Quebec Online Gambling Study

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Recently, the results of an online gambling study took place in Quebec. The study was financed by the province, and was a fairly large scale study. The study was undertaken in order to investigate the gambling habits of those living in Quebec.

The study took into account the answers of 11,888 individuals, with the interviews taking place throughout 2009. Each interview lasted around 12 minutes, which should mean that the interviewers had the time to obtain real information from the interviewees.

The Concordia University professor, Sylvia Kairouz co-led the study. In addition to being a professor at the university, she also holds the position as director of the Concordia University's Lifestyle and Addiction Research Laboratory. She said: "There is a significantly higher spending by people who are gambling online, that is a fact."

The study showed that those who do not do their wagering online spend a significantly lower amount on average per year, with this average being $527. The median annual spending of online gamblers came to $856.

Of those that gamble online in Quebec, a large amount of the online gamblers are males that are not married, and also mostly under the age of 44.

The study showed that 7 out of 10 adults in Quebec do gamble, spending an average of $713 on gambling within a year.

Based on the results of the study of the 11,888 Quebecers, it has been estimated that around 86,000 adults in Quebec spend almost $10,000 on online gambling each year. The median number in this case is far lower, because there are always those online gamblers who spend particularly large amounts of money. Kairouz explains that "because a few online gamblers are very big spenders, and this may distort the estimation."

The study also assessed the risk of developing gambling problems, and concluded that there the moderate risk of adults in Quebec developing gambling problems has not really gone up, and is at a somewhat stable level. Kairouz acknowledges that there may be a slight increase since the previous study into this issue was conducted in 2002. She does not feel, however, that the slight difference has any statistical significance at this time. The risk, according to the study, has been assessed at 1.3%, or around 81,000 people.

It has been planned that there will be a follow up survey in 2012, to compare the findings of the 2009 report, which will be part of a five year study that will end in 2014. After the 2012 study will be completed, the researchers will issue a report with recommendations of how to treat, and prevent gambling problems in Quebec.

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