Ontario’s Gambling Laws Raised $1.2 Billion In 12 Months, But Quebec Unlikely To Follow

The 27^th Canadian Gaming Summit came to a climax at the end of June. The event was considered a success with more than 3,000 registered attendees. As well as seminars, workshops, and meetups, there were various speeches and presentations from those within and connected to the Canadian gambling industry.

One such speech related details from Deloitte’s report on the state of iGaming and gambling in Ontario. The key highlight of the report showed that the province’s gambling industry raised $1.2 billion in 12 months for government coffers. Its success has led Alberta to declare that it will be the next region to adopt similar rules.

But, despite the extra money raised, and the mostly positive news from Ontario, Quebec’s Finance Ministry has said, as recently as February of this year, that it does not intend to follow Ontario’s lead and has no intention of deregulating online gambling and that the Crown service, Loto-Québec would retain its monopoly on online gambling in the province.

There are no federal laws that prohibit playing at online casinos, and the Federal government leaves regulation to provincial bodies. Quebec has physical casinos, including the country’s largest casino situated in Montreal. But the province, like most other provinces in Canada, only has one legal and regulated online gambling website, which is the local lotto website. However, there are no laws to prohibit players from using offshore casinos and iGambling websites. This leads many players to log on and play at offshore online casino websites which typically offer unique benefits like huge game variety, unique payment methods, and quick, easy payouts of winnings. Because of these benefits, and the ability to bypass tough local restrictions, international offshore sites are popular in Canada. 

The use of offshore sites isn’t prohibited, but because they are offshore, it means that the province doesn’t enjoy the benefit of gambling taxes. Ontario regulated online gambling in April 2022. Deloitte predicted that it would take 10 years for the industry to generate $4.7 billion in revenue, but after just two years, Ontario has already seen £3.9 billion in revenue, so it has already surpassed the five-year predictions in this regard. 

Furthermore, between April 2023 and April 2024, iGaming generated $1.2 billion in government revenues. This figure includes $800 million that went directly to Ontario with $75 million going to municipalities and $380 million to federal bank accounts. The report also highlighted the fact that 12,000 new jobs were created in year one with a further 15,000 in year two. And jobs in the online gaming sector averaged 60% of the province’s average salary.

As the iGaming industry is clearly picking up steam in Ontario, Alberta has confirmed that it will be the next province to regulate online gambling. No timeline has been given for the move to be finalized, but there is an outside chance that it could be completed by the end of this year. A 2025 launch seems more likely, however, at this point.

Obviously, Ontario’s population is larger than that of Quebec’s, with approximately 15 million residents compared to around 9 million, but La Belle Province could still bring in hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue if it opened up its own gambling market like Ontario has. Despite this potential windfall, province officials have clearly stated they have no intention of making the move. In February this year, they stated they had no intention of following Ontario’s lead and pointed to the Loto-Quebec official online lotto as offering a solution for Quebec gamblers.

Loto-Quebec is a crown corporation that was first established in 1969. It manages a public lottery as well as four casinos, two gaming halls, and network bingo sites. It makes approximately $900 million in lottery revenue, per annum, and roughly the same from its gaming establishments. The organization’s casinos and gaming halls make just over $1 billion a year in revenue. All the tax revenue raised by Loto-Quebec goes to the province of Quebec.

The Quebec gambling industry is said to be worth $2.5 billion a year, although this figure aligns with the total revenue from Loto-Quebec’s revenue, and therefore doesn’t take into account money spent at online casinos or crypto gambling websites. Therefore, the figure is likely to be much higher than this. 

In total, Canada’s gambling industry is worth an estimated $14.2 billion annually but, again, this figure is likely much higher when you take into account offshore betting. The industry is likely to grow in the coming years, especially if Ontario’s newly deregulated gambling industry continues to show growth, assuming Alberta and other provinces will follow their lead.

Generally, Canada has quite open gambling laws. Players are permitted to gamble and place certain types of bets, as long as they do so through licensed premises, although online gambling at offshore sites is also an option for players. Each province is allowed to make its own rules on casino gambling and online gambling, and it was only in 2022 that any online gambling started to open up. 

Ontario was the first province to allow non-crown companies and bodies to offer gambling services to its residents. While the laws do generally mean it is OK for residents to play online casinos, companies that wish to be licensed within Canadian borders are severely restricted as things stand.

Canadian gambling laws have changed in recent years. In 2021, for example, single sports betting was legalized. The change did not have any immediate effect, however, because the Federal laws were passed down to individual provinces, which could set their own laws and rules governing these types of bets. It wasn’t until Ontario deregulated its iGaming and sportsbook laws that the changes were witnessed by anybody in the nation. 

Quebecers, and other Canadian residents, do have gambling options available to them, other than Crown lottos. There are land-based casinos available in every province, and the largest casino in the country can be found in Montreal, while offshore casinos and betting sites also offer online options to keen players.