gambling in alberta - Research Services - University of Lethbridge

Alberta is estimated to have 3,755,317 people in 2011, representing 10.9% of the total
Canadian population. It is the fourth most populous province, after Ontario, Quebec, and
British Columbia. The 2006 Statistics Canada census determined that approximately 81% of
Albertans live in urban areas and 19% in rural areas. The major urban centres are the Calgary
census metropolitan area (1,079,310), the Edmonton census metropolitan area (1,034,945),
Red Deer (82,772), Lethbridge (78,713), Medicine Hat (56,997), Wood Buffalo (Fort McMurray)
(51,496), and Grande Prairie (47,076). Edmonton is the capital of Alberta.
Approximately 80% of the Alberta populace has western European ancestry, with the most
common countries of origin being England, Germany, Scotland, Ireland, France, Ukraine,
Holland, Poland, and Norway. Aboriginals constitute 5.8% of the Alberta population, with
roughly half of these individuals being Métis. The rest of the Alberta population has ancestries
that derive from China (3.7%), South Asia (3.2%), the Philippines (1.6%), Africa (1.4%),
Southeast Asia (0.9%), and Latin America (0.8%).
Alberta has a strong economy that is based upon the petroleum industry, and to a lesser extent,
agriculture and technology. Alberta is the world’s second largest exporter of natural gas and
has the world’s largest deposit of bituminous sands (oil sands). Alberta’s Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) in 2009 accounted for 13.9% of Canadian GDP. However, its 2008 GDP per
capita of $81,118 was the highest of any province or state in North America (Canadian average
= $48,013).
The availability of legalized gambling opportunities in Alberta has steadily increased over the
years, with almost all forms of gambling now being widely available. This includes charitable
raffles, on-site horse race betting (legalized in 1892), bingo (introduced 1920s), lotteries
(introduced 1973), casinos offering table games (introduced 1980), instant win scratch tickets
(introduced 1986), teletheatre horse racing (introduced 1990), sports betting (introduced
1990), video lottery terminals (introduced 1992), and slot machines within casinos (introduced
1996).
Research Questions
The impetus for the present research project concerns the fact that the introduction and
expansion of legalized gambling in Alberta has been made a) in the absence of good scientific
evidence concerning the social and economic impacts of legalized gambling in this province,
and b) in the absence of good scientific evidence about how best to mitigate the negative
impacts and maximize the benefits. The primary purpose of the present research is to provide
sound scientific results pertinent to both of these issues.
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