How many provinces in Canada have online casinos?

Online casinos are a popular pastime for many Canadians, yet the country is still working on embracing a far-reaching regulatory framework that would allow more people to enjoy iGaming more easily.

There are only a handful of provinces that offer a fully-fledged online casino experience, with Ontario the best example of it. Others take a more limited and centralized approach, but they are also considering a shift, following the example of Ontario. Today, we take a look at which provinces in Canada have iGaming available to their players.

Provinces with regulated iGaming and online casinos

Presently, the only province that regulates private licensed operators and allows them to offer online casinos is Ontario. Ontario launched its iGaming market in April 2022 and has quickly grown to be one of the leading markets not just in Canada but in North America.

The exact number of online casinos in Ontario has been steadily growing over the past years, with the current number ranging up to 87 websites run by around 50 operators that are allowed to offer their products legally in the province.

Ontario has about 1.9 million registered players, and it continues to generate growing revenue numbers. Based on the latest data as of the time of writing this article, online gambling revenue in Ontario reached CA$311 million in July 2025, a 29% increase year-over-year.

Out of this revenue, CA$252.3 million was generated by online casinos, or 81% of the total, demonstrating the province’s strength in online casinos. Casino Guru has also put a list of the best online casinos in Ontario to make it easier for you to explore and compare the available legal options in the province.

Ontario is currently bringing in CA$3.2 billion and receiving CA$642 million of that money as revenue for the province in the fiscal year 2024-2025. Online casino games accounted for CA$2.4 billion alone.

What other provinces offer legal online casinos in Canada?

As it turns out, Ontario may be the best developed iGaming infrastructure in the country, but it is hardly the only one. Two other notable provinces that have a well-developed iGaming infrastructure are British Columbia and Alberta.

Both provinces are centralized, however, in the sense that they do not provide private licensed operators to run businesses yet. The respective online casino games are offered through PlayNow and PlayAlberta for British Columbia and Alberta, respectively.

Of the two, however, Alberta has made more decisive strides forward in the liberalization of its iGaming model and breaking with the current monopoly.

In May, the province passed Bill 48, referred to as the iGaming Alberta Act, which, once it has been enacted, will create a market very similar to the one already established in Ontario.

When this happens, private companies will have to apply for a license with the Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC) and then operate under a set of strict regulatory criteria. Bill 48 essentially boils down to:

• Establishing an Ontario-style online casino market in the province, and offering an alternative to the centralized PlayAlberta platform in the form of private operators;
• A direct response to offshore markets, which has been generating potentially billions worth of revenue;
• The introduction of player protection standards, such as ID verification, self-exclusion options, betting limits, and real-time intervention to curb gambling-related harm.

While Bill 48 received some criticism over its looseness on consumer protection measures. Minister of Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction, Dale Nally, has argued that these sensitive issues are better handled by regulators and not legislators.

The Ontario experience and the Alberta rollout – avoiding missteps

Alberta, for example, now understands the mistakes made during Ontario’s rollout, and in several key areas, its online casinos can launch on a stronger footing than Ontario’s. The AGLC will get a better start, able to learn from the mistakes made by AGCO in overseeing the industry, processing licensing requests, and following up on AML checks. Commenting on Alberta's decision, Casino Guru Head of Casino Research, Matej Novota, said:

"Alberta seems to be getting several things right. Instead of trying to "reinvent the wheel," the province is building on Ontario's experience and seeking to improve it. The lack of a concrete launch timeline also indicates that the province is not beholden to a deadline, but is focused on getting things right, which is another encouraging factor. Ultimately, Alberta will face the same challenges from the offshore market as others do, but it already seems aware of the problem, citing the passage of Bill 48 as a way to not only bolster the province's economy, but also directly lessen the clout of the unregulated market."

Of course, Alberta is unlikely to be the last province to build on Ontario’s experience and may itself serve as an example for others. British Columbia has so far resisted any definitive change to its regulatory framework.

What other provinces have online casinos in Canada?

With Ontario and Alberta getting most of the spotlight right now, there are actually casinos that players all over Canada can play even today, and they are fully regulated and legitimate, if somewhat limited in the variety of options they offer.

• Manitoba: PlayNow.com
• Québec: Espacejeux.com
• Saskatchewan: PlayNow.com
• Atlantic Provinces: ALC.ca

While Ontario is clearly the most populous province, sitting at around 15.2 million residents, all other provinces, or conglomerations of provinces in the case of the Atlantic Provinces, have a considerable number of people who are already gambling offshore.

This is reason enough for legislators to press on with their plans to regulate the industry and ensure that there are sufficient options closer to home.

Wrapping up: Online casinos in Canada – more options to be available soon

Today, Canada enjoys a well-developed iGaming framework, although most of it is still centralized. A change has begun and is likely to continue over the coming years, with more being done to open up and liberate the market.

Presently, only Yukon, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut lack even a province-based iGaming platform, but this has not stopped players from accessing offshore websites all the same.

With online casinos a hot topic for legislators and the benefit of revenue clearly documented, there is a lot of reason to believe that a shift towards a liberalized market across Canada’s provinces would come sooner rather than later.

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