A little more than three years after Ontario legalized online gambling, it’s safe to say that things are going well.
A little more than three years after Ontario legalized online gambling, it’s safe to say that things are going well. Both residents and visitors who are physically in Ontario can play online casino games or make sports bets on a computer or mobile device. During the 2024-25 fiscal year, Ontario saw CAD 82.7 billion in total wagers and CAD 3.2 billion in gross gaming revenue. Both numbers are up over 30% from the previous fiscal year, with Ontario putting 20% of that revenue back into its treasury.
Ontario has no shortage of legal sportsbooks and casinos that operate online. Those interested in exploring their legal gambling options have plenty of options. Resources like casino.com/canada offer useful reviews and information about the top sites.
However, Ontario is still working on getting everyone to use legally sanctioned betting platforms. Before online betting became legal in Ontario in April 2022, gambling still took place on unregulated sites. A recent study by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) showed that nearly 84% of Ontario residents who are betting online use regulated sites, but that still leaves a big chunk of online bettors who are using unregulated sites. Ideally, that number would be as close to 100% as possible.
The issue for Ontario is that the percentage of players using legally sanctioned and regulated sites isn’t getting any closer to 100%. These unregulated sites often have international licenses to operate, allowing them to reach people in Canada. While the AGCO is aware of such sites and monitors them, it doesn’t have any jurisdiction to stop them. Instead, it needs to work with international gaming regulators with the hope of reducing unregulated betting in Ontario.
While the AGCO looks for ways to sanction black-market betting in Ontario, legally operating sites need to find ways to remain competitive with them. Ontario has high standards for protecting the safety of players at gambling sites and the integrity of games on those sites. However, if compliance standards for legal operators become too high, they could struggle to compete with illegal sites that don’t have to meet those standards.
The good news for Ontario is that roughly 84% of users on legal sites put the province on par with other countries with legal online betting, including the United Kingdom. But getting that number closer to 100% remains a challenge. The AGCO is continuing to explore every possible avenue to limit gambling on illegal sites. However, even with everything going well three years in, there is still work to do with online betting in Ontario.
