Disclaimer: This article shall not be construed as legal or financial advice. All sums are in Canadian dollars unless it is stated otherwise.
Better late than never: Ontario, the most populous Canadian province, has established a new regulated iGaming market earlier this year. As the US online gambling markets in New Jersey and Michigan generated record-high revenues of over 1 billion US dollars each in 2021, Ontarian officials had their own equally high hopes for the Ontario iGaming launch in April, 2022.
In this article we will take a closer look at the new Ontario iGaming regulations, talk about how much it will cost to obtain a gambling license by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO), see whether the Ontario gambling market have met the expectations of its advocates (spoiler – pretty much so!) and how much heavier became the coffers of the province after two fiscal quarters has already passed.
We will also briefly review the Ontario iGaming operators who were just in time for the party to have their share of the cake and see how easy it is to find an instant withdrawal casino in Canada. At last, we will try and forecast whether Canada’s legal online gambling market size will expand even further with more provinces taking steps towards creating a regulated online gambling environment.
Canada Online Gambling Laws – A Look Back
The Internet is full of misconceptions when it comes to Canada online gambling regulation. People often search for such a thing as Canada online gambling bill which is non-existent unlike the US Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006, Australia’s Interactive Gambling Act 2001 or the UK’s Gambling Act 2005.
All the dos and don’ts regarding gambling, betting and brothels can be found in the Canadian Criminal Code, Part VII (sections 201 through 213).
Until 1969, only a few forms of gambling like bingo, wheels of chance, etc., were allowed exclusively during agricultural fairs and exhibitions. The 1969 amendments to the Criminal Code, which prohibited anyone from keeping a common gambling or betting house, authorized provincial governments to conduct and manage or license gambling activities which shall remain within the boundaries of the province (section 207). Later, the law extended to cover computer-based gambling and betting.
Land-based casino-style gambling picked up momentum, and at the moment, there are a little over 100 brick and mortar venues that can be found throughout Canada, half of which opened their doors in the 1980’s and 1990’s.
Meanwhile, online wagering was neglected for the most part. Moreover, one of the most popular and profitable types of online gambling in Canada – single event sports betting – was still off-limits under the Criminal Code. Thus, domestic Canada online gambling market was insufficient.
Since there are no provisions that make it unlawful to gamble at offshore online casinos, Canuck gamblers had to seek better luck on online gambling sites overseas which were more than happy to provide services to one of the most gambling nations in the world.
Fastest payout casinos licensed by Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) and Curaçao regulatory bodies offered Canadian players convenient instant payment methods like Interac eTransfer, InstaDebit and iDebit.
And of course, we cannot not to mention the Kahnawake Gaming Commission that has been in a gambling regulatory business for more than 25 years now and became somewhat of a phenomenon on the Canadian online gambling market.
Kahnawake Gaming Commission
In 1994, the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake held a referendum for a land-based casino. Despite the fact that the referendum had failed, the Council still proceeded to establish the Kahnawake Gaming Commission (KGC) in 1996 in order to regulate all gaming activities within the Kahnawake Mohawk Territory which is home to roughly 7,500 people.
The history of the Kahnawake online gambling, however, began just at the turn of the millennium when the Mohawk Council approached Frank Catania, former director of the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, to help design a legal and regulatory framework for Internet gaming. In the meantime, $2.5 million-worth of high-tech equipment was being set up for the newly created data center Mohawk Internet Technologies (MIT) that soon would be hosting some of the largest online casinos in the world.
The MIT building in Kahnawake (Source: Google Street View)
Back in the day, in order to obtain the Kahnawake gambling license, applicants would pay a single non-refundable deposit fee of $5,000 plus a license fee of $10,000 annually to appear on the map of online gambling Kahnawake. According to Maclean’s Magazine, in 2007, approximately 60% of the global online gambling traffic went through Kahnawake Gaming Commission casinos.
Online gambling in Kahnawake has had its ups and downs and it very well might be so that the best days of it are left in the past. One thing for sure, the KGC went full trailblazing mode, for Kahnawake Grand Chief Joe Norton (1949-2020) had seen an immense potential in the gambling industry and worked tirelessly to make Kahnawake a gambling destination, be it in a physical or virtual world.
New Ontario Gambling Market
While the Mohawk Territory of Kahnawake with some 7,500 residents became the largest online gambling hub in the world, Ontario gambling market has been comprised of a single province-owned website of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) that has very few options when it comes to online slot machines and live dealer games.
The Ontarian provincial government started publicly talking about ending the online gambling monopoly in 2019. The proposed changes to Ontario gambling regulation were aimed to open up the online gambling and betting market for private operators. According to the experts’ forecasts, with population of 14.5 million people, newly established Ontario gambling market could potentially yield around 1 billion dollars of annual revenue.
Moreover, new Ontario gambling laws were to decriminalize single event sports betting which was unanimously supported by the commissioners of NHL, NBA and MLS.
It’s been six months since Ontario iGaming launch on April 4, 2022. The financial reports, which Ontario iGaming issues on a quarterly basis, confirm that the experts’ predictions turned out to be right.
During the period from April 4 to September 30, 2022, Ontarians (legal Ontario gambling age is 19+ y.o.) made $10 billion-worth of real money wagers. Total gaming revenue amounts to $429 million. There were registered 628 K player accounts across 42 websites, run by 24 operators.
In order to obtain an Ontario gambling license, operators must pay $100,000 per site. Ontario online gambling tax is set at 20% of revenue annually.
Ontario iGaming Operators
Among the first major operators to join the party were 888 Holdings, DraftKings, PokerStars and BetMGM with each setting up three different Ontario gambling sites for casino gambling, poker and sports betting purposes. Ontarians now also have access to Bwin, FanDuel, UniBet, Bet365 websites.
Instant payout casinos like Jackpot City, PlayOJO, Spin Casino, LeoVegas, Royal Panda offer their services in Ontario, too.
Conclusion
The launch of the regulated Ontario gambling market lived up to the expectations of Ontario legislators and numerous experts. New Ontario gambling laws definitely have had a positive impact on the economy of the province. Changes to the Ontario gambling regulation allowed to bring back home hundreds of millions of tax-payers’ money. Moreover, the iGaming market is believed to create around 1,300 new jobs.
Unfortunately, other provinces in Canada are far behind when it comes to opening up their markets for private operators. State-owned online gambling platform PlayNow is currently operating in British Columbia (launched in 2004), Manitoba (2013) and Saskatchewan (Nov. 2022). Alberta launched its own iGaming platform in 2020. At the moment, it seems that provincial governments lack incentives for demonopolization of the iGaming markets.
FAQ
Is Canada online gambling legal?
Online gambling is regulated by each Canadian province individually. The Canadian Criminal Code doesn’t penalize online gambling. In British Columbia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, there is an official gambling platform PlayNow. Alberta, too, has its own online gambling site. In 2022, Ontario became the first province to launch a regulated iGaming market for private iGaming operators.
What is Ontario gambling age?
In order to participate in lottery, in-store sports betting and charitable gaming, Ontarians must be 18 year of age or older. Individuals must be 19+ years old to visit land-based casinos and slot facilities in Ontario, and to engage in online sports betting and online casino gaming.