Gambling ad complaints in Canada nearly halved in three years. What people complain about has changed.
Beacon Digital PR analysis of Ad Standards data, April 2022 to April 2025. Published November 2026.
Key findings
- Complaints fell 48%: from 130 (Apr 2022 to Apr 2023) to 67 (May 2024 to Apr 2025).
- "Too many ads" is fading as the main complaint. Complaints about ad frequency and volume fell from 42% to 14% in a single year.
- Athletes and celebrities are now the top issue. They accounted for 64% of issue-specific complaints in 2024-25, up from 13%. That is after the iGaming Ontario standard restricting athletes and celebrities in ads took effect in February 2024.
- Complaints are moving off TV. TV was 93% of gambling ad complaints in both of the first two years. In 2024-25, 21% concerned streaming and 12% online ads.
- Ontario's share jumped to 61%, up from 37%. Ontario is the only province with a competitive, private online gambling market.
- Geo-targeting complaints rose from 4% to 21%. Many came from viewers outside Ontario who saw Ontario-market ads.
- No ads were found in breach: both gambling ads sent for adjudication between May 2023 and April 2025 were ruled compliant with the Canadian Code of Advertising Standards.
Complaints fell from 130 to 67
View data as a table
| Period | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 2022-23 | 130 |
| 2023-24 | 113 |
| 2024-25 | 67 |
Athletes and celebrities overtook ad volume as the top issue
View data as a table
| Issue | 2023-24 / 2024-25 |
|---|---|
| Frequency / volume | 42% / 14% |
| Athletes / celebrities | 13% / 64% |
| Geo-targeting | 4% / 21% |
Ontario's share of complaints jumped to 61%
View data as a table
| Province | 2022-23 / 2023-24 / 2024-25 |
|---|---|
| Ontario | 42% / 37% / 61% |
| Alberta | 26% / 14% / 13% |
| British Columbia | 12% / 27% / 13% |
| Quebec | – / – / 6% |
Why it matters now
Bill S-211, the proposed National Framework on Sports Betting Advertising Act, cleared clause-by-clause review at the House of Commons heritage committee on November 3, 2026. The Canadian Gaming Association's Code for Responsible Gaming Advertising took effect on January 1, 2026. The data shows public concern moving from how many ads people see to who appears in them and where they appear, including streaming and online ads that a TV-focused framework may not cover.
Beacon runs data-led digital PR for gaming and gambling brands. See more of our research, or book a free consultation.
Download the data
gambling-ad-complaints-canada-2022-2025.csv (free to use with attribution)
Methodology
Figures come from Ad Standards' Gambling Advertising Complaints: A Three-Year Review (April 2022 to April 2025) and its 2024 Gaming Advertising Complaints summary. Page references for each figure are in the CSV. Periods are Ad Standards' reporting years, not calendar years. Issue categories changed between year 1 and later years, so year-1 issue shares are not directly comparable. Some percentages are read from report charts. Complaint counts measure public concern, not the number or compliance of ads. Ad Standards has not published a calendar-2025 gambling count.
References
- Ad Standards. (2025). Gambling Advertising Complaints: A Three-Year Review (April 2022 to April 2025). https://adstandards.ca/wp-content/uploads/Gambling-Complaints-Report-2025-EN.pdf
Cite this research
Source: Beacon Digital PR analysis of Ad Standards data, November 2026, beacondigitalpr.com/research/gambling-ad-complaints-canada/