A Canadian lawmaker is renewing an effort to create national guidelines for advertising sports betting, which would include a focus on reducing the number of ads altogether.
Ontario Senator Marty Deacon introduced Bill S-211 on May 28, "An Act respecting a national framework on sports betting advertising."
As its name suggests, the legislation would force the federal government to craft national guidelines for the marketing of online sportsbooks to Canadians. And, among other things, that guidance could propose ways of "limiting the number, scope or location" of those ads.
The bill is also more or less identical to the one Deacon introduced in the appointed Canadian Senate in 2023. That bill, S-269, was passed by senators last November with strong support from Deacon's fellow lawmakers.
The legislation was awaiting further action in the elected House of Commons before it was killed by this year’s federal election.
- A Canadian Senator has reintroduced legislation that would create a national framework for advertising sports betting in the country.
- The Canadian Senate passed an almost identical version of that legislation last year, but the bill was killed by the federal election held in April.
- While the national ad bill passed the Senate with relative ease, it prompted concern from the gaming industry and its allies, who argued provinces were better suited for such advertising regulation, among other things.
Sober second thoughts (about sports betting)
S-211, like S-269, is a response to the advertising that has appeared for online gambling sites following the decriminalization of single-game sports betting by federal lawmakers in 2021.
That was then followed by the launch of a competitive iGaming market in Ontario in 2022, a first-of-its-kind undertaking that has allowed dozens of regulated sites to come under provincial regulation and market their Ontario-licensed businesses to Canadian consumers. Some of that marketing is also being viewed by Canadians in provinces where the books being advertised are not authorized to take bets.
While the volume of gambling ads is a subject of debate, it has been enough to catch the eye of lawmakers and concerned citizens.
“We supported, by numbers, a single sport-betting bill,” Deacon said during debate on the ad legislation last October. “There was a problem with negative implications. We need to fix it quickly.”
Pushback probable
The reintroduction of national ad legislation will likely prompt concerns from the legal sports betting industry and its allies, as that was the case with S-269.
Some of the skepticism was due to provincial regulators, namely those in Ontario, already taking steps to curb advertising tied to online gambling, notably by restricting the use of athletes and celebrities. It was also pointed out to lawmakers that advertising allows legal and regulated sites to turn the heads of customers using offshore sportsbooks.
“Unreasonably curtailing responsible advertising will inevitably hamper the important effort to channelize illegal sports betting into the legal market,” warned Jonathan Nabavi, the NFL's vice president of public policy and government affairs, in a letter to a Senate committee.
Still, the governing Liberals won another minority mandate in the House of Commons in April’s election, and lawmakers are now back to their usual legislative business. That includes introducing bills such as S-211.
Earlier today, Senator Marty Deacon’s Bill #S211 was introduced at first reading in the Senate: https://t.co/o25TT1g60N#SenCA #CdnPoli
— Senate of Canada (@SenateCA) May 28, 2025
S-211, like its predecessor, would require the Minister of Canadian Heritage to develop a national framework for sports betting advertising.
The framework would have to point out ways to regulate those ads, “with a view to restricting the use of such advertising, limiting the number, scope or location — or a combination of these — of the advertisements or to limiting or banning the participation of celebrities and athletes in the promotion of sports betting.”
Furthermore, the framework would have to “identify measures to promote research and intergovernmental information-sharing related both to the prevention and diagnosis of minors involved in harmful gambling activities and to support measures for persons who are impacted by it.”
Also required would be “national standards” to prevent and diagnose harmful gambling and addiction. Similar standards would be outlined for support programs for problem gamblers.
Deacon’s bill would require the heritage minister to consult several groups on the national ad framework, including their fellow cabinet members, provincial officials, Indigenous communities, and other "relevant stakeholders."
A year after the bill takes effect, the heritage minister would have to prepare a report outlining the framework and the plan for its implementation. Within five years after that report is tabled in Parliament, the heritage minister would have to table another report highlighting the measures from the framework that have been implemented and those that have not.
Stay in your lane (or not)
Lastly, Bill S-211 would require the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to review its regulations and policies "to assess their adequacy and effectiveness in reducing the incidence of harms resulting from the proliferation of sports betting advertising."
A report with the CRTC's conclusions and recommendations would then need to be provided to the heritage minister within a year of the bill receiving Royal Assent.
Whether S-211 ultimately becomes law remains to be seen, but its predecessor did clear the Senate without much pushback from other senators.
Even so, the bill will face the usual uphill climb that all non-government bills face. It’s likely the gaming industry and other stakeholders will chime in again with their concerns as well.
“Provinces have the tools and are in the best position to regulate,” Paul Burns, the president and CEO of the Canadian Gaming Association, told a Senate committee last year. “[An] additional layer of federal regulation is not required.”
