Canada: National gambling revenues dropped last year

The number of households involved in at least one gambling activity also dropped across the country - from 74 % in 2000 to 52 % in 2007, says a study released this week. Some of the study's figures are for 2007 and some are for 2008.

People in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta led the country in per capita gambling spending as of two years ago. Manitoba had the highest number of households - 56 % -that said they bought lottery tickets, played bingo, visited casinos or used slot machines.

Henry Pold, senior analyst with Statistics Canada, said some forms of gaming are faring better than others. "Casinos are still showing increases," Pold said. "It's VLTs that have dropped off the last few years. Slot machines are still climbing, but lotteries have been flat for a long time now."

Despite the decline, gambling generated us$ 13.6 billion in revenue for governments across the country in 2008. Saskatchewan brought in the highest gambling revenue per person - us$ 825 -followed by Alberta and Manitoba. "The economies in some provinces are doing well so people have a bit more money to spend on frivolous things," said Pold, who added gambling is linked to disposable income.

The study found 34 % of households with incomes of less than us$ 20,000 gambled and spent an average of us$ 678. But 58 % of households earning us$ 80,000 or more gambled and spent almost us$ 800. "It's not that big a chunk of their discretionary income," Pold said. "Blowing us$ 100 at a casino is no big deal if you're making us$ 100,000."

Bill Rutsey, president of the Canadian Gaming Association, said it's not surprising that some forms of gambling, such as horse racing, are on the wane, especially given the current economic decline. "We're in a recession," he said. "There are hard times in a lot of industries. No industry is completely immune to what's going on from a global perspective. To see some pullback in some areas of spending, I don't think that's totally unexpected."

But the national drop in gambling revenue is pretty benign because the relatively small losses are offset by gains elsewhere, he suggested. While lotteries might be losing popularity, casinos are drawing more people in.

"The ups and the downs are kind of marginal," he said. "Where numbers are down, they're in the single digits not in the double digits." Gambling was still going strong in prosperous provinces such as Saskatchewan, he added.

As well, gaming in Manitoba has held steady despite the recession. Susan Olynik, spokeswoman for Manitoba Lotteries Corp., said half the province's residents bought a lottery ticket in the last month. Almost one-third have been to a casino in the last year, she said. "Gaming is very popular and continues to be popular."

The Statistics Canada study found that older, single men and women were most likely to engage in at least one form of gambling. Some 50 % of women living alone and between the ages of 45 and 64 said they gambled, while 54 % of single men in the same age group admitted to buying lottery tickets, playing the slots or going to bingo.