🇨🇦Canada gambling regulation

Legal framework at a glance

Gambling in Canada is prohibited under the Criminal Code unless it falls within one of the exceptions in section 207. The most important exception lets each province “conduct and manage” lottery schemes, a term that since a 1985 amendment includes games operated on or through a computer. The result is ten provincial (and three territorial) regimes rather than one national market.

Until 2022 every province ran online gambling as a monopoly through its lottery corporation. Ontario then created a competitive model in which private operators are licensed by a regulator but contract with a provincial agency that formally “conducts and manages” the games. Alberta adopted a similar structure in 2026.

The federal Safe and Regulated Sports Betting Act (Bill C-218) of 2021 removed the ban on single-event sports betting, allowing provinces to offer it.

The regulators

• Ontario: the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) regulates, setting the Registrar’s Standards for Internet Gaming; iGaming Ontario (iGO), an agency, conducts and manages the market and contracts with operators.
• Alberta: the Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Commission (AGLC) regulates; the Alberta iGaming Corporation oversees market operations and commercial agreements with operators.
• Other provinces: lottery corporations such as BCLC, Loto-Québec, Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries and Atlantic Lottery run online gambling directly, with separate provincial regulators overseeing integrity.
• Kahnawà:ke: the Kahnawà:ke Gaming Commission in Quebec licenses online operators from Mohawk territory, a model whose status under the Criminal Code has long been disputed.

Licensing

In Ontario, operators register with the AGCO, then sign an operating agreement with iGO. Suppliers also need AGCO registration. In Alberta, operators complete AGLC registration before contracting with the Alberta iGaming Corporation. Several large North American and European operators were widely expected to enter Alberta at launch; the province had not published a full licensee list at the time of writing. See gambling licensing models.

Online products — what is and isn’t legal

Province	Online casino	Sports betting	Model
Ontario	Licensed (private)	Licensed (private) and OLG	Competitive
Alberta	Licensed (private) since July 2026	Licensed (private)	Competitive
British Columbia, Quebec, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Atlantic provinces	Lottery corporation only	Lottery corporation only	Monopoly

Lotteries remain under provincial monopoly everywhere. Offshore sites targeting residents of monopoly provinces operate without provincial authority. Ontario and Alberta both prohibit betting on elections.

Taxation

In Ontario, operators pay 20% of their net gaming revenue to iGaming Ontario under their operating agreements, and that payment functions as the main levy. Alberta has set its own commercial terms. In monopoly provinces, net profits flow to provincial governments. Winnings are generally not taxed for recreational players. Compare regimes in gambling taxation compared.

Advertising and marketing rules

Ontario prohibits advertising bonuses and inducements outside an operator’s own platform or direct marketing to consenting customers, and from 28 February 2024 banned active and retired athletes from gambling ads, with narrow exceptions for responsible gambling messages. Celebrities likely to appeal to minors are also barred. Alberta’s regulations include advertising and social responsibility rules modelled partly on Ontario. Federal senators have proposed a national framework for sports betting advertising, but as of late 2026 no such law is in force. See gambling advertising rules.

Player-protection requirements

Ontario’s standards require identity and age verification before play, player-set limits, time and spend reminders, monitoring for signs of harm and prompt intervention. Operators must link to BetGuard and support ConnexOntario. Alberta launched with a centralised self-exclusion programme from day one, something Ontario added only four years after opening. See self-exclusion in Canada.

Enforcement against unlicensed operators

Ontario required grey-market operators to obtain registration or leave the market, and the AGCO takes action against unregistered sites that target Ontarians. Alberta’s transitional arrangements for previously unregulated operators expired on its launch date. In monopoly provinces, enforcement against offshore sites is limited, and payment or ISP blocking has not been broadly adopted. See payment blocking and ISP blocking.

What this means for players

For someone in Canada, the practical question is which site is lawful where they live. In Ontario, regulated sites display the iGaming Ontario logo and appear on iGO’s list of operators; in Alberta, look for the operators approved under the AGLC framework. In every other province, the only lawful online casino or sportsbook is the provincial lottery corporation’s own platform. Sites that accept players from monopoly provinces without provincial authority are not supervised by any Canadian regulator, so disputes over withdrawals or account closures have no local route to resolution. See how to check if a gambling site is licensed.

Recent developments and what to watch

• Alberta’s market opened on 13 July 2026; the first months will show how many operators enter and how the centralised self-exclusion programme performs.
• BetGuard in Ontario replaced operator-by-operator exclusion with one registration across all regulated sites.
• Other provinces, notably British Columbia and Quebec, face pressure to consider competitive models, though none had announced one as of October 2026.
• National ad rules for sports betting remain under debate in Parliament.

For helplines in every province, see the Canada help directory. This page is general information, not legal advice.