Canada

What You Need To Know About iGaming & Gambling In Canada

Published

1 year ago

November 14, 2022

Reading Time: 3 minutes

There’s absolutely no doubt that online gambling is one of the most popular forms of entertainment in various places in the world – and Canada has cottoned onto that. But the regulation across the country can still be confusing – what’s legal and in which provinces?

We’re going to take a look at iGaming & gambling regulations for the people who want to play at new online casinos in Canada and all of the games they have. We’ll also take a closer look at one of the latest provinces to change things: Ontario.

How Gambling works in Canada

It was just a few short months ago – April of 2022, that Ontario opened up its doors and let the big wide world of online casinos in. This big change in the legislation allows all of the businesses that offer online gambling to apply for a licence to operate there. This licence is handed out by the Liquor and Gaming Commission and is needed to legally offer gambling services in the province.

This was a huge deal for the whole of the iGaming and gambling industry – Canada has previously had an incredibly strict outlook on gambling regulation. The only way to get licensed in Canada was to have one issued by the province they wish to operate in, and any company wanting to do business there would have to stick to each province’s individual regulations.

These governing bodies don’t directly operate the casino, they only handle the licensing. It’s down to private companies to handle the online casino sites. Because each province is licensed differently, each one has its own licensing body that regulates everything gambling related within the confines of its jurisdiction.

The Case of Ontario

The government of Ontario commented back in 2020 that it had started making plans in creating a fully regulated iGaming and internet gambling sector and that regulating this would fall within the reach of its Gambling and Alcohol Commission. Registration for its iGaming Ontario program began at the end of 2021 and overseas online casino businesses could legally operate there from April 2022.

Thanks to these plans, gambling businesses from all over the world can offer their casino sites to the people of Ontario. In order to get a licence from iGaming Ontario, casino operators must be registered with the AGCO and then they can apply.

Introducing this new legislation could have a massive impact on the gambling industry, as it’s a whole new market to be established. Some of the biggest names in the gambling sector are jumping on this opportunity to offer their sites to this new and potentially lucrative market.

The Rest of Canada

Alberta is the only other province so far to allow third-party and overseas gambling companies in. All of the other states run on different legislation.

In most of the other provinces, gambling is run by governmental agencies, with incredibly strict regulations. It’s not just online casinos that are affected by these strict measures – sports betting is too. It was only recently that Canadians were able to place single-event bets – before a bill named Bill C-128 passed, all Canadians could only place parlay bets on more than one event.

The governmental agencies offer a range of different games and betting – from different lotteries to slot games and scratch cards. But due to their only being one place to play, there’s an extremely limited number of games on offer, with games from some of the big name developers such as Yggdrasil and NetEnt missing.

The Future of Online Gambling in Canada

You only need to look at other countries to try and see where the future of online casinos and betting lies with Canada. Other countries that are strict on gambling – such as America and India – are opening up their doors territory by territory and allowing third-party companies to offer their gambling-related services.

This has a number of advantages, including two big ones: A massive crackdown on illegal overseas gambling and also a big bump in gambling taxation revenue. This is what we can see from the two provinces of Canada that have opened up their doors so far – Alberta and Ontario. In just Ontario alone, gambling revenue is set to almost double from $1.6 billion to $2.3 billion in just a year!

It’s for these reasons and more it’s highly possible the rest of Canada will open up its doors to online casinos everywhere, ushering in a whole new era of Gambling regulation.

Related Topics:gambling regulation NetEnt new online casinos in Canada Yggdrasil

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Glitnor Group expands IBIA’s betting integrity presence in Ontario

Published

3 weeks ago

April 10, 2024

Adrienn Sarkany

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Glitnor Group, operating under the LCKY Group in Ontario, has joined the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA). Glitnor Group’s luckycasino.ca brand sportsbook will feed into IBIA’s world leading betting integrity monitoring platform. The operator joins over 50 companies and 125 leading sports betting brands in IBIA and further cements the association’s position as the leading sports betting integrity monitoring body in Ontario and globally.

David Schwieler LCKY Group CEO, said: “At Glitnor Group, we’re dead serious about keeping our betting games fair and square. That’s why teaming up with IBIA is a big deal for us. We know how crucial it is to protect the spirit of sports, and we’re ready to roll up our sleeves and work closely with the IBIA to make sure sports betting stays exciting, speedy, and above all, fair.”

Khalid Ali, CEO of IBIA, said: “I am delighted to welcome Glitnor Group as IBIA’s latest member in Ontario. Glitnor and IBIA share a common goal to maintain the integrity of the sports betting marketplace and to protecting consumers and sports from match-fixing. Ensuring product integrity is paramount to our approach and we look forward to integrating Glitnor within our leading global sports betting integrity monitoring system.”

IBIA is a not-for-profit body that has no competing conflicts with the delivery of commercial services to other sectors and is run by operators for operators to protect regulated sports betting markets from match-fixing. IBIA’s global monitoring network is a highly effective anti-corruption tool, detecting and reporting suspicious activity in regulated betting markets.

