The Great Canadian Betting Divide

iGaming Status By Province

Alberta To Open The Market

Bill 48, otherwise known as the Alberta iGaming Act recently passed the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. Although no official date for the opening and regulation of the market has been set yet, it is expected to go live sometime during the first quarter of 2026.

Having learnt lessons from what has gone well in Ontario, and what could be done better, Alberta’s open market will feature a central exclusion system. This will allow bettors to exclude themselves from all online betting platforms.

While Play Alberta has been largely successful at increasing its market share, a large proportion of gamblers in the province still use gray market operators. “Play Alberta is a success story, but it’s a bit sobering to consider that it’s only capturing up to 45 per cent of Albertans who gamble online,” Minister Dale Nally said. “That’s why we’re proposing to establish a regulated market where private operators are required to register and follow rules that will require them to put safeguards in place that better protect Albertans.”

Ontario’s iGaming Experiment: Two Years In

Ontario’s open market went live in April 2022. Two years later, the numbers are in, and they make interesting reading.

In the first year of the open market, Ontario saw $35.5 billion in wagers placed by users. In the 2023-24 financial year, this grew to $63 billion. This represents significant growth in the gambling market in Ontario.

The online gambling market as a whole earned approximately $1.26 billion in the 2022-23 financial year and then increased to $2.4 billion in the second year.

The switch from a publicly operated monopoly has continued to bring in money for the province of Ontario. While the 2023-24 figures are not out yet, we have estimated the amount of money it brought in for the province, based on the revenue increases and tax rates.

Regulation has dramatically reduced the presence of offshore gambling sites in Ontario. Before the market opened in 2022, offshore operators controlled roughly 75% of online gaming activity. By 2024, that share had dropped to just 7%, with 93% of the market now under regulated oversight. While the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) holds a smaller portion of the market, private licensed operators make up the majority. iGaming Ontario aims to cut the unregulated share even further, to just 5% by 2025.

Economic Impact and Challenges

The open iGaming market of Ontario is also bringing in wider economic benefits for the province. According to a Deloitte report commissioned by iGaming Ontario, the province has benefited significantly, besides simply providing a boost to Ontario’s coffers.

In year 1, it is estimated that 12,072 new jobs were generated, and 14,935 in year 2. Additionally, it is believed that it has had $2.7 billion in benefit for the GDP of the province. This represents a significant boon for the economy, both on local and provincial levels.

In addition to the direct venues brought in by the regulation of the iGaming market, at $480 million in 2023-24, Deloitte estimated that the total of all government revenues for 2023-24 as a result of the open market amounted to approximately $1.2 billion in the second year.

However, the opening up of the market has given rise to other challenges and concerns too, particularly when it comes to how the platforms advertise themselves to customers. A report in 2023 showed that young people had higher rates of gambling problems than others, which has worsened since the market opened.

In early 2024, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario banned professional athletes from being used in advertisements, restricted the use of celebrities, and reinforced self-exclusion requirements.

Provincial Comparison

As Ontario was the first province to open up and regulate its iGaming market, it can be looked at as something of an experiment, as officials and lawmakers in other provinces will look on at how things develop there.

We will be looking at three provinces, Alberta, British Columbia, and Quebec. Alberta is currently considering a bill that will end the monopoly of Play Alberta over the iGaming industry in the province, moving to a model similar to that in Ontario.

Each of these provinces currently operates its own iGaming platform. Alberta operates PlayAlberta, British Columbia has PlayNow, and Quebec operates Lotto Quebec. PlayNow also co-operates with Manitoba and Saskatchewan and additionally operates there too.

Below is the earnings for the income raised by the three provinces’ iGaming platforms. Across all three provinces, iGaming revenues increased.

In all three of these provinces where they operate a monopoly system, overseas operators currently control over 50% of the market. This means that the province is unable to profit from online gambling on these platforms.

Monopolies Under Pressure

With licensed operators now advertising nationally, monopoly-run platforms in other provinces are feeling the pressure.

