What is Canadian Law on Responsible Gaming?

In a report released at the end of 2006, the Ontario Problem Gambling Research Organization advised the province's Lottery and Gaming Commission that it owes problem gamblers "a positive duty of care in circumstances where the casino operator knew or ought to reasonably to have known based on the existence of a self-exclusion contract or other evidence, that the gambler was a problem gambler."   However, the report cautioned that problem gamblers will not be able to recover "purely economic loss[es]" unless there are "significant innovations in this area of the law."

The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Commission, which operates 10 casinos and 17 racetrack operations, has been sued several times by gamblers claiming that casino staff knew they were not able to gamble responsibly yet still induced them to continue gambling.  Some of those lawsuits have been settled out of court, and none has gone to trial.  A spokeswoman for the provincial government stressed, however, that the report "is one legal opinion" and is not definitive.