In British Columbia, Canada, Surrey and Langley are considered to be two of Canada's largest inhabitants of casino gamblers. This is precisely why the provincial government commissioned the Blue Thorn Research and Analysis Group to undertake a study to gauge an apparent increase in casino gambling by local residents. Spanning two years, the study was geared towards the socio-economic impact of casino gambling in Surrey and Langley.

Following the opening of the Langley Cascades Casino, two gambling facilities in Vancouver and the introduction of slot machines at the Fraser Downs racetrack, Blue Thorn was given the task of doing statistical research before the introduction of the new gaming services in 2004, tabulating percentage figures, and then comparing these findings to statistics of the same kind for the remainder of 2005. Included in this research, were extensive interviews with nine different counselors who help problem gamblers cope with casino gambling addiction.

 According the sentiments of the counselors, the opening of Langley Cascades Casino, with its close proximity to low income housing and residents not in possession of viable transportation, was believed to have been a cause in the increase of problem gamblers there. However, the statistics show that cases of gambling addiction in Langley fell from 4% in 2004 to 2.6% in 2005.

Surrey was not so lucky, for the numbers showed an increase in problem gambling cases, albeit a small one. Recorded cases showed a .4% increase from 2004, to 6% in 2005. The study's summary of the casinos impact on socio-economic activity and problem gambling addictions cite it to be a relatively small one since early 2005.