchewan: Saskatchewan Problem Gambling Helpline
• Manitoba: Manitoba gambling support (Informed Gambling)
• Quebec: Jeu : aide et référence
• New Brunswick: New Brunswick Addiction Services
• Nova Scotia: Nova Scotia Mental Health and Addictions: gambling
• Prince Edward Island: Health PEI gambling support
• Newfoundland and Labrador: Newfoundland and Labrador help lines
• Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut: contact your territorial health services, or any of the national services below.

National services

• Responsible Gambling Council: independent Canadian organisation with information on safer gambling.
• Gamblers Anonymous: peer support meetings for people who want to stop gambling.

Signs to watch for

• Spending more money or time than you planned.
• Chasing losses: playing on, or betting bigger, to win back what you lost.
• Borrowing money, or using money meant for bills, to gamble.
• Hiding gambling from family or friends, or lying about it.
• Feeling restless, anxious or irritable when you try to cut down.
• Gambling to escape stress, low mood or problems.
• Thinking about gambling most of the time.
• Missing work, study or time with people because of gambling.

Tools casinos offer

Look in the account or responsible-gambling section of the site. Most casinos offer some or all of these:

Deposit limits cap how much you can deposit per day, week or month. They are the most useful single tool. Set one before your first deposit.

Loss limits cap how much you can lose over a period, after which you cannot keep playing.

Session reminders (reality checks) pop up at set intervals to show how long you have been playing and how much you have spent.

Time-outs lock your account for a short period, from a day to a few weeks, when you want a break.

Self-exclusion blocks your account for a longer period. During it, the casino should not let you play or send you marketing.

Lowering a limit usually works straight away; raising one normally has a cooling-off period. That is deliberate.

Self-exclusion in Canada

There are two levels of self-exclusion. Provincial programmes cover gambling regulated in that province: for example, Ontario's regulated online market operates under AGCO standards administered with iGaming Ontario, and provincial lottery corporations run their own programmes for their sites and venues. Operator-level self-exclusion is set up in your account at a particular casino, and may extend to its sister sites.

If you want to stop entirely, use both: the programme in your province and the self-exclusion tool at every site where you hold an account. A support service can help you set it up. For how Ontario's market works, see our Ontario guide.

Lower-risk gambling

Canada has national Lower-Risk Gambling Guidelines, developed by the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction. They set out simple limits on how much money and time to spend, how often to gamble, and which kinds of gambling carry more risk. You do not need to follow them to the letter to benefit: reading them is a useful check on whether your own habits have drifted.

The principles are straightforward. Gamble only with money you have set aside for entertainment. Decide your limits before you start, not during. Avoid gambling when you are upset, drinking, or trying to win back losses. And take regular breaks from gambling altogether.

If you are worried about someone else

It is hard to raise gambling with someone you care about. Pick a calm moment, talk about what you have noticed rather than making accusations, and listen. Avoid lending money or paying off gambling debts, even with good intentions; it often keeps the problem going. Most of the services listed above also support family members and friends, and talking to one of them first can help you plan what to say. Look after yourself too: living with someone else's gambling is stressful, and you are entitled to support in your own right.

Protecting minors

Gambling sites are for adults only. If children use your devices, keep your casino logins private, do not let browsers save your passwords, and log out after every session. Parental-control software and your phone's built-in controls can block gambling sites. Never let a young person use your account or payment methods.

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More reading: all guides for Canadian players.