Williams to speak on gambling during PUBlic Professor Series talk

By Lethbridge Herald on March 25, 2026.

Photo by Alejandra Pulido Guzman University of Lethbridge professor Robert Williams will be talking about gambling, who wins and loses, during his PUBlic Professor Talk Thursday at Sandman Signature Hotel.

By Alejandra Pulid0-Guzman

Lethbridge Herald

University of Lethbridge professor Robert Williams will be exploring the concept of who is really cashing in on gambling during a PUBlic Professor Series talk Thursday. 

Williams who is a research coordinator with the Alberta Gambling Research Institute and professor in the University of Lethbridge’s Faculty of Health Sciences will explore the many facets of the exploding gambling world in his talk, “Legalized Gambling in Canada: Winners and Losers.”

“The talk is really directed at the general public. Anyone who’s a gambler, anyone who’s interested in gambling, a very high-level overview of what gambling is, why it’s such a profitable business, why it’s so compelling to gamblers,” said Williams. “And then diving into the winners, who are the main beneficiaries of gambling, and who are the people who are being harmed, and how are they being harmed.”

He said the final part of the talk will focus on a peak at the future. Where gambling is going as gambling is not static, the products keep on changing, and the way in which people engage with the product keeps on changing. 

Williams added that since online gambling was introduced, a lot has changed, but it still not big enough competition to gambling in person at a casino, for example. 

“We’re still a bit behind the times. In Europe, online gambling accounts for about 40 to 45 per cent of all the activity. It’s only about 25 per cent here, but it’s increasing dramatically,” said Williams. 

He said gambling seems to be everywhere these days, on television, in the news, at the corner store, and online, yet gambling itself is not new. 

“It’s been part of human culture for thousands of years, from dice games in ancient Greece to chariot races in Rome and even lotteries used to help finance projects such as the Great Wall of China,” said Williams. 

He said that what is new is the scale and structure of modern gambling today. It’s no longer primarily a social pastime. Instead, it has become a sophisticated global industry designed for generating profit.

“The biggest winner is actually the provincial government. They receive the majority of the revenue from gambling in Canada. In Alberta, most casinos are privately owned, but the casino owner retains less revenue than the provincial government,” said Williams. 

He said the provincial government gets the lion’s share of slot and VLT revenue. But to be fair, he added, the provincial government is there to service and to serve the people. 

“We get that back in terms of healthcare and social services. So, you can argue that citizens of the provinces are also beneficiaries,” said Williams.

He said the second biggest beneficiary from gambling are the multinational companies that own the casinos. 

“First Nations are actually pretty significant beneficiary as well, because in several provinces they own the casinos. And in other provinces, they get a portion of the gross gambling revenue,” said Williams.

He said the final beneficiary would be charities, especially in Alberta, as we have the charity model, where non-profits and community groups can host two-day casino events at any commercial casino, and they get a portion of the profits from that. 

“It amounted to around $300 million last year to charities,” said Williams. 

The PUBlic professor talk will take place on March 26 from 7 to 9 p.m., at the Sandman Signature Lethbridge Lodge.