In just three months of an open online gambling market, 21 gaming sites are live in Ontario. That means Ontario bettors are blessed with a lot of choice for their gambling dollars — and many more options are coming soon.
Currently, 39 operators are registered with the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario. That means at least 18 more will go live as soon as they sign an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. Eventually, we could see as many as 70 online gambling sites in Ontario.
PlayOntario.com is the prime resource for Ontario’s gambling laws and betting options. Plus, we tell you where you can play the best casino games and score the best offers from online gambling sites. This is your source for the latest on the long list of legal Ontario online casinos and sports betting apps in Canada.
Retail casino gambling is legal in Ontario and overseen by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission. Casino visitors must be at least 19 years old.
Ontario has over 70 casinos, ranging from large resorts like Fallsview Casino Resort, which features over 3,000 slots and more than 100 table games, to facilities with just a few hundred games. Cascades Casino in North Bay, ON, opened on March 9, 2022.
Online poker is legal in Ontario and regulated by Alcohol and Gaming Commission. The top online poker options are BetMGM Poker, Party Poker and PokerStars.
Many Ontario casinos host poker rooms, including Casino Niagara and Caesars Windsor. Only the largest gambling venues have poker rooms with enough tables to host mid- to high-level tournaments. You’ll find plenty of Texas Hold’em cash games, the most popular form of poker in Canada.
As of April 4, 2022, sports betting is legal in Ontario. There are 21 sportsbook apps in Ontario, including BetMGM, DraftKings, Caesars, bet365 and FanDuel — so far.
Every Ontario sportsbook offers moneylines, point spreads, prop bets and over/under wagers. The more online sportsbooks and the more competition, the better it is for you.
You can also place sports wagers in person through Proline at more than 10,000 lottery retailers.
Eligible organisations that work under a proper license can conduct real money bingo events. Bingo is considered a lottery game under Alcohol and Gaming Commission rules. There are dozens of bingo halls in Ontario, most notably Six Nations Bingo. However, bingo is mainly considered a social pastime in the province and is primarily played among seniors and at charitable events.
Charity gambling is another legal form of gambling in Ontario.
There are 15 racetracks in Ontario — 12 standardbred tracks (harness racing), two thoroughbred facilities and one quarterhorse track — where you can place bets. There are also numerous facilities where you can try off-track wagering. You can bet on horse racing via the HorsePlayer Interactive (HPI) system. Most tracks in Ontario have some form of additional gaming.
Horse racing is regulated by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario.
The provincial lottery offers national games such as Lotto 6/49 and Lotto Max, as well as several daily draw games, including Pick 2, Pick 3, Pick 4, Poker Lotto and Wheel of Fortune Lotto.
OLG operates several casinos, slot facilities and bingo halls. Its official website olg.ca introduced online gambling, including slots, table games, poker, bingo and sports wagering.
Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation regulates the lottery.
Almost every form of gambling is legal in Ontario but strictly controlled by regulators, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario and its subsidiary iGaming Ontario. Commercial casinos with video slots, video poker and table games, and community poker games can operate with the proper license. So can bingo halls and racetracks. OLG’s sports betting service, called Proline Plus, allows for in-person and online wagering.
Here are some of the significant facts regarding gambling in Ontario:
Yes. You can legally gamble online in Ontario through a long list of gambling sites regulated by the provincial government. The list of regulated sites can be found here.
The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario regulates all gambling in the province, both land-based and digital, and reports to the Ministry of the Attorney General. The AGCO’s subsidiary iGaming Ontario was created “to establish a new online gaming market that helps protect consumers gambling through private gaming companies.”
Yes, the OLG offers a self-exclusion program to people looking to restrict their access to gambling in the province. The program features three exclusion options: Charitable Gaming Self-Exclusion (applied to charitable bingo halls and other gaming centres), OLG Self-Exclusion (applied to online gambling through the OLG website), and Gaming Self-Exclusion (applied to all casinos and the OLG website). You can choose to self-exclude for six months, a year or indefinitely. The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario plans to institute a mandatory, centralized self-exclusion list sometime in 2023.
In general, no. The law only makes an exception if gambling constitutes a business venture, as is the case with professional poker. Lottery winnings are considered windfalls and are not taxable, either.