Study: Canadians Online Gambling Habits

A new study on the differences between Canadians and Americans in the 19-34 year-old age group has found that Canadians are less likely to gamble online than their neighbors to the south.

The study, conducted by Canadian research group Ipsos Reid, found that 20 percent - or one in every five young Canadians - played games online for money, slightly less than the 28 percent of Americans who said they gamble online.

A more detailed look at the figures reveals that while Canadians prefer playing the lottery to their American counterparts, less Canadians actually play online.

Eighty percent of Canadian respondents said they play the lottery, but only 31 percent said they might do so online. In contrast, only 63 percent of young Americans play the lottery, but 46 percent of them said they would be interested in playing the lottery online.

Gambling Legality
Canadians and Americans were also found to have different perceptions of the legality of gambling, most likely because of the less restrictive laws north of the border. Only 19 percent of Canadian respondents to the survey said they perceived gambling as illegal, significantly lower than in the United States, where 31 percent of respondents said they felt that way.

The American respondents were undoubtedly influenced by the legal battle over the 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), which effectively banned online gambling in the United States.