$14.5-Billion Per Year and Counting: Canadian Gambling Statistics
$14.5-Billion Per Year and Counting:
Canadian Gambling Statistics
Rhys Stevens
How to cite: Stevens, R. (2021). $14.5-Billion Per Year and Counting: Canadian Gambling Statistics. Critical Gambling Studies. https://doi.org/10.29173/cgs110
This non-peer reviewed entry is published as part of the Critical Gambling Studies Blog
Abstract:
Ask any gambler how much money they spend on gambling in a typical year and
you’ll almost certainly see a quizzical look appear on their face. Individuals
are frequently reluctant to disclose such information and those that do
typically find it difficult to recall the specifics of their gambling spending.
Gamblers who are willing and able to
answer might also need some clarification since the question could be referring
to either the cumulative amount of dollars gambled or the net dollar figure gambled after
accounting for wins and losses[1]. But what if, instead of asking individual
gamblers about their spending, one was attempting to determine gambling
spending for the entire country of Canada including provinces and territories…
are these figures even available? Are provincial and territorial gambling
regulators and operators forthcoming with this information? The short answer is
that, yes, it is indeed possible to determine a figure for Canada’s net
commercial gambling revenue using available data[2]. In
this article, I’ll describe my rationale for documenting available Canadian
gambling statistics, methods employed, and challenges encountered. A selection
of charts is interspersed throughout to illustrate key gambling statistics
using examples from the Canadian Gambling Statistics (1970-2020)
online database which was created to house these collected statistics and make
them publicly accessible.
Rationale for Documenting Canadian Gambling
Statistics
The main purpose of gathering figures about gambling in Canada was
to provide background information and context for a comprehensive scholarly
research investigation of Gambling and
Problem Gambling in Canada: A National
Study[3] undertaken
between 2018 and 2020. As a member of the research team, my specific role was
to document the types of gambling that are legal in each province, revenue
generation, revenue distribution, and responsible gambling activities and
initiatives. The end product of this
work was the Canadian Gambling Statistics (1970-2020) online database
which contains 35 separate interactive visualizations. In addition, a series of
ten spreadsheets was created to provide background information about Canadian
gambling legislation, prevalence, revenues, formats, casino locations, online
websites, player cards programs, responsible gambling and a history of events
by province.
Figure 1: Canada Commercial Gambling Net
Revenue & Net Income by Province/Territory by Year [2019]
This interactive chart can be accessed from the Canadian Gambling Statistics (1970-2020) online database: NET-REV / NET-INC by Yr. Use the DATE drop-down menu in the upper left to select a different year or years of interest.
Figure 2: Canada Commercial Gambling Net
Revenue Per Adult (18+) by Province [2009-2020]
This
interactive chart can be accessed from the Canadian
Gambling Statistics (1970-2020) online database: NET-REV per Adult
by Prov. Use the PROVINCE drop-down menu in the upper
left to select a province or provinces of interest.
Past Efforts to
Collect Canadian Gambling Statistics and Related Information
As one might imagine, there have been previous initiatives that
have comprehensively gathered information about gambling in Canada. A few of
the more recent and notable examples of publicly available materials have
included:
- Cardus Institute Series on Gambling [Cardus
Institute Work and Economics
Series]
In 2020, Cardus, a non-partisan, faith-based think tank, released a series of publications about gambling in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Atlantic Canada. Reports were co-authored by Brian Dijkema and Johanna Wolfurt and include extensive figures and graphs created using collected gambling statistics. - Canadian Gambling Digest [Canadian
Partnership for Responsible Gambling]
The Digest was produced annually between years 2002/03 and 2016/17. It provided comprehensive statistics about gambling in Canada as well as information about responsible gambling initiatives. - Economic Benefits of the Canadian
Gambling Industry [Canadian Gaming Association]
The Canadian Gaming Association commissioned reports in 2019, 2011, and 2008 which detailed the economic impacts of the Canadian gambling industry. Reports were authored by HLT Advisory Inc. and contain statistical data from provincial lottery and gaming corporations, regulators and related entities. - Statistics Canada
[Perspectives on Labour and Income]
Perspectives on Labour and Income, discontinued in 2012, was a Statistics Canada periodical that occasionally featured articles about gambling (including statistics). Issues with gambling content were authored by Katherine Marshall and included September-2011, August-2010, July-2009, September-2008, and May-2007. - Canada West Foundation [Gambling in
Canada Project]
The Canada West Foundation (CWF) undertook a three-year long study of gambling in Canada from 1998-2001. This investigation was led by Mark Anielski and it included the collection of gambling statistics reported in Gambling in Canada 2001 as well as in Gambling in Canada 2005: Statistics and Context.
