P.E.I.'s chief coroner is looking into whether it should be mandatory for coroners to report when they feel gambling has led to a suicide.

Dr. Charles Trainor said many of the province's eight coroners will check whether gambling is a contributing factor when they investigate a suicide, but they do so at their own discretion. Should they uncover information about gambling, it is not included in the report which goes to the Attorney General's office. Trainor told CBC News Wednesday he has reservations about including it.

"Prince Edward Island is, you know, a pretty small province. And one has to be careful with the statistics like this sort of thing," he said.

"People talk, and information gets widely disseminated in the community, and sometimes the information out there isn't right."

Trainor said there has been at least one suicide on the Island in the last five years in which a coroner felt gambling played a part.

The Canada Safety Council estimates more than 200 problem gamblers take their own lives every year in Canada. Most provinces track the number of gambling-related suicides, but P.E.I., Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan do not.