CBC investigation finds at least 220 problem gamblers in Canada died by suicide in a decade
A CBC News investigation published on November 2, 2026, found that at least 220 problem gamblers in Canada died by suicide in the last decade. The count includes a tripling of gambling-related suicides in Ontario since 2022, when the province expanded private online casino games and sports betting. Reporters Dave Seglins, Saloni Bhugra and Andreas Wesley contacted chief coroners and medical examiners across the country to build the figure.
The broadcaster said the national total is likely higher than the count shows. Several provinces and territories do not track these deaths, and no coroner in Canada has ever held an inquest into a gambling-related suicide.
How the CBC arrived at its count of 220
According to CBC News, the figure of at least 220 deaths was assembled from what coroners and medical examiners could report, and those offices acknowledged that not every jurisdiction tracks gambling suicides. Alberta, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, Yukon and Nunavut do not track gambling-related deaths, citing a lack of obvious indicators in most death investigations.
That gap is the reason the broadcaster described the national number as an undercount.
The report also explained why these deaths are hard to identify even where tracking exists. Most coroners do not consider whether problem gambling was a contributing factor during a suicide investigation, and they do not routinely examine a person’s financial records or online history for signs of it. Without an explicit suicide note, the link can stay hidden, particularly because people with gambling addictions tend to conceal the problem from family and friends. Canadian chief coroners pledged in 2003 to begin national tracking of gambling-related deaths, but that system was never established, according to coverage of the investigation.
The Ontario figures
The Office of the Chief Coroner of Ontario recorded an average of five gambling-related suicides each year from 2016 to 2021. CBC News reported that this number tripled after the province opened its private online market in 2022.
No inquests in Canada, unlike Australia and the U.K.
The investigation contrasts the Canadian approach with Australia and the United Kingdom, where coroners have used inquests to examine the gambling industry and the links between addiction and suicide. In at least one Australian case cited by the CBC, a coroner concluded that the betting operator should have detected the deceased person’s problem gambling.
Coroners and medical examiners in Canada have never undertaken a similar investigation.
For readers, the practical consequence is a gap between what operators are asked to watch for and what the death investigation system records afterwards. Responsible gambling tools such as deposit limits, cooling-off periods and self-exclusion rely on harm being spotted early, and the CBC’s findings suggest that official data on the most severe outcomes remains incomplete across much of the country.
The report forms part of a CBC News series on the public health impact of online gambling. Anyone in Ontario affected by gambling harm can reach ConnexOntario, the province’s 24-hour mental health and addictions help line, at 1-866-531-2600 or by texting CONNEX to 247247.
