CANADIAN GAMBLING REVENUES ESSENTIALLY UNCHANGED


Stats Canada reports on the 2009 numbers
 
Net revenue from provincial government-run lotteries, video lottery terminals, casinos and slot machines not in casinos totalled Cdn$13.75-billion in 2009, essentially unchanged from the year before, Statistics Canada reported this week.
 
The monitoring agency revealed that revenue from gambling plateaued at roughly Cdn$13.7-billion in 2007, and has remained at a consistent level ever since.
 
In 2009, casino gambling accounted for 34 percent of the net revenue, with lotteries making up a further 26 percent; slot machines outside casinos, mainly at racetracks 21 percent, and VLTs 19 percent.
 
Profits from gambling totalled just over Cdn$6.7-billion in 2008, or 4.7 percent of all provincial revenue.
 
Using 2008 numbers, Stats Canada reports that gambling participation and average expenditures increased with household income. For example, 51 percent of households with incomes of less than Cdn$20,000 gambled, spending an average of Cdn$395.
 
Among households with incomes of Cdn$80,000 or more 78 percent gambled, spending an average of Cdn$555 in 2008.
 
Provincially, average household spending on gambling in 2008 was highest in Saskatchewan at Cdn$720, followed by Alberta at Cdn$645. It was lowest in Quebec at Cdn$390.