A recent Ipsos Reid poll, conducted for the Canadian Gaming Association, indicated 64 percent of Canadians want the Senate to pass a bill legalizing betting on the outcome of a single sporting event; 36 percent oppose it. Currently, provincial lotteries and gaming corporations only let bettors wager on multiple sports games.
The House of Commons has unanimously supported the bill. Supporters of the bill said single-game betting would offer greater regulation and oversight of sports betting, provide a new source of revenue for the government and attract Americans to Canadian casinos in border towns to bet on single games. Opponents said it would lead to game fixing and rigging and more sports betting in general.
The CGA has estimated that annually Canadians bet more than $10 billion on sports through illegal books and another $4 billion through offshore online sports books; only 5 percent of sports betting in Canada is done through provincially regulated betting and lottery systems.