In its latest annual report, the British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC) pointed to a direct impact. Since Ontario opened the door to private-sector sites in 2022, there’s been a spike in advertising across Canada for brands only licensed in Ontario. Many of those same brands also promote unregulated international versions of their platforms, which are illegal in provinces like British Columbia, but still draw in players.

It’s not the only one sounding the alarm. BCLC is part of the Canadian Lottery Coalition, a group of five provincial operators now publicly pushing back against what they describe as misleading ads and growing grey-market activity.

Case Study – British Columbia vs. Ontario

British Columbia and Ontario offer a clear contrast in how provincial gambling markets are structured, and what that means in terms of results.

Both provinces have a long-standing appetite for gambling and well-established lottery and casino infrastructure. But only one has opened its market to private online operators.

British Columbia has operated its PlayNow platform since 2004, offering a single legal option for online gambling. This is in contrast to Ontario’s model, which we have already discussed.

Ontario generates a higher revenue per capita than the monopoly model of British Columbia. This could be a reflection of a number of factors, such as the presence of overseas operators taking a significant chunk of the market.

A significant difference is the percentage of the revenue that the provinces receive. Since Ontario’s iGaming market is dominated by the private sector, the province of Ontario does not benefit from the full amount; instead, it gets a percentage of the total revenue through taxes.

British Columbia can capture a larger share of its total revenue from iGaming by controlling it directly, receiving the full amount of profit after operating costs. Ontario instead received a percentage through taxing gambling activities.

One limitation here – it does not include taxes earned indirectly through personal income taxes of those employed in the sector, sales tax (HST), and corporate taxes. These for Ontario, combined with the $480 million from taxing gambling activities, are believed to total around $1.25 billion.

What if Others Adopted Ontario’s Model?

Ontario has managed to significantly boost its regulated gambling sector by allowing legalizing private sector operators in the market, and reducing the grey market share to a tiny fraction of total iGaming revenues. The question is, how would it look if other provinces adopted a similar model?

Estimating the Potential

Ontario generated $2.4 billion in revenue from approximately 1.9 million player accounts, equating to around 12 accounts per 100 residents. For our estimates, it doesn’t make a difference how many of them are active or not.

We used a rough approximation of how spending might differ across Canada, using Ontario’s median income as a baseline, and then taking the 20% share that operators return to Ontario in the form of taxes on gambling. This estimate does not take into account the indirect revenues from job creation, sales, and corporate taxes.

The data suggests that Canadian provinces could be missing out on significant annual revenues by not regulating the online gambling that is already happening within their borders. Quebec could generate over $250 million in direct revenue, while Alberta and British Columbia could each generate over $160 million.

Considering that offshore, grey market already exists and serve users across Canada, the demand and the market is already there, sometimes using the same brands that are available in Ontario. But right now, it is not being regulated and taxed.

As mentioned, this forecast doesn’t take into account every detail. In addition to not including the indirect economic gains for the provinces through other tax sources, it doesn’t include the costs of legal reforms and the establishment of regulations and guidance. Provinces would also need to define what the roles of existing Crown operators will be – move to a regulatory role or become one of the competitors in the market.

Alberta’s Decision

Alberta’s online gambling scene is currently dominated by grey market, offshore operators. These sites currently control around 70% of the iGaming market. We have taken a more detailed look at the financial impact this could have.

The Alberta Gaming, Liquor, and Cannabis Agency does not break down in detail how much its online gambling platform, PlayAlberta, contributes to the Province of Alberta. However, they provided a net sales figure of $235 million.

In British Columbia, approximately 65% of sales go to the province after expenses. We used this to estimate the current contribution of PlayAlberta, in comparison to how things might look if Alberta opens and regulates the market.

Based on this estimation, Alberta could have earned $8 million more from an open, regulated market as opposed to the existing model. While this is not a significant amount, this does not take into account the number of jobs that could be generated, plus other sources of tax revenue, such as corporate, sales tax, and payroll taxes from an increase in jobs.

With Alberta set to open up and regulate the market, more of the revenue will soon be in the hands of Alberta, instead of flowing outside the province.

Provincial Profiles

Ontario

Ontario launched its competitive iGaming market in 2022. In 2023-24, it reported $2.4 billion in revenue, with 93% of online gambling now on regulated platforms. The province earned an estimated $1.2 billion in total government revenue, supported nearly 15,000 jobs, and added $2.7 billion to GDP. Ontario’s model now serves as a reference point nationally.

Québec

In Québec, only Loto-Québec is legal. That’s the government’s stance- “if it’s not Loto-Québec, it’s not legal.” A group of operators is lobbying for change, but so far, there’s little political movement. Based on demand and income levels, Québec could generate around $1.26 billion in iGaming revenue and $250 million in taxes under a model similar to Ontario’s. However, Québec has been somewhat successful at keeping a majority of gambling earnings on its licensed platforms, meaning there may be little desire to change in the short term.

British Columbia

British Columbia operates a long-standing monopoly model through the BCLC and its PlayNow platform. In 2023-24, its revenue reached $442 million. However, BCLC is concerned by pressure from increased national advertising of Ontario-licensed brands, some of which promote unregulated versions of their platforms.

Alberta

Alberta is moving ahead with plans to open its iGaming market. Bill 48, which will allow private operators to enter the province’s online gambling space, has passed and is set to come into effect in the first quarter of 2026. This will make Alberta the second province in Canada to implement a competitive model.

Based on Ontario’s framework, Alberta’s open market could generate over $800 million in annual revenue, with an estimated $160 million in direct tax contributions.

Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan has adopted a different approach. In 2022, the province partnered with the Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority (SIGA) and BCLC to bring the PlayNow platform to local players. Early success has been modest, recording around $8 million in early revenue. This is expected to grow as more users migrate to the platform.

Manitoba

Manitoba, Like Saskatchewan, has also partnered with BCLC through PlayNow. If Manitoba moved towards an open market, it is estimated that it could benefit from around $40 million in direct tax revenue.

Atlantic Provinces

The four provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Prince Edward Island jointly operate the Atlantic Lottery Corporation (ALC) under a monopoly system. In 2023-24, the ALC made $126 million in revenue from iGaming, before additional operational costs were considered. Based on an estimated 65% of this being turned into profit, we estimate that around $81 million goes back to the provinces, more than the $68 million we estimate they could make in direct taxes from an open market. This suggests that currently, Atlantic Canada does not currently face significant issues with grey market operators.

Wider Challenges

Ontario’s open market has upended the status quo in Canada, providing a real-time experiment for other provinces to learn lessons from.

One concern is how problem gambling and addictions can develop in an open market; if an open market leads to higher participation, this could also lead to a rise in problem gambling. However, a survey in December 2024 by Mental Health Research Canada showed that Ontario did not have a higher rate of problem gambling than other provinces. Manitoba was reported to have the highest percentage of gamblers, at 79%, and the highest rate of high-risk or problem gambling, at 13%. Ontario came in second on 11%, and British Columbia at 10%. The example of Manitoba means that a regulated, open market can mandate controls such as self-exclusion, deposit limits, and other measures.

Some provinces may look to protect their source of guaranteed income. The monopoly system under crown corporations guarantees a reliable income. Ontario suggests that the regulated market grows when opened, reducing the size of the grey market. The question is, do provinces want a large share of a small pie, or a small share of a larger one? In some provinces, the status quo might work better for now, and in others, an open market could improve overall revenues.

A Divided Table

Ontario made a gamble, and two years in, it appeared to be paying off. Over 90% of gambling is now happening on regulated platforms, bringing in over $1 billion in tax revenues, creating jobs, growing GDP, and establishing a framework for consumer protection.

Elsewhere, players still gamble, just that a significant share are doing so on offshore sites.

Whether others choose to follow remains to be seen. As of now, only Alberta is actively moving to a competitive model.

Sources

• Provincial population and median income data were obtained from Statistics Canada.
• Problem gambling statistics were sourced from the December 2024 survey by Mental Health Research Canada.
• iGaming revenue figures and player account data for Ontario were drawn from reports published by iGaming Ontario and Deloitte.

Referenced Reports:

• Deloitte Report: Ontario’s iGaming Market Supports More Jobs in its Second Year
• iGaming Ontario FY Reports (2022–24)