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Responsible Gambling Council Doubles Ontario Campus Tour to 40 Schools

By jili tutorial · September 26, 2026

Responsible Gambling Council Expands Ontario Campus Tour to 40 Schools

The Responsible Gambling Council (RGC) is significantly expanding its gambling harm prevention work in Ontario. In partnership with iGaming Ontario, the organization will bring its message to 40 publicly funded colleges and universities this academic year — double the previous number of campuses.

The Post-Secondary Campus Tour is part of a broader prevention strategy supported by Ontario’s Ministry of Health. By meeting students in their everyday environments, RGC hopes to encourage healthier attitudes toward gambling before risky patterns develop.

Why Post-Secondary Students?

University and college years are a critical time for young adults. They are forming habits, making independent decisions, and navigating new social environments — often far from family and established support networks.

At the same time, sports betting has become difficult to ignore. Live odds are woven into sports broadcasts, betting ads appear in social media feeds, and sports fans routinely discuss point spreads and parlays as part of the game. For young adults who follow sports closely, gambling can feel like a normal part of the experience.

RGC’s campus tour is designed to push back against that normalization by offering students a space to think critically about chance, risk, and control.

Expanding From 20 to 40 Campuses

The new tour builds on an earlier version that reached 20 campuses. The expansion means that nearly all publicly funded post-secondary institutions in Ontario can have access to RGC’s prevention team.

Key numbers for the expanded tour:

The tour is part of RGC’s prevention work funded by Ontario’s Ministry of Health, with support from iGaming Ontario.

The Random Tower: A Hands-On Way to Talk About Gambling Risk

One of the newest components of the campus tour is The Random Tower, an interactive education tool built around a giant version of the classic block-stacking game Jenga.

Students take turns pulling wooden blocks from the tower. But each block carries more than a game mechanic — it includes a printed message or question related to gambling safety and harm reduction.

For example, a student might pull a block that asks: “What are signs that gambling is becoming harmful?”

As the tower grows more unstable, the tension rises. Students are encouraged to talk about the prompts with peer ambassadors while they play. But the real lesson comes when the tower falls — which is exactly the point.

The collapse is not a failure. It is meant to mirror what happens in gambling: outcomes are never truly in the player’s control. Whether it’s a sports injury, a Hail Mary pass, or plain randomness, the result of the game is shaped by forces outside the bettor’s influence.

In other words, no matter how carefully someone plans a bet, the house of cards can always fall.

BetGuard: A Centralized Self-Exclusion Tool

The Random Tower is not the only conversation starter on campus. RGC-trained ambassadors will also talk to students about BetGuard, Ontario’s province-wide self-exclusion system for online gambling.

Launched last spring, BetGuard was created by iGaming Ontario on behalf of the Government of Ontario. It provides a single way for players to exclude themselves from all regulated online gambling platforms at once, rather than having to contact individual operators.

That comprehensive approach is an important step for responsible gambling. Previously, a player who wanted to take a break might need to track down multiple accounts, websites, and apps. BetGuard streamlines that process into one action, making it easier for people to step away.

As part of the campus tour, ambassadors explain how BetGuard works and why self-exclusion is a valid, accessible option for anyone concerned about their gambling.

What the Leaders Say

Sarah McCarthy, CEO of the Responsible Gambling Council, stressed the importance of meeting students where they are.

“Young adults are growing up in a world where betting is woven into how they watch and talk about sports,” McCarthy said. “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.”

Joseph Hillier, President and CEO of iGaming Ontario, highlighted the partnership’s role in advancing responsible gambling across the province.

“We’re proud to have recently launched BetGuard, which gives Ontarians a simple option to take a break from all regulated online gambling,” Hillier said. “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.”

What Students Can Expect From the Tour

Students who encounter the tour can expect more than a table and flyers. The experience is designed to be participatory and memorable.

Why This Type of Prevention Work Matters

Gambling prevention is often most effective when it reaches people before problem behaviors are formed. Post-secondary campuses are one of the few places where a broad population of young adults can be reached naturally.

By embedding harm-reduction messages into a game, RGC encourages students to reflect on their own attitudes and behaviours. The approach works on a psychological level: it creates a memory, a conversation, and a takeaway — all in one experience.

As more provinces expand online gambling, prevention programs like this one will likely become more common. Ontario is currently leading the way with a model that combines regulation, self-exclusion infrastructure, and education.

A Broader Shift in Responsible Gambling

The expanded tour reflects how responsible gambling is now viewed in Ontario. It is not just about treatment after a problem develops. It is about building systems and conversations that help people stay safe from the start.

That includes:

The collaboration between RGC and iGaming Ontario shows what is possible when a public-health perspective meets an experienced gambling operator.

Final Thoughts

The Responsible Gambling Council’s move to 40 campuses is a clear sign that gambling prevention is being taken seriously in Ontario. By combining direct outreach, educational tools like The Random Tower, and practical tools like BetGuard, the province is creating a more comprehensive approach to student well-being.

For students, the message is simple: gambling is never really in your control. The safest way to play is to understand that from the start — just like the tower, it only takes one wrong move for everything to fall down.