Responsible Gambling Council expands campus tour to 40 Ontario schools
The program, supported by iGaming Ontario, will distribute 10,000 education kits and use an interactive game to discuss risks.
TORONTO — The Responsible Gambling Council is expanding its campus tour to 40 publicly funded colleges and universities in Ontario this academic year.
The program, announced in partnership with iGaming Ontario, aims for 10,000 in-person student interactions, doubling its previous reach of 20 campuses.
“Young adults are growing up in a world where betting is woven into how they watch and talk about sports,” said Sarah McCarthy, chief executive officer of the Responsible Gambling Council.
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“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.”
New elements include the distribution of 10,000 Student Education Kits over the year and an interactive education program called The Random Tower, delivered by RGC-trained ambassadors.
The program is a giant version of the block-stacking game Jenga, with gambling safety messages and harm reduction questions printed on the individual blocks.
A participant might pull a large wooden block containing a message like “What are signs that gambling is becoming harmful?” while trying to keep the structure standing.
The messages emphasize how gambling and sports betting are shaped by factors outside a person’s control, like an injury or a Hail Mary pass, or simply shaped by randomness.
When the tower falls, that’s also the educational takeaway: the outcome of the game is never in the student’s hands.
Peer-aged educational ambassadors also talk to students about BetGuard, a single, province-wide self-exclusion system for all iGaming players launched last spring.
BetGuard is another key part of the tour’s messaging.
“We’re proud to have recently launched BetGuard, which gives Ontarians a simple option to take a break from all regulated online gambling,” said Joseph Hillier, president and CEO of iGaming Ontario.
“This is just one part of our comprehensive responsible gaming approach that includes ongoing education on risks and knowing where to get support when you need it.”
The Post-Secondary Campus Tour builds on the Responsible Gambling Council’s prevention work funded by Ontario’s Ministry of Health.
iGaming Ontario created BetGuard on behalf of the Ontario government.