Survey: More Than a Third of People Aged 12–18 in B.C. Gambling With Money
Posted on: September 3, 2025, 07:45h.
Last updated on: September 3, 2025, 07:45h.
- McCreary Centre Society releases results of 2023 B.C. Adolescent Health Survey
- More youth on sports betting platforms
- 12% of youth reported that they needed help for their gaming
A study in British Columbia is shining a spotlight on the negative impact gaming and gambling for money is having on young people aged 12-18.
34% of Youth Engaged in Gaming or Gambling
According to McCreary Centre Society, based on a 2023 BC Adolescent Health Survey, 34% of B.C. youth in 59 of the province’s 60 school districts had engaged in at least one type of online gaming or other forms of gambling activity for money in the previous year.
Gambling is legal for people 19 years of age and up in B.C.
Males were the most likely to have engaged in at least one of eight activities for money – buying in-game items, playing in a gaming tournament, streaming video games, buying lottery tickets/scratch cards, playing cards/dice in person or online, and sports betting in person or online.
Sports Betting on the Increase
The survey is conducted every five years.
Using money to buy items within video games (loot boxes and cosmetics, for example) was the most popular activity for money.
According to the study, percentage who played cards or dice online in the previous 12 months increased from 2% in 2018 to 5%, and the percentage of those who bet on sports online also doubled from 2% in 2018 (13% of those who engaged in online sports betting did so daily).
Gambling for Money on a Weekly Basis
However, other forms of gambling, like buying lottery tickets, has gone down – less than half of young people buying lottery tickets compared to a decade ago, McCreary Centre Society executive director Annie Smith told CBC.
McCreary said there is correlation between gaming activities with money involved, like with video games, and gambling problems as they get older, in activities like sports betting.
Four per cent of youth gambled for money at least weekly.
People living in poverty or who had a challenging home life were more likely to gamble at least weekly, the survey said, as well a youth who are lonely, bullied, ostracized, with connections through online friends via gaming and gambling.
12% of Youth Said They Need Help
Impacts from persistent gaming and gambling include disrupted sleep, disrupted mealtime (drinking energy drinks as a replacement), leading to missing school, and more disengagement, compounding issues like lower self-esteem and depression.
Smith told CBC with the big rise in sports betting, and with that sports betting advertising, government can cut back on sponsorship of teams and other forms marketing, since gambling advertising normalizes it for younger people.
In the previous year, 12% of youth reported that they needed help for their gaming, the survey said.
Youth who felt connected to their family were less likely to have taken part in gambling and gaming activities for money.
The BCLC’s PlayNow online gaming platform is the only place where individuals can legally gamble in the province, but B.C. also has an active grey market – around 76% playing in the unregulated space, according to some market estimates.
Parental Involvement
BCLC ensures that players under the age of 19 do not have access to our products by verifying age at the point of sale in retail and on PlayNow.com and requiring ID at entry at all B.C. casinos.
“The results of this survey reinforce the importance of providing tools that support gambling literacy to people of all ages, including youth,” said Ryan McCarthy, director, Player Health, BCLC. “We encourage parents to take the opportunity to talk to the teens and children in their lives about key gambling concepts, like randomness and odds, when they are exposed to gambling activities, for example, when watching a sports game or playing video games that include loot boxes, which are purchased for undisclosed rewards.
Understanding how gambling works and the importance of adopting safer gambling behaviours, such as setting money and time limits, is more important than ever.”
McCarthy added BCLC ensures marketing images don’t include images that appeal to youth, such as those featuring animated characters or actors that appear under the age of 25.
“In addition to these measures, BCLC runs an annual public relations and media campaign in November and December reminding adults not to purchase lottery products, such as Scratch and Win tickets, as Christmas gifts for minors,” he said.
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