Bill S-211, the legislation that would set the stage for the federal government of Canada to take a firmer hand in regulating sports betting advertising, took an unprecedented step forward Wednesday.
Members of the House of Commons voted 291-28 in favour of sending the National Framework on Sports Betting Advertising Act on for further discussion in the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage.
It marks a watershed moment for the legislation. While the proposal to create a federal framework for sports betting advertising across Canada passed the Senate in both 2024 and 2025, the current version is the first to be taken up for discussion in the opposite chamber. Wednesday was its first formal vote in the Commons.
There is still a long way to go before the legislation potentially becomes law, but it’s the latest sign that Canadian Members of Parliament believe that while the Criminal Code of Canada gives provinces the rights and responsibilities to run online gambling in their own jurisdictions, federal intervention is needed to address the advertising issue.
What would Canada sports betting ad bill do?
Put simply, S-211 would require the federal Minister of Canadian Heritage to establish a national framework on sports betting advertising.
The bill’s text stipulates that such a framework must:
- Identify ways to regulate and restrict sports betting advertising, including “limiting the number, scope or location” of ads or further limiting the use of celebrities and athletes
- Identify measures to promote research and intergovernmental information-sharing related to the prevention and diagnosis of minors involved in harmful gambling activities, and to support people impacted by it
- Set out national standards for the prevention and diagnosis of harmful gambling and addiction and for supporting those impacted by it
Currently, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) mandates that in Ontario’s commercial iGaming market (Canada’s only such provincial model until Alberta launches in July), athletes can only be used for the primary purpose of promoting responsible gambling.
During debate of this bill and its 2024 version, S-269, Deacon mooted potential measures such as implementing a whistle-to-whistle ban on broadcast adverts for sportsbooks during games, banning sponsored betting-slanted intermission shows and in-game promotions within betting apps, as well as prohibiting the dissemination of betting advertising in locations and at times of day more accessible to minors.
Prime Minister Carney votes in favour
Liberal Prime Minister Mark Carney was among the 298 yes votes on Wednesday in the House of Commons. The vast majority of the 28 no votes were from the Bloc Québécois, whose members have repeatedly argued along general partisan lines that the federal government should not interfere in Québéc’s affairs.
Although more than 40 senators including S-211’s original Senate sponsor Marty Deacon wrote to Carney last fall to urge his government to ban sports betting advertising entirely, this bill does not propose an outright prohibition. Deacon noted that while she would support such a measure, she did not believe it to be achievable via legislation.
Incidentally, in Ontario, the new provincial Bill 107 filed this week proposes banning almost all advertising for all forms of online gambling, including online casino.
MPs feel change is needed
Advocates for S-211, from legislators to problem gambling and youth support institutions, argue that the spread of sports betting advertising, particularly since Ontario launched regulated iGaming in 2022, has become a public health problem.
Conservative Party MP Kevin Waugh, who sponsored the federal bill that legalized single-event sports betting under provincial control in 2021, stressed during floor debate of S-211 last week that although he believes provinces have largely done well at regulating gaming, he feels that “sports betting advertising took the promotion to an all-time extreme”.
“What was always an accepted practice prior to the passage of Bill C-218 quickly became an avalanche of targeted, even predatory, and excessive advertising,” Waugh added. “It came at us from all sides, and I think the public was simply blindsided.”
Opponents including the Canadian Gaming Association contend that as provincial governments conduct their own gambling models and regulate their respective gaming industry advertising in their own ways, the bill is unnecessary. Some gaming and sports industry stakeholders have branded potential federal intervention as an overreach that risks complicating the issue and doing more harm than good.
“This bill would ask for more coordination and for government to study what is actually happening,” Conservative MP Kelly DeRidder stated after Waugh in last week’s discussion of the bill. “Some will say this is not enough, and others will worry that it goes too far. What it really does is ask for a clear picture of the situation and whether our current system is working as intended.
“We are not trying to change the entire system overnight, but to make sure we are asking the right questions and getting the full picture of what is happening. This industry is changing rapidly. The responsible thing to do would be for us to pause, review and ensure that there are safeguards in place and that they are doing what they are meant to do.”
