In the cities and provinces of Canada, gambling addiction is considered a progressive illness that causes serious social and personal harms including family breakup, bankruptcy, homelessness and, even suicide. In the cities and provinces of Canada, gambling addiction is considered a progressive illness that causes serious social and personal harms including family breakup, bankruptcy, homelessness and, even suicide. To regulate the spread of gambling and reduce the risk of addiction among Canadians, territorial and provincial governments in Canada have suggested some short- and long-term preventive strategies.

The first strategy concerns advertising. Commercials must not glamorize any form of gambling and must be shown within adult programming only. There should be an equal amount of gambling advertisements and widespread promotion of helpline numbers and the consequences brought by compulsive gambling.

The second involves electronic gaming machines. The operation speed of these games must be slowed down, and a limit to which they will stop working must be set. They must display messages containing information regarding how long a person has been playing and the total amount he has lost. In addition, gaming machines must be banned from youth-oriented areas.

The third strategy is through the use of smart cards. This card contains a predetermined money limit for an allowable amount of losses. This limit may be made by the government, the gambling establishment, or the individual himself. Once the limit has been met, the gambling privilege of the individual will be cut off for a specific period of time or until certain criteria have been met.

The last strategy deals with the operation hours of gambling establishments. Casinos that are operating 24-7 instigate a strong temptation to gamblers. Moreover, road accidents can be caused by people who are usually intoxicated and are driving from casinos to their homes in the early hours of dawn. Gambling establishments should close down overnight to reduce addiction among their customers and avoid accidents related to alcohol and fatigue.