Gambling, Gaming and Technology Use (formerly known as the Problem Gambling Institute of Ontario) aims to help build a better mental health and substance use system in Ontario. We support addictions and mental health service providers through training and education, developing digital tools and resources, and facilitating knowledge sharing.
Problem gambling is associated with depression, anxiety, suicide and substance use problems. It affects family and marital relationships, as well as work and academic performance, and can even lead to bankruptcy and crime.
As online gambling and gaming increase in popularity, there is also a growing need to better understand the connection with problem technology use, which can include excessive behaviours related to gambling like playing video games, accessing social networks and online pornography, using online auctions or shopping, and texting and using smartphones. Problem technology use can have similar costs: financially, to relationships and to individual health concerns like sleep and stress.
What We Do
Gambling, Gaming and Technology Use (GGTU) is part of CAMH Education. We develop and deliver trainings to provide professionals with the latest information on evidence-informed practices for the identification and treatment of problem gambling and other behavioural addictions, including problem technology use.
Our capacity-building activities include continuing professional development online courses; webinars profiling clinical, research and community perspectives; clinical application workshops; and advanced trainings on topics of special interest. Our courses include shorter, self-directed, trainings on topics like screening and brief intervention as well as multi-week facilitated courses where you learn about topics like problem gambling and technology use through web-based content and client simulations. Webinars offer updates on new research, policy, or trending issues like sports betting.
Our courses and webinars are accredited by the Canadian Addiction Counsellors Certification Federation.
Our History
The history of GGTU dates back more than 20 years, when it was formally known as the Problem Gambling Project. The project later morphed into the Problem Gambling Institute of Ontario (PGIO) under CAMH, in an effort to advance work in problem gambling. The collaboration between PGIO and CAMH connected researchers, clinicians and other educators with one another. PGIO served as a hub—where people with complex gambling problems could access resources, and where CAMH clinicians and specialists could share their expertise in gambling problems and other mental health and addictions problems.
GGTU has operated through 2 decades of policy changes, diagnostic shifts, and technological developments that changed how people engage with gambling. In [year]2019, PGIO transitioned to GGTU, adding the growing field of problem technology use to our mandate. Today, GGTU continues to be committed to reducing the harms associated with problem gambling, gaming and technology use in an era where new online gambling markets make our work more relevant than ever. We do this by providing evidence-informed trainings, webinars, online and in-person courses, conferences and other resources for providers of mental health and addiction services.
GGTU also develops and disseminates customized training and resources for a broad range of allied professionals. These trainings and resources promote awareness, early identification, and, when necessary, referral services to relevant programs and supports.
Research
At CAMH, researchers are actively leading and collaborating on a variety of studies in the field. In this section, we regularly highlight some of the latest research contributions from CAMH researchers and their colleagues. Our coverage includes monitoring trends in gambling, gaming and technology use activities and intersections of these activities with physical and mental health, substance use, education and treatment programs, social policy and more.
Policy
The Gambling Policy Framework presents the latest evidence around gambling-related harms and the policies that can mitigate them. The overarching message of the Framework is that to reduce gambling-related harms, focus must shift from the individual who gambles to the context in which gambling takes place. To that end, it proposes nine evidence-informed recommendations towards a public health approach to gambling.
CAMH is committed to advocating for healthy public policy in the area of mental health and addictions, including problem gambling. For more on CAMH's public policy work, please visit the How CAMH is Influencing Public Policy webpage.