How much gambling counts as too much? For a household earning $70,000 a year before tax, Canada's Lower-Risk Gambling Guidelines put the ceiling at $58 a month. They add two more limits: no more than 4 days a month and no regular play at more than 2 types of games. The Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA) led the work behind the guidelines, released in 2021. The limits work only together, and they lower the risk of harm without removing it.

For some people, even these limits are too high. “Gamble responsibly” gives a person nothing to count. Three numbers do. This guide covers the wording, the research behind the numbers and what the guidelines cannot tell you.

Worried about your gambling, or someone else's?

The three Lower-Risk Gambling Guidelines

The CCSA words them this way in its report Developing Lower-Risk Gambling Guidelines:

  1. Gamble no more than 1% of household income before tax per month
  2. Gamble no more than 4 days per month
  3. Avoid regularly gambling at more than 2 types of games

Together is the point. The CCSA's website says: “There are only three guidelines, but you should follow all three.” The limits were calculated independently, so keeping to one limit while going over another, the report says, “results in an increased risk of harm.”

The guidelines are for people of legal gambling age in your province who want to make more informed choices about their gambling. They are advice, not a rule. No regulator enforces them.

Where this applies: the guidelines are the same across Canada. Helplines, self-exclusion programs and limit-setting tools are not. Those are set up province by province.

What does 1% of household income look like?

For a household earning $70,000 a year before tax, 1% comes to $58 a month, the example the CCSA itself uses. To find your own limit, divide yearly household income before tax by 100, then by 12. The result is a ceiling for one month.

Yearly household income (before tax)Lower-risk limit per month
$30,000$25
$50,000$42
$70,000$58
$90,000$75
$110,000$92
$150,000$125

Amounts follow the CCSA's 1% guideline, rounded to the nearest dollar. Checked on October 6, 2026.

Three details matter. The income is the household's, not one person's. It is the amount before tax. And the limit is counted per month.

The guideline says “gamble.” The research behind it measured what people reported spending or losing on all forms of gambling in a month. Here, “spend on gambling” means the money that goes to gambling in a month, not the total of every bet placed. The sources read for this guide do not say how to count winnings that are played again.

The limit is a ceiling, not a budget, and not an amount that is fine to lose. The CCSA's own report records the concern that guidelines can create “a false sense of security.”

Where do the numbers come from?

From four years of work led by the CCSA. The project began in April 2016, a scientific working group formed that July and the guidelines were released in the fall of 2021. The CCSA's history of the guidelines calls them “the world's first Lower-Risk Gambling Guidelines.”

The group ran more than 260 risk curve analyses on data from over 60,000 people who gamble in eight countries. It also asked more than 10,000 Canadians about their gambling in an online survey run twice.

Why 1%

The risk curves pointed to a range of 1.0% to 3.0% of gross monthly income. The report compares people who spent less than 0.1% of income with those who spent more. Once spending passed 1.0%, the risk of harm rose fourfold. In one table covering 59,099 people, 1.9% of those who spent 0.1% or less reported financial harm, against 26.0% of those who spent 5.1% or more.

Why 4 days

The risk curves pointed to five to eight days a month. Compared with people who gambled once a month or less, those who gambled five to six days had 2.0 to 2.5 times the risk of harm, and seven to eight days roughly tripled it. At nine days or more, the risk was more than seven times higher. Four days works out to roughly once a week.

Why 2 types of games

In the report's data, the risk of harm roughly doubled at three types of games and rose further at four: almost threefold for financial and relationship harms, more than fourfold for emotional harms. The data covered the past year, not a month. That is why the third guideline says “regularly” and not “per month.”

Who did the work and who paid

The CCSA states: “Funding for this project was provided by Mise sur toi.” The report adds that the views expressed do not necessarily represent the views of Mise sur toi. The advisory committee included representatives of prevention, treatment, public health, regulation and finance, as well as the gambling industry.

Does it matter what you play?

Yes. The CCSA says fast-paced games with quick, repeated betting lead to problems more quickly and easily, and names many forms of online gambling, slot machines, electronic gaming machines and poker as examples. Slower games, such as a lottery ticket bought once a week, are less intense.

The report's review of earlier studies found that online gambling and electronic gaming machines had “the largest odds ratios and strongest effect sizes of all the correlates assessed.” It also says 4 days a month “might not be sufficient for people who choose only higher risk games such as slot machines or online gambling.”

The guidelines do not tell anyone to avoid online gambling. They say the limits may not be enough for the fastest games. The CCSA's page on types of gambling draws the same line.

A November 2025 CCSA report on online gambling among young Canadian adults shows the same pattern in one survey. Among people who gambled online in the past year, 93.8% went over at least one limit. Among people who reported gambling on lotteries only, 9.4% did. The survey was an online panel run from October 24 to November 12, 2024, with 7,960 people analyzed. Its authors note that a panel like this can skew overall estimates, though not the comparison between the groups. Compare the two groups with each other, not with Canada as a whole. The data on online gambling harm in Ontario is covered separately.

When do the guidelines say to gamble less, or not at all?

When other difficulties are present. The CCSA's poster says the limits may not suit people who experience problems from alcohol, cannabis or other drug use, problems with anxiety or depression, or a personal or family history of problems with gambling. For them, it says to consider gambling less, or not at all.

