Over the course of the past few years, online gambling has become popular in various Canadian provinces. This has fuelled the rise in iGaming in Canada, with a huge selection of slots, table games, and live dealer experiences all available at legal online casinos in Canada.
Here, we take a closer look at the breakthrough of the iGaming market in Canada, which also includes sports betting and online poker, and introduce some key facts relating to legal online gambling in the country and the marketing efforts involved.
Are online casinos legal in Canada?
Canadians are legally permitted to play at online, internationally regulated and licensed casinos and sportsbooks. What’s more, the state of Ontario issues licenses to specific operators to provide legal online iGaming services to people in the province.
The law confuses many people, as it is illegal to operate an online casino within Canada (other than in Ontario, more on this shortly).
However, most reputable online casinos available to Canadians are offshore and are licensed by the likes of the Malta Gaming Authority and the UK Gambling Commission.
The rise of iGaming in Ontario
The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario is responsible for the first-of-its-kind iGaming market in Canada. In July 2021, the government of Ontario announced that iGaming Ontario would be launched to manage the province’s legal online betting market, serving as a newly established AGCO subsidiary.
The new iGaming market launched in Ontario on April 4, 2022, and 888 Casino became one of the first platforms to register in the province. After just one year of operation, iGaming Ontario announced that the province’s first-year totals for wagers reached an incredible $35.5 billion.
This is because online players can enjoy a wide range of poker games in Ontario, as well as slots, table games, and live dealer experiences. Today, there are more than sixty licensed iGaming sites in Ontario, with no doubt more to come in the near future.
iGaming options in Canada
Thanks to the establishment of iGaming Ontario and the array of licensed offshore casinos available to Canadian players, you are spoiled for choice when it comes to online iGaming options.
Sites like LeoVegas, bet365, and Slots Magic are all legally available in Canada, and they offer a huge selection of games for you to enjoy, but slots are undoubtedly the most popular type of games available at these sites.
Slots are games of luck based on random number generators. You decide how much you would like to bet and spin the reels for your chance to win a pre-determined amount, depending on which symbols land on the reels.
Slots have been popular in brick-and-mortar casinos for decades and it’s little surprise that they serve as the most popular game at online casinos. Developers like Pragmatic Play, Hacksaw Gaming, and Play’n GO have created an impressive library of video slots that you can legally enjoy at online casinos in Canada.
In recent years, there has also been an increase in the popularity of live casino games. These games are played in a live studio with real-life dealers and provide a truly immersive online casino experience. You can enter these live lobbies to play games like blackjack, roulette, and baccarat, among others.
Evolution Gaming is one of the leading live casino providers and is responsible for many of the most popular live games available at registered online casinos in Canada.
The future of iGaming in Canada
Since April 2022, legal iGaming in Canada has gone from strength to strength thanks to the establishment of iGaming Ontario. We will almost certainly see several more casinos apply for licenses in Ontario in what remains of 2023 and into the foreseeable future.
It will also be interesting to see whether other provinces in Canada follow suit and adopt Ontario’s approach to legalising iGaming and online gambling more generally.
Though players can enjoy a huge selection of titles at offshore online casinos, it’s likely that other provinces in Canada will look to formalise the licensing process within their own borders to make online gambling safer and easier to regulate.
In the US, individual states are taking it upon themselves to create new laws relating to online gambling, and we may see something similar happen in Canada over the course of the next few years.
Recap
Ever since Ontario decided to formalise iGaming regulation, the iGaming market in Canada has gone from strength to strength.
Many of the biggest casino brands in the world have entered the Canadian market, including 888 and bet365, alongside sixty other brands.
As a result, you can play thousands of slots, table games, poker titles, and live dealer games from your smartphone or computer instead of planning a trip to a brick-and-mortar casino in Canada.
If more provinces follow suit in the coming months or years, we’re likely to see more significant growth for the iGaming market in Canada in the not-so-distant future.
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