Figure 3: Canada
Commercial Gambling Net Revenue by Source by Year [1970-2019]
This interactive
chart can be accessed from the Canadian
Gambling Statistics (1970-2020) online database: NET-REV by Source by Yr. Use the PROVINCE drop-down menu in the upper left
to select a province or provinces of interest.
Figure 4:
Provincial/Territorial Commercial Gambling Net Revenue by Source by Single Year
[2019]
This interactive
chart can be accessed from the Canadian
Gambling Statistics (1970-2020) online database: NET-REV by Source by Yr by Prov. Use the DATE drop-down menu in the upper left to
select a year or years of interest.
Methods
Employed for Documenting Canadian Gambling Statistics and Related Information
Gambling in Canada is primarily a
provincial responsibility[4]
which results in each of Canada’s ten provinces and three territories
designating organizations to operate legalized gambling in their jurisdictions.
A natural place to turn, then, to locate figures about gambling revenue and net
income is from annual reports and financial statements produced by these
organizations. Approximately 850 reports from as far back as 1970 -- the
beginning of Canada’s modern gambling era -- were obtained and methodically
reviewed[5].
Next, figures were extracted from the reports, added to spreadsheets and, where
necessary, simple calculations were performed to ensure comparability between
years and provinces. In some instances, details not included in reports were
obtained directly from contacts at provincial organizations.
Figure
5: Canada Casino Gambling Net Revenue by Province/Territory by Year
This interactive
chart can be accessed from the Canadian
Gambling Statistics (1970-2020) online database: CASINO-NET-REV by Prov [Line Chart]. Use the PROVINCE or DATE drop-down menu in the
upper left to select a year or province of interest.
The Challenges Involved in Locating Canadian Gambling Statistics and Related Information
The process of
extracting comparable figures from annual reports across jurisdictions is a
more complicated task that it first appears. There are multiple reasons for
this and they include:
- Changes in Accounting Standards Over Time – The
Canadian Accounting Standards Board (AcSB) requires publicly accountable
enterprises to use International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in
the preparation of all interim and annual financial statements.[6] These standards, required as of January,
2011, have meant that provincial reporting of gambling revenue and
expenses across provinces is now more similar than in the past. It also
means that when IFRS standards are changed there are implications for how
gambling revenue is reported. For example, when BCLC adopted IFRS 15 &
9 in 2018-19, it meant that gambling revenue was presented net of prizes
on their statement of comprehensive income. Ongoing changes make it
difficult to accurately compare revenues over time.
- Non-Standardized Terminology Used – A related
issue is that there have been, over time, a variety of vocabularies used
in provincial annual reports to indicate gambling revenues. For the
purposes of my work, I defined revenue spent by gamblers as “gross
revenue”, revenue after prizes won as “net revenue”, and revenue after
both prizes won and expenses as “net income.”
- Reporting Category Differences – Some provinces
combine two or more distinct gambling formats for reporting purposes while
they’re treated as separate entities in others. An example is online gambling
which by its nature has elements of both casino gambling and lottery
gambling depending on what a specific jurisdiction has permitted.
Manitoba, unlike, B.C., Ontario and Quebec, does not distinguish between
net revenue generated from their online casino and net revenue from
land-based casinos.
- Non-Timely Reporting – Most provinces publicly
release annual financial reports within nine months or less from the end
of the fiscal year. This means annual reports for a particular fiscal year
(e.g., 2020-21) would normally be available by December of that year
(i.e., Dec., 2021). Two provinces are routinely late in reporting by up to
two years which causes delays in making Canada-wide comparisons using
compiled statistics.
