Understanding Gambling (Online and Otherwise) in Rural Areas

Sage Milne
3 days ago
3 min read

Gambling is a popular form of entertainment and recreation. It can include casinos, online slot machines, sports betting and lotteries – and is more accessible than ever. In 2022, two-thirds of Canadians reported gambling in the past twelve months. However, gambling can become a problematic behaviour. In 2024, one-in-ten Canadians reported behaviours that are at a high risk to develop problem gambling.

Webinar – Rural Mental Health: Gambling and Problematic Behaviours

On Tuesday, October 7th, from 12 - 1 PM via ZOOM, Gateway Centre of Excellence in Rural Health (CERH) hosted Meaghen Brideau, Registered Social Worker and a Counsellor at the CMHA Huron-Perth, “Rural Mental health: Gambling and Problematic Behaviours.” She introduced how to recognize problem gambling, what services the CMHA offers, and who are becoming problem gamblers.

In her presentation, she described how gambling has a spectrum of activity and behaviour. It can become problematic when:

Needing to gamble with larger amounts of money or for longer periods of time in order to get the same feeling of excitement
Gambling to escape personal problems or to relieve feelings of anxiety, depression, anger, or loneliness
Refusing to discuss gambling with others or lying to cover it up
Gambling instead of attending family or other social functions
Consistently or always planning holidays when gambling is available (CMHA, 2025)

She also recognized that there is an increasing population of young men in Canada who are becoming the dominant population seeking supports for problematic gambling. She offers an example of a young man, entering University and gambling away OSAP loans.

In this discussion, Meaghen Brideau was also joined by two mental health experts, Kathy Liu and Nicki Darbyson.

Kathy Liu is a Resident Physician in Psychiatry at the University of Ottawa. Kathy holds a Master of Public Health from Johns Hopkins University and a background in health services consulting with a focus on quality improvement and health systems strengthening. Kathy described how rural communities can often lack adequate support for mental health resources. She described how system-wide approaches to providing mental health resources can help overcome some of these barriers.

Nicki Darbyson, is a Registered Psychotherapist with a Masters in Counselling Psychology at the Maitland Valley Medical Centre in Goderich, Ontario. She explained how team-based care can help provide a person with multiple supports. There are also counselling sessions that are offered through family health teams that people can connect and access. She discussed how de-stigmatizing mental health support is important. People who need care and support should feel able to access the supports that exist.

Watch the full webinar on YouTube:

About Gateway Centre of Excellence in Rural Health

Founded in 2008 in the community of Seaforth, ON, Gateway CERH is a not-for-profit rural health research organization run by a community-based volunteer board of directors. Gateway CERH's main mission is to better the health and quality of life of rural residents through research, education and communication. Follow on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube

A brief disclaimer: the views expressed in these lectures may not necessarily reflect Gateway CERH’s views or opinions, but we believe in providing a platform for a range of perspectives and thoughtful discussion.

Gateway CERH has a full library of lectures and information about the upcoming presentation that can be found on our website: https://www.gatewayruralhealth.ca/lectureseries

Or watch all past lecture online on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GatewayCERH/videos

Understanding Gambling (Online and Otherwise) in Rural Areas

Webinar – Rural Mental Health: Gambling and Problematic Behaviours

More on Rural Mental Health and Addictions

About Gateway Centre of Excellence in Rural Health

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