According to Statista, the projected revenue from online gambling in Canada for 2025 is $5.61 billion (US) and predicted to grow to $5.71 billion by 2029 – a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 5.5%.

With the best part of 75% of Canadians gambling in some way, from state lotteries to online roulette and physical casinos, there is no doubt that Canada can be considered a growth market, even if development is patchy thanks to the province-based application of licensing and legalization.

What is Legal in Canada?

We don’t have to look too far back to see how far Canada has come in terms of the legalization of gambling really. While Indigenous people around the world were playing games of chance thousands of years ago, there aren’t many records of them being played in Canada other than the game known as Slahil which was played with animal bones.

When English settlers first ‘discovered’ Canada and claimed it for Britain, the archaic laws that prohibited dice games in the 14^th Century were applied, making it illegal there, too.

Organized gambling wasn’t really a thing until the late 1700s in Canada, when a horse race organized in Quebec City was the starting point for these official events.

The Canadian Criminal Code came into effect in 1892, and it was at a time where morality and religion were the deciding factor in a lot of government decisions. This covered all forms of gambling and banned them. This wasn’t as useful as they had thought, as fundraising for charities through raffles and bingo raised much-needed funds and provided extra taxation opportunities.

What happened behind the scenes with the gambling ban is that activities still continued, but they took place illegally without any oversight and with strong ties to criminal behavior. To help deal with this, the government allowed all provinces in Canada the right to decide how gambling would work in their own territories. This then developed into gambling becoming almost completely legal in 1985.

Crystal Casino – a Landmark

The first physical casino in the whole of Canada opened its doors in 1989 in Winnipeg. It was also the first government-owned casino to open in the Western Hemisphere. While it was nothing like the glitzy casinos we might think of in Vegas, it was considered to be a success until it closed in 1997.

Gambling in Canada Today

In 2021, Bill C-218 was passed by the Canadian government, and it marked a landmark in that single-sports betting was finally legal throughout all the provinces. Of course, in a similar way to the law passed in the US, provinces were able to manage their own territories, implementing, regulating, and licensing gambling.

This bill covered all sports except horse racing, which was the only one that remained legal since the 1970s. The move was a calculated one, not only removing the risk of money laundering and other criminal activities but also allowed for the collection of revenue for taxes.

There are nearly 100 licensed casinos and gambling establishments in Canada today.

The Ontario Example

Ontario is at the forefront of the new wave of legalization. As it is going through a period of population growth as well as becoming more of a tourist attraction thanks to all the films that are filmed there, it is a great place for a test case for new laws – and they have embraced the gambling there.

The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation is in charge, having licensed more than 70 operators for online sports books and casinos, as well as 25 physical locations. Some of these are operated by private companies and charities, while others are operated by the government.

Other provinces such as British Columbia, Quebec, and Alberta have followed Ontario, developing their own provincial-level gaming options for residents.

The Future of Gambling in Canada

While change might be slow in reaching certain provinces in Canada, what can be projected for the country as a whole is that online casinos will be the preferred place for bets to be placed, whether that is on sports like the NFL or hockey, or on table games and slots like in a physical casino.

The evolution of online casinos to include fully-functional apps for smartphones, the addition of live casinos for a more immersive experience, and the fact that Canadian law does not cover offshore online casinos – so players are allowed to play even if it is not explicitly legal in their jurisdiction – means that while the physical casinos might not be as popular as they are elsewhere in the world, online casinos are going to make the most money.

By 2029, Statista estimates that there will be 33.9 million online casino users. Provinces who issue licenses to online casinos to operate in their areas could be raking in the money based on taxation and fees from these companies, so it is not hard to imagine that this is the next step for the gambling market in Canada.