Canada

While we can trace the history of sports betting in Canada back over 600 years ago, we can narrow it down to 1892. Around this time, the government banned all forms of gambling apart from horse race betting. Punters could only place bets on horse races at county fairs until 1969, when legislators amended the Canadian Criminal Code. This amendment allowed federal and provincial governments to run lotteries supporting good causes, such as charities.

In the early 1990s, provincial governments gave the green light to betting in sports lotteries like Sports Action and Proline. However, the amended criminal code only allowed parlay/multi-game betting. This restriction was the norm until August 2021, when the Canadian federal government passed the C-218 bill, allowing single-game sports betting nationwide. Still, individual provinces were free to legalize or not legalize it.

Canada has one of the most flexible policies among the nations where betting is legal. CA citizens can bet on pretty much any sports or event offered on sportsbooks' websites and apps, including eSports and horse racing. With the wide range of operators available, the high number of sports betting events is hardly surprising. Besides, players can opt for in-person or virtual betting.

In addition, DFS is also legal in every Canadian province.

Recent updates from the Canadian sports betting scene

• August 2, 2024: Betsson acquires betting tech company Sporting Solutions. This deal includes all price-setting and risk-management-related services verticals. Betsson states it will integrate Sporting Solutions' advanced pricing feeds into its sportsbooks to boost its pre-match and live betting offerings.

• July 25, 2024: According to iGaming Ontario's report regarding the first quarter of the 2024-25 fiscal year, the sports betting handle increased slightly to CAD 2.5bn ($1.8bn) from CAD 2bn last year. Meanwhile, the iGaming handle vaulted up 31% from the previous year's CAD 14bn to CAD 18.4bn ($13.3bn).

• May 14, 2024: Prince Edward Island senator Percy Downe puts forward a plan to heavily restrict ads related to sports betting sites and mobile apps, voicing concern about the ads' impact on young people.

• April 25, 2024: Quebec considers adopting an Ontario-esque regulatory model for online gaming to find significant cost savings during severe budget challenges. According to the recent report by the Quebec Online Gaming Coalition, legalizing online gambling added almost $1.6 billion to Ontario's GDP in the first year of legal iGaming.

• April 19, 2024: After reviewing the betting activity related to the WBA (World Boxing Association) title fight between Yoenis Tellez and Livan Navarro and discovering suspicious betting patterns, AGCO orders all licensed sportsbooks in Ontario to stop offering any betting markets and odds for any upcoming WBA bouts for the time being.

As said earlier, Canada has some of the most lenient gambling policies, as Canadians can freely wager on casino games, poker, lotteries, and bingo games, just to name a few, both online and in-person. Sweepstake casinos and social sportsbooks are also legal to play if you prefer them over real money gambling.

In addition to these, online poker is also fully legal in Canada. Poker enthusiasts can even find tons of different games in retail casinos and dedicated poker rooms due to the relaxed gambling legislation.

Other gambling-related news & stories from Canada

• November 12, 2024: Alberta's timeline for launching a competitive online sports betting and iGaming market is still very uncertain. The province recently decided to pass iGaming legislation before allowing private betting operators to enter. While the launch is still in limbo, likely until 2025, operators will remain interested in joining once it is permitted.

• October 4, 2024: The NHL and NFL join opposition to Canada's proposed restrictions on sports betting ads. NFL Vice President Jonathan Nabavi argued that in the U.S., despite legalizing sports betting, the illegal market remains robust and larger than expected, highlighting that unreasonably tough advertising restrictions will inevitably obstruct the critical effort to shift illegal sports betting toward the regulated market.

• August 12, 2024: Ontario's government is considering allowing Ontario residents to engage in play with gamblers from other countries on online gambling sites and apps. This move would exponentially raise the amount of money revolving around the ON online poker and DFS markets.

• August 2, 2024: British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC) advises all current customers of the PlayNow gambling platform to update their passwords after a cyberattack occurred on July 24, 2024. According to the BCLC, this attack only impacted a small percentage of PlayNow's account base, and no sensitive player information was stolen. However, it is still recommended that all passwords be changed as a preventive action.

• July 10, 2024: Argentina’s national soccer team mocked rapper Drake after he lost a $300,000 bet on Canada defeating Argentina in the Copa America semi-final. If Canada had won, Drake would have earned $2.88 million. Instead, goals by Lionel Messi and Julian Alvarez secured Argentina’s victory.