Online Gambling in Canada 2018 and Beyond

 December 14, 2017

Canada is really not that much different than the United States when it comes to online gambling and gambling laws. Of course there are significant differences when it comes to politics, health care and many other social issues that divide these 2 countries but together, Canada and the US are very different than the rest of the world when it comes to self regulation of online gambling.

Both federal governments have failed to capitalize on online gambling by regulating and licensing it. The United Kingdom has been the ideal online gambling model for both licensing and regulating the industry. While the UK adapted, Canada and the US fell behind and as a result things are just simply different. Canada and the US have operators that operate in the grey zone whereas things are more clear cut in the United Kingdom where online gambling operators are legally required to hold an UKGC gambling license. This license isn’t cheap and it holds those operators to a set tax level that is around 15% on Gross Gaming Yield (GGY).

Online Gambling in Canada

Surprisingly there are many casinos and casino software providers that have left the Canadian market because of the grey zone uncertainty. These gaming companies would like to see some type of licensing and regulation to get access to the Canadian gaming markets but while it remains in the grey zone, there are enough companies that don’t want to take any sort of risks. It seems unlikely that the Liberal controlled federal government is going to make any new laws that address online gambling in Canada.

Provincial Regulation

So far the provinces of Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia are the only ones to have licensing and it might take until 2018 and beyond before more provinces start to control their own destiny.

Online Casinos vs Provincially Regulated Online Casinos

There are a few online casinos that are regulated by the provinces such as PlayOLG by the Ontario Lottery & Gaming Corporation, PlayNow by the BCLC or British Columbia Lottery Corporation and Espace Jeux by Loto-Québec. For the regular online casinos were referring to ones licensed in either Kahnawake (Canada), Malta, or the United Kingdom.

Why regular online casinos are better than the provincial casinos

Kahnawake License

The Kahnawake Gaming Commission was once one of the biggest online gambling jurisdictions around. They have since been supplanted by Malta and even Malta is starting to see a lag as the rest of the world and europe starts to regulate their own countries. So Kahnawake licenses are dropping however they still represent a gateway to the Canadian markets as many Kahnawake licensed online casinos are taking Canadian players.

Players against Pro-Line

Pro-Line, as in Sport Select, has been the closest you can get to betting on sports in Canada and smart players actually hate it. That is players are forced into a 3 match parlay as a minimum for making a betting ticket complete. Parlays are fun because they are like lottery tickets when all your games win but this rarely happens and the vig or juice is multiplied on every bet you make. When players have access to many reputable online sportsbooks including Sports Interaction which is licensed in Canada, it’s no wonder that these land based operations seem out of touch with players and are simply behind the times.

2018 and Beyond

2018 shouldn’t be as major of a chance compared to 2017 or previous years with the only exception that other provinces will be looking at controlling and regulating online gambling. There are other major jurisdictions that will be looking to go online:

  • Nova Scotia Provincial Lotteries and Casino Corporation
  • New Brunswick Lotteries and Gaming Corporation
  • Western Canada Lottery Corporation
  • Atlantic Lottery Corporation

So we know players get better slots and more bonuses at other online casinos whereas the provincial online casinos give players a bad deal.