The momentum to overhaul Canada’s sports betting landscape has intensified, with Senator Rob Black adding his signature to a growing movement demanding the eradication of gambling advertisements.
Representing the Wellington County area of Ontario, Senator Rob Black has joined a coalition of more than 40 senators petitioning Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government to institute a complete ban on sportsbook marketing across all media platforms.
The senators are calling for decisive federal intervention, urging Ottawa to utilize legislative tools and direct the CRTC to dismantle the current advertising ecosystem. The group argues that since the passage of Bill C-218, which legalized single-event sports betting, Canadians have been bombarded with a volume of advertising that threatens to overshadow the sports themselves.
A “Cigarette-Style” Prohibition
The coalition is not seeking minor regulatory adjustments. Instead, they are advocating for a strict prohibition model explicitly modeled after Canada’s historic ban on tobacco advertising. The letter frames the ubiquity of betting ads not merely as a consumer annoyance, but as a critical public health vulnerability. By invoking research from The Lancet, which identifies gambling as an “expanding public health threat,” the senators argue that restricting exposure is essential to protecting the public welfare.
Shifting the Conversation
This intervention marks a significant shift in the political dialogue surrounding iGaming. The senators contend that Parliament, having created the conditions for the current advertising saturation, bears the responsibility to correct it. The letter warns that the normalization of gambling risks undermining the integrity of sports and exposing vulnerable populations to harm.
While immediate regulatory changes are unlikely overnight, the political signaling is distinct. The Senate is actively steering the narrative away from “responsible gambling” messaging and toward a hardline stance: the removal of betting ads from the Canadian public sphere entirely. For operators, this represents a potent challenge to the current marketing status quo.