- Unavailable Data – Provinces don’t release
figures for particular gambling formats at the same level of granularity
or organize it in the same way. In some cases, data is unavailable or
unreported (e.g., First Nations casino revenue in Quebec and Manitoba
respectively).
- Inclusion of Non-Gambling Revenues – Gambling
revenue often needs to be disentangled from non-gambling revenue when
reporting agencies are also responsible for products such as alcohol and
cannabis. This is the case in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. A
similar situation exists when ancillary revenues (e.g., accommodations,
parking, food & beverage, etc.) are included or excluded in revenues
and expenses.
- Multiple Reporting Bodies – Provinces
frequently have more than one agency responsible for reporting gambling
revenue. Saskatchewan, for example, has five separate agencies that report
for different gambling formats. These include WCLC (lotteries), Lotteries
Trust Fund (lotteries), SaskGaming (casinos), SIGA (First Nation casinos),
and SLGA (EGMs). Another complicating factor is that there are
cross-jurisdictional corporations in both Western Canada (WCLC) and
Atlantic Canada (ALC) that operate lottery games for provinces and
territories in these regions.
- Errors Inputting Data – Lastly, there’s a
chance I have introduced errors inputting data or doing basic calculations
to make figures comparable over time or between provinces.
Figure 6: # of Electronic Gambling Machines (EGMs) in Canada by Province by Year [2019]
This interactive
chart can be accessed from the Canadian
Gambling Statistics (1970-2020) online database: #EGMS by Yr by Prov. Use the DATE drop-down menu in the upper left to
select a year or years of interest.
Despite
encountering a handful of challenges in the collection of gambling statistics,
the Canadian Gambling Statistics
(1970-2020) online database is useful for understanding trends in Canadian
gambling over time. Charts and other visualizations illustrate how Canada’s
different gambling formats are stable, growing or declining across provinces
and territories. The inclusion of information from the accompanying
spreadsheets provides additional context for other factors (e.g., RG, events,
etc.) that impact provincial commercial gambling revenues.
Go ahead and explore these materials to find out more about gambling in Canada!
Special thanks to all of the agencies and
individuals that assisted in the collection of statistics.
Rhys
Stevens is an academic librarian (Librarian III)
at the University of Lethbridge in Lethbridge, Alberta. He supports the Alberta
Gambling Research Institute as Librarian & Information Specialist and also
has subject liaison responsibilities for Geography, Maps & Government
Documents, Anthropology and Spatial/Numeric Data. He is currently a member of
the Institute-funded research team undertaking a national study of gambling in
Canada and has recently presented findings about Canadian gambling statistics
at the Institute’s 20th Annual Conference in April, 2021 [video / PDF].
[1] To
learn about these intricacies, see Wood & Williams (2007) ‘How Much Money Do
You Spend on Gambling?’ The Comparative Validity of Question Wordings Used to
Assess Gambling Expenditure and Auer & Griffiths (2017) Self-Reported
Losses Versus Actual Losses in Online Gambling: An Empirical Study.
[2]
Calculate at $14.51-billion in 2019 or about $500 per Canadian adult (18+ years
of age) – for details, see Figure 1.
[3] Funding
for the study provided by the Alberta Gambling Research Institute, Canadian
Centre on Substance Use and Addiction, Canadian Consortium for Gambling
Research and Gambling Research Exchange Ontario. Members of the research team
include: Dr. Robert Williams, Dr. Carrie Leonard, Dr. Yale D. Belanger, Dr.
Darren R. Christensen, Dr. Nady A. el-Guebaly, Dr. David C. Hodgins, Dr. Daniel
S. McGrath, Dr. Fiona Nicoll, Dr. Garry J. Smith, Mr. Rhys M. G. Stevens, and
Dr. Darrel Manitowabi.
[4] With
some exceptions. Horse racing, for example, is regulated by the Canadian
Pari-Mutuel Agency (CPMA).
[5] Recent
reports were located online while older reports from as far back as 1970 were
located from print library collections or borrowed via interlibrary loan.
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