The CCSA also asks about motive: “Think about your reasons for gambling. Is it for fun?” Its poster adds: “If you're gambling to escape problems, you're more likely to experience harm from gambling and might find it harder to stick to the suggested limits.”

Staying under the limits does not bring the risk to zero. The CCSA's page on people at greater risk says: “Although most Canadians can gamble without issues, all Canadians who gamble are at some level of risk of harms related to gambling.”

If any of this applies to you or to a loved one, start with a call. The helplines by province and territory are in one table.

What the guidelines cannot tell you

The CCSA's report names several limits of the guidelines themselves.

  • They are not a test. Staying under the limits does not clear a person, and going over them does not label one. The CCSA says it and its partners “do not provide treatment services for gambling issues.”
  • Lower risk is not no risk. The report finds “a threefold or higher increase in risk” above the limits, yet “many who gamble above the limits report no harm.”
  • They rest on what people reported. The data came from questionnaires, and people may understate both their gambling and its harms. The working group also estimated “a moderate likelihood that the limits would be lower if more harms were measured.”
  • They say nothing about time spent. The report rates the evidence on duration as “insufficient quality data to assess at present.”
  • They are a ceiling, not a goal. The guidelines are advice for people who already gamble, not a reason to start.

Signs of a gambling problem

The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) puts it plainly: “Problem gambling is not just about losing money.” It says gambling problems occur along a continuum and that no visible signs or physical changes mark one. What it describes are behavioural, emotional, financial and health signs.

According to CAMH, gambling is a problem when it gets in the way of work, school or other activities, harms a person's mental or physical health, hurts them financially, damages their reputation or causes problems with family or friends. The signs it lists include giving up things once enjoyed, conflicts with others over money, thinking about gambling all the time, often borrowing money or asking for pay advances, and pulling back from family and friends.

These are signs to notice, not a score. A person does not have to be certain before calling a helpline. Find the helpline for your province.

When the limits are not enough

Some people find that limits alone do not hold. In Ontario, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) publishes the Registrar's Standards for Internet Gaming, which require sites registered with the AGCO to give you an easy and obvious way to set financial and time limits, such as deposit and loss limits. The AGCO's page on limit-setting features has the details. Other provinces have their own rules.

Breaks and self-exclusion are provincial too. See self-exclusion programs in Alberta, B.C. and Manitoba and who regulates online gambling in Canada and how to check a site.

How to stay within the limits

The CCSA's safer gambling tips are short and practical. Four of them:

  • Limit alcohol, cannabis and other drugs while gambling. The CCSA says this makes it easier to stick to the guidelines.
  • Schedule an activity right after a gambling session. It sets a limit on the time available to gamble.
  • Decide how much to gamble from the money you can spend on entertainment.
  • Before a trip or event where you will gamble, plan ahead and set limits.

The poster adds that there are apps that can prevent a phone from making payments. To compare your own gambling with the three limits, the CCSA offers an interactive Risk Assessment Tool. The CCSA says it shows how your gambling compares with the guidelines and helps determine your overall risk.

Where to get help in your province

Help is provincial, and so is the number. Numbers checked on October 6, 2026.

  • Ontario: ConnexOntario, 1-866-531-2600, or text CONNEX to 247247. The service says it connects people to mental health, addictions and gambling support services for free.
  • Alberta: Alberta Health Services Addiction Helpline, 1-866-332-2322.
  • Every other province and territory: gambling helplines by province and territory.

CAMH says free treatment, including counselling, is available to anyone in Ontario affected by gambling, family members included. It also says only the person can decide to quit gambling, and that a counsellor should not pressure someone to change before they are ready.

The CCSA does not provide treatment and points people to the helpline of their province or territory. In immediate danger, call 9-1-1. For thoughts of suicide, call or text 9-8-8.

This guide gives general information and is not medical or legal advice.

Common questions about the lower-risk gambling guidelines

What are the Lower-Risk Gambling Guidelines?

They are three limits published by the CCSA in 2021 for people who already gamble: no more than 1% of household income before tax per month, no more than 4 days per month and no regular play at more than 2 types of games. They aim to lower the risk of gambling harm. They do not remove it.

How much gambling is too much?

No single amount fits everyone. The CCSA's three limits mark where the research found the risk of harm climbing. For people with alcohol or drug problems, anxiety or depression, or a personal or family history of gambling problems, the CCSA says even these limits may be too high.

Is the 1% limit based on income before or after tax?

Before tax. The CCSA's guideline refers to household income before tax per month, and its worked example is a household earning $70,000 a year, which gives $58 a month. It counts the whole household's income, not one person's. Divide yearly household income by 100, then by 12.

Do you have to follow all three lower-risk gambling guidelines?

The CCSA says to follow all three at the same time and not pick among them. The limits were calculated separately, so keeping to one limit while going over another still carries a higher risk of harm. They are advice, and no regulator enforces them.

Does staying within the guidelines mean gambling is safe?

No. The guidelines describe lower risk, not no risk. The CCSA says all Canadians who gamble are at some level of risk of harm, and its report records the concern that limits can create a false sense of security. Some people are better off gambling less than the limits allow, or not at all.

Who wrote the guidelines, and who paid for the work?

A scientific working group led by the CCSA developed them between 2016 and 2021. The CCSA states that Mise sur toi funded the project and that the views expressed do not necessarily represent its views.

Sources

Pages read on October 6, 2026.