Through the IBIA global monitoring network it is possible to track transactional activities linked to individual customer accounts. IBIA members have over $300bn per annum in betting turnover (handle), accounting for approximately 50% of the global commercial regulated land-based and online sports betting sector, and in excess of 50% for online alone.

IBIA recently released a report on the Availability of Sports Betting Products which highlighted Ontario as a leading regulated gambling jurisdiction, with an expected onshore channelisation for sports betting of 92% in 2024 forecast to rise to 97% in 2028. IBIA currently represents over 60% of the private sports betting operators licensed in the province. All online sports betting operators licensed in Ontario are required to be part of a betting integrity monitoring body.

IBIA’s 2023 annual integrity report detailed 184 alerts reported in the year, which represents a decrease of 101 (or 35%) on the revised 2022 figure of 285 alerts. IBIA alerts contributed to the investigations and subsequent successful sanctioning of 21 clubs, players and officials in 2023, an increase on the 15 sanctioned in 2022.

Canada

SOFTSWISS Obtains Firstly Issued B2B Tobique Gaming Licence

Published

4 weeks ago

April 3, 2024

George Miller

SOFTSWISS Obtains Firstly Issued B2B Tobique Gaming Licence

Reading Time: 2 minutes

SOFTSWISS, an iGaming software provider celebrating its 15th anniversary in 2024, has obtained the B2B Tobique Gaming Licence, the first ever issued in the jurisdiction. The Tobique Gaming Commission (TGC) and Differentia Licensing Advisory Group Limited (DLAG), a provider and facilitator to gaming companies for international gaming licences, authorised SOFTSWISS to engage in business activities for one year.

Located in western New Brunswick, Canada, the Tobique First Nation is a sovereign indigenous community issuing online gambling licences through the TGC under the Tobique Gaming Act of 2023. The licence, recognised as the B2B Tobique Gaming Licence, offers businesses the prospect of international operations, facilitating the establishment of a global footprint. The licence covers various categories of real money betting, including sports, casino games and lottery. Its significant advantages include the streamlined application process, reasonable price and quick acquisition.

Yuri Sharapa, Head of Country Projects at SOFTSWISS, comments: “Acquiring a new licence is a remarkable achievement for us, signifying our dedication to offering our clients a diverse range of options. We extend our gratitude to the Tobique Gaming Commission for their trust and stringent standards. We are proud to announce that one of the companies under the SOFTSWISS brand has become the first company to secure the B2B Tobique iGaming Licence.”

“The DLAG team is pleased to announce that the first Tobique Licence has been granted. The Licensee is under the tier-1 international brand, SOFTSWISS, in our industry, recognised for its leading products and services. These are exciting times for both the gaming world and Tobique!” adds Graham Martin, Chairman of DLAG.

SOFTSWISS supplies multiple operators under three international licences: MGA, CGA, and Kahnawake. Additionally, SOFTSWISS has several national licences and certifications, among which the recently obtained South African Licence through the acquisition of Turfsport, a leading South African provider of wagering software with 35 years of experience. Additionally, last year, as part of its strategy to enter regulated markets, the SOFTSWISS Casino Platform and the SOFTSWISS Sportsbook obtained GLI-19 and GLI-33 certifications, respectively.

About SOFTSWISS

SOFTSWISS is an international tech company supplying software solutions for managing iGaming projects. The expert team, which counts over 2,000 employees, is based in Malta, Poland and Georgia. SOFTSWISS holds a number of gaming licences and provides one-stop-shop iGaming software solutions. The company has a vast product portfolio, including the Casino Platform, Game Aggregator, the Affilka affiliate tracking platform, Sportsbook Platform, and Jackpot Aggregator. In 2013, SOFTSWISS was the first in the world to introduce a Bitcoin-optimised online casino solution.

Canada

Hacksaw Gaming and Caesars Digital Partner to Launch Online Casino Games in Ontario

Published

4 months ago

December 21, 2023

Alan Campbell

Reading Time: < 1 minute

Launch brings Hacksaw Gaming titles to Caesars Palace Online Casino and Caesars Sportsbook & Casino in Ontario

Hacksaw Gaming today announced its first market launch with Caesars Digital in North America, in the regulated iGaming province of Ontario, Canada. The new partnership marks the exciting launch of new games on Caesars Palace Online Casino and Caesars Sportsbook & Casino in the province.

This new partnership, a first between the two companies, will bring familiar titles to online casino players and will be followed by a dedicated roadmap for additional launches in more jurisdictions in 2024, showcasing the entire Hacksaw Gaming catalog. The first release of games includes Hacksaw Gaming classics Wanted Dead or a Wild, RIP City, Hand of Anubis and Mines.

“Forging partnerships with new faces is always an exciting time but the influence of Caesars Digital is one we pride,” the Chief Executive Officer for Hacksaw Gaming, Marcus Cordes, said. “Launching this partnership in Ontario is the perfect place to begin our journey.”

“Hacksaw Gaming brings an exciting catalog of games to our platforms that should provide a thrilling experience for our players,” the Senior Vice-President and Chief iGaming Officer for Caesars Digital, Matthew Sunderland, said. “We’re excited to see how our players engage with this content in Ontario and in jurisdictions in the future through our new partnership.”