Gaming Realms has launched its portfolio of Slingo Original mobile games in Quebec in partnership with Loto-Québec, a state corporation and the only regulated operator of iGaming in the state.

Gaming Realms will first launch Slingo Extreme and Blackjack Xchange, with the rest of the portfolio following later in the year.

Mark Segal, Gaming Realms’ chief financial officer, said:

“Hot on the heels of being awarded our Ontario igaming license, we are delighted to have gone live with Loto-Québec. 2022 is set to be an exciting time for the company as we move to establish a strong foothold in the Canadian market and work towards our longer-term plan of expanding further into the North American market.”

Stéphane Martel, Loto-Québec head of products and innovation, added: “Gaming Realms’ games are a great addition to our growing online casino game portfolio. Our players will enjoy this new offer.”

PROLINE, the sports betting brand of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG), has entered into a deal with the National Football League (NFL).

Under this exclusive five-year deal, OLG and PROLINE become an official retail lottery and sportsbook partner of the NFL in Ontario and the NFL’s first official sportsbook partner in Canada.

“We are so excited to announce this partnership given that PROLINE is the only platform for sports bettors in Ontario to place legal, single event wagers and other exciting bets on the Super Bowl at both retail outlets and online at PROLINE+. This exciting collaboration with a world-class organization like the NFL creates new sports entertainment experiences that give sports fans all across the province an incredible opportunity to get closer to the sport they love through exclusive, one-of-a-kind gameplay,” Dave Pridmore, OLG’s Chief Digital and Strategy Officer, said.

“As the sports betting landscape continues to evolve, we are excited to partner with OLG in Ontario with the opening of the sports betting market in Canada. OLG will bring NFL fans in the province a whole new experience in sports gaming entertainment. We look forward to working together to create new responsible and innovative ways for football fans to share in the action of the NFL,” Gavin Kemp, NFL Director of Corporate Partnerships, said.

This week Private Members Bill C-218 to legalise single event sports betting in Canada received Royal Assent.

This seismic event paves the way for a dramatic change in the gambling industry in Canada with the opportunity for provincial government-run sites like PlayNow in British Colombia and the OLG in Ontario to add sports betting markets to their product portfolios, and, should they choose, each province to open up the market for private betting firms to be licensed to operate in the territory.

Before now punters in Canada could only bet on the outcome of individual games at sports by using offshore gambling sites. Bettors must use review sites like thecasinoheat.ca if they want to find out where they can play with safe operators who are licensed outside of Canada in jurisdictions like Malta or Gibraltar.

So to the future, and much like the situation in the United States, where legalisation of sports betting is happening state by state and with different rules and regulations in each one, so the same is expected for the provinces of Canada.

Bill C-218 broadly allows for single-game bets in Canada, allowing either the province, or a business or other entity licensed by the province to run a ‘lottery scheme’ in which single event bets are taken.

However, how this scheme is executed is down to each individual government.

Ontario

It is widely expected that the private sector will play a big part of the gambling market, both online and offline in the next decade, with Ontario leading the way in making plans for a fully regulated and competitive market much like that being built south of the border.

Indeed, Ontario’s plans for a new iGaming market are intended to come to fruition in late 2021, and whilst the specifics are not yet clear, it is expected that they will include both sports betting and casino and other games provided by private companies.

A discussion paper published by the Ontario government in March 2021 suggests that revenue share agreements between private companies and a newly formed Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) would be the best way to move forward, with firms paying a share of all revenues generated through games and betting to the AGCO rather than through taxation.

With this model, and by leveraging existing game and platform testing and auditing required for alternative jurisdictions, it is believed that private companies could be up and running by the end of the year.

So in Ontario, the future is very much for the existing government-owned Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) to exist alongside new betting firms operating in the province, with single event sports betting added to its OLG website as soon as it is legal to do so, maybe even by September.

British Columbia and the Other Provinces

Whilst Ontario has taken the lead with its discussion paper and moves to establish the groundwork for a new gambling market that will include casino and poker products from established betting firms, in other provinces the focus for now is solely on capitalising on the opportunities provided by the legalisation of sports betting.

In British Colombia the British Colombia Lottery Corporation plans to implement new betting markets on its PlayNow website as soon as they legally can, with in-person betting at land-based casinos expected to follow in the longer term.

The same is likely to happen in Alberta where the government-run PlayAlberta website is set to add betting markets later this year. Meanwhile, land-based venues may offer the opportunity for single event sports betting at a later date.

Conclusion

Canada has been a long time in catching up with the other regulated gambling markets in Europe and the States, but with the passing of Bill C-218 and now Royal Assent, the opportunity has arrived to provide bettors with safe and competitive products, whilst bringing much-needed revenues into the government that had previously been going to offshore firms. The new bill will also hasten the move towards a new framework for all types of online gambling in Canada in which private operators running casino games will also be able to take bets from punters there legally for the first time.