The opening of Ontario to the online casino market

A change in regulations

To date, Canada's regulated online market has been limited to online casinos operated by the government of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG), as well as similar agencies operating in British Columbia, Manitoba, Quebec, Alberta and New Brunswick.

There AGCO (Ontario Liquor and Gaming Commission) and the Ontario Ministry of Finance must determine the commercial agreements that will be concluded between private game operators and the Government of Ontario.

A properly regulated system

The AGCO has already carried out a lot of research on the international courts to ensure that the regulatory measures are in line with the rest of the international measures, while setting a standard for Ontario to meet.

It is important that the tax rates Ontario is sufficiently competitive with other international markets.

In the same way, the initial entry fees in the market must be modest enough to attract smallholders, so that Ontario can capture as much of the existing off-shore market as possible.

The idea is to bring in from many actors in a properly regulated market.

What about the other regions?

Another fundamental question is whether Ontario's new regulatory model will spread to all of Canada .

Paul Burns, head of the Canadian Gaming Association , said that until now, other Canadian provinces have adopted an "observation bulletin" regarding Ontario's plans, but that they are now paying more attention to it since the adoption of the draft budget law in December.

It would be possible for two or more provinces to come together to allow Ontario operators to offer online gambling games elsewhere in Canada.

According to Paul Burns, it would be surprising if the other Canadian provinces did not follow this initiative taken by Ontario. Indeed, they are all faced with the challenge of reducing the grey market in the field of gambling and the only valid solution seems to be to create a clear regulation.