Sports betting advertisements are turning family sporting events into gambling experiences, prompting MPs to back legislation aimed at restricting the growing number of betting promotions Canadians see on television and online.Blacklock's Reporter says members of the House of Commons heritage committee have approved Bill S-211, legislation calling for a national framework to regulate sports betting advertising.Conservative MP Ned Kuruc (Hamilton East-Stoney Creek, Ont.) said gambling promotions have become so closely connected to professional sports that Canadians can hardly watch a game without being encouraged to place bets.“We see where sports and betting have become one,” Kuruc told the committee. “People are watching sports and the advertising is going with it. It’s normalizing gambling through sports, and I find that very, very concerning.”Kuruc, a former assistant with Canada's national Muay Thai martial arts team, said families should be able to enjoy sporting events without being bombarded by gambling advertisements.“A lot of Canadians don’t want sports to be infected with gambling advertising,” he said. “They don’t want to watch Sunday football with their children where that experience becomes a gambling experience.”Bill S-211, An Act Respecting A National Framework On Sports Betting Advertising, would require the federal cabinet to identify measures to regulate and restrict sports betting promotions across Canada.The legislation passed the Senate in 2025 and has now cleared the Commons heritage committee with technical amendments.Kuruc said the rapid expansion of online sports betting has raised concerns about gambling addiction, particularly among younger Canadians.“Gambling is one of those things that hits my age group and my community pretty hard, especially with sports betting,” he said.Kuruc added he has personally witnessed the consequences of gambling addiction among friends and is troubled by how widespread betting promotions have become since online sports wagering was legalized.Liberal MP Fares Al Soud (Mississauga Centre, Ont.) echoed those concerns, describing gambling advertisements as nearly impossible to avoid on some online platforms.“I spent half an hour on a certain platform the other day,” Al Soud told the committee. “I think I stumbled onto nine different gambling advertisements in the span of half an hour.”He said the increasing commercialization of sports through gambling has fundamentally changed the experience for viewers.“What was once a very wholesome, very good environment, that is sports, where you could expect you would engage with that subject, period, point blank, has now changed significantly,” said Al Soud..However, federal broadcasting regulators told MPs they currently lack the authority to independently impose sweeping restrictions on gambling advertisements.Scott Hutton, secretary general of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), said the regulator's powers are limited when it comes to determining which businesses can advertise on television and radio.“We have a limited role,” Hutton testified. “We cannot just do whatever we want when it comes to restricting advertising.”Health Canada officials also acknowledged concerns surrounding gambling addiction.John Clare, a director general with the department, said gambling addiction falls within the broader category of mental health issues being examined by federal health officials.Health Minister Marjorie Michel previously told senators the government was reviewing how other countries regulate sports betting advertising.“I am asking my department to look around the world,” Michel said during Senate Question Period on March 25.“What is being done in like-minded countries? Who is going faster than we are? What achievements do they have?”Michel said the government would provide additional information once its review progressed.The proliferation of sports betting advertising followed Parliament's 2021 decision to legalize single-event sports wagering, overturning a prohibition dating back to 1892.The legislation opened the door to expanded legal sports betting but did not establish specific limits on gambling advertisements or the amount Canadians could wager.Bill S-211 would not itself impose an immediate nationwide advertising ban. Instead, it would require Ottawa to develop a national framework identifying measures to restrict sports betting promotions.The committee's approval moves the legislation another step forward as MPs continue debating how to address gambling advertising and its potential effects on Canadian sports fans and families.
