RGC and iGaming Ontario Boost RG Efforts in Province, Target Campuses

iGaming Ontario (iGO) and the Responsible Gambling Council (RGC) have expanded the latter’s gambling harm education program, which will now apply to 40 more campuses. The campaign specifically targets college-age students in Ontario, Canada, in a bid to strengthen safeguards against gambling-related harm at a time of rapidly expanding activity. New Campaign Focuses on Protecting Students on Campus On Wednesday, September 23, the organizations confirmed the next chapter of their joint effort to protect vulnerable demographics from the potentially pernicious impact of gambling, with the program now entering 40 publicly funded college and university campuses. The campaign itself is funded by Ontario’s Ministry of Health, with RGC hailing iGO’s support, which will help to expand the program’s footprint and target 10,000 in-person student interactions. The RGC’s post-secondary campus tour offers extensive support delivered by trained peer-aged ambassadors who, in this specific instance, will seek to raise awareness about problem gambling and ensure that students understand the dangers associated with the activity. “Young adults are growing up in a world where betting is woven into how they watch and talk about sports. Meeting students on campus, in the moments that matter, is how we help them understand the risks and know their options. With iGaming Ontario’s support, we can now do that on almost all publicly funded campuses in the province,” Sarah McCarthy said. Both iGO and RGC emphasized the importance of having such a program in place, arguing that their intended demographic in the new program – those aged 18-24- were, in fact, among the young people who were most vulnerable to the risks of gambling, with 70% of that particular demographic attending college. “We are excited to partner with the Responsible Gambling Council to bring meaningful gambling education to 40 of Ontario’s publicly funded post-secondary campuses,” said iGO President and CEO Joseph Hillier. iGO Keen to Raise Awareness about Self-Exclusion and Bad Actors iGO is also bringing its dedicated and centralized self-exclusion tool, BetGuard, which allows registered users to opt out of all regulated gambling in the province. The campaign also includes a Student Education Kit, which includes a QR code to allow students to find out more about how they can opt out of online gambling in the province. As the program focuses on equipping students with the tools necessary to steer clear of excessive gambling and gambling-related harm, iGO has also issued a warning earlier this month, arguing that unlicensed websites were using the BetGuard brand to target consumers, cautioning extra vigilance on the part of players.