What is a responsible gambling self-assessment and how does it work?

A gambling self-assessment is a short, structured questionnaire designed to help you honestly gauge where your play sits on the risk spectrum — not a diagnosis, just a mirror. It takes a few minutes, asks about your habits over the past year, and gives you a score that reflects how your patterns compare to recognized risk thresholds. The point is self-awareness: catching drift before it becomes a problem.

What the quiz actually asks

The standard version used in Ontario is based on the Canadian Problem Gambling Index. The higher your score, the greater the risk that your gambling is a problem. The Responsible Gambling Council (RGC) hosts the most accessible version of this quiz online at responsiblegambling.org. It takes about two minutes and shows how your gambling habits measure up. Questions cover things like whether you've bet more than you could afford to lose, whether you've needed to increase stakes to get the same excitement, and whether gambling has caused financial or relationship strain.

OLG's platform has its own built-in version. Players can fill out a self-assessment test based on the nine-question Problem Gambling Severity Index; it can be re-taken at any point, and it's for informational purposes only — not a clinical assessment. If you complete it, the results feed into your risk profile on the platform.

How the score is used

Your result places you somewhere along a continuum — from no-risk recreational play through moderate risk to high risk. It doesn't tell you what to do; it gives you information to act on. iGaming Ontario's approach centres on empowering players to make informed choices, and informed choice means using the knowledge and tools available to make safer decisions about gambling.

If your score gives you pause, regulated Ontario operators have practical tools ready to use. You can set deposit, loss, or time limits directly in your account. If you want to step further back, BetGuard enables anyone aged 19 and older to voluntarily opt out of all Ontario regulated online gaming platforms through one online portal — blocking access to existing accounts, preventing new account creation, and stopping marketing communications from any regulated site in Ontario. You choose a term: 6 months, 1 year, 5 years, or a custom period.

Where to find these tools as an Ottawa player

Every legitimate regulated Ontario online casino displays both the iGaming Ontario logo and the BetGuard logo — that's your quick check that a site is properly registered and managed under AGCO oversight. The self-assessment quiz is publicly available (no account needed) at responsiblegambling.org. iGaming Ontario also points players directly to the RGC quiz to check in on their gambling. If you want to verify which operators are registered in Ontario's market, the live list is at the iGaming Ontario registry.

One thing to keep in mind: a self-assessment is a starting point, not a finish line. If the results — or just a gut feeling — suggest something's off, ConnexOntario (1-866-531-2600) offers free, confidential support around the clock.