Who we are.
The Campaign to Ban Ads for Gambling is a national campaign working to ban harmful gambling advertising in Canada.
A national campaign ā guided by respected Canadians.
The Campaign to Ban Ads for Gambling is a national campaign working to ban harmful gambling advertising in Canada. Our work is guided by a group of respected Canadians from sport, public health, media, and community leadership: Alan Broadbent, Robin Campbell, Jennifer Diakiw, Peter Donnelly, Joel Finlay, Janice Forsyth, Steve Joordens, Gretchen Kerr, Bruce Kidd, John Macfarlane, Ian Morrison, and John Sewell.
Ban Ads For Gambling is a not-for-profit corporation, incorporated in 2023 under Ontario's Not-For-Profit Corporations Act, 2010. We are a volunteer-led organization, and our Directors and Officers receive no remuneration from the Corporation.
Respected Canadians from sport, public health, media, and community leadership.
Volunteer-led leadership.
The Corporation's Directors and Officers are Bruce Kidd, Chair and President; Joel Finlay, Treasurer; and Robin Campbell, Secretary.
Bruce Kidd
OC; OLY (athletics, Tokyo 1964); Professor Emeritus, Sport Policy, University of Toronto; track-and-field enthusiast and fan of all sports. Bruce is the author of many books, including most recently Educating the Body: A History of Physical Education in Canada, by M. Ann Hall, Bruce Kidd, and Patricia Vertinsky.
Joel Finlay
OLY (rowing, Mexico City 1968); MPH (Harvard); fan of all sports. Joel has served on the boards of Rowing Canada, Olympians Canada, the Canadian Public Health Association, the Canadian Cancer Society (BC Chapter), the Alumni Council at the Harvard University School of Public Health, and the Ridley Graduate Boat Club.
Robin Campbell
LLB (Toronto); retired lawyer; avid amateur equestrian; hiker who through-hiked the Bruce Trail in 2017; mother of two daughters ā one a lawyer and professional long-course triathlete, the other a clinical psychologist. Robin has also served on the boards of Licensed to Learn Inc., the Ontario Eventing Association, and Athletics Ontario.
The evolution of the Campaign to Ban Ads for Gambling.
During the rapid evolution of the online betting industry, those of us leading the Campaign to Ban Ads for Gambling have gone through our own evolution. Initially a small group of sportspersons, we were galvanized by the clear damage to sports:
- the annoying barrage of ads during live sports and televised games;
- the embarrassing transformation of once-respected journalists and athletes into shills for the betting industry;
- the disembodiment of a joyous, culturally rich form of physical activity into a series of in-game micro-bets on smart phones;
- the criminal inducements to athletes, referees, and managers to manipulate the outcomes to give bettors an edge;
- the sickening abuse of athletes who disappoint bettors by not realizing the "quotas" set by bookies and others in the gambling industry; and
- the deep penetration of betting into everyday sports, so that athletes have been socialized to bet as part of their experience ā in travelling to and from games, in the dressing rooms, and even on the sidelines during games.
As we reached out to educators, health professionals, and advocates in other countries where legalized betting has a much longer history, we came to three further realizations:
- While betting has a detrimental effect on sports and sportspersons, it has a much more devastating effect on the health and well-being of entire societies ā not just those in sports. The percentage of Canadians who exhibit "problem gambling" has grown six times since legalization, to almost ten percent of the population1. The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto estimates that for every person experiencing harm, another 5ā6 people are negatively affected2. Even moderately addicted people exhibit serious losses and other harms. Problem gambling is a "public health crisis."
- The ads are promoting and normalizing a harmful activity, and it is young people ā especially boys and young men ā who are the main targets. When an addictive behaviour is introduced to a young, developing mind, the addiction develops quickly and becomes very difficult to treat.
- While sports betting is currently the public face of gambling, critics tell us that sports betting is just the beginning ā the gateway to the far more addictive forms of gambling that online casinos represent. The industry openly seeks to move bettors from sports into online casinos; industry insiders estimate that online casino play now accounts for 85% of the online gambling market3. Our concern has become the ads that promote all forms of gambling, not just sports betting.
At the same time, we closely monitor other federal efforts to minimize the harm to youth from smart phones and social media, such as Bill Cā34, the Safe Social Media Act, which bans social-media use for those under 16 and which regulates and creates a Digital Safety Commission to enforce safety standards.
As our understanding of the industry has evolved, so have our advocacy positions. We seek to ban ads for all forms of gambling, not just sports betting, and we support restrictions on the use of smart phones and social media for those under 18.
Sources
- Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA), Greo Evidence Insights & Mental Health Research Canada, Online Gambling Among Young Canadian Adults: A Call to Action (2025).
- Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), problem-gambling information.
- Steve McAllister, co-founder of The Parleh, speaking at a Toronto gambling-industry conference, May 2026: “85% of the market is online casino; that is the play now.”
Volunteer-led. Donor-supported. Independent.
We are a not-for-profit, volunteer-led organization. We don't accept money from the gambling industry. We rely on donations from Canadians who share our concern.
Support the campaign- Non-partisan ā we work with MPs of every party
- Funded by individual donors and small foundations
- No gambling-industry funding, ever
- Directors and Officers receive no remuneration
Organizations standing with the campaign.
We are proud to stand alongside organizations in Canada and around the world that share our goal of ending the advertising that fuels gambling harm.
Co-authors of our letters to the IOC & IPC
These seven organizations co-authored the campaign's letters to the International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee, urging an end to gambling advertising and sponsorship in sport. Read the letters ā
Allies at home and abroad
An open invitation
Public endorsements from organizations strengthen the case for reform. If your organization supports ending gambling advertising in Canada and would like its endorsement noted here, get in touch.
Questions, endorsements, media requests.
We'd love to hear from you. Reach out via our contact form, or subscribe to our newsletter for ongoing updates.
Help us change the numbers.
Behind every addiction statistic is a real person, a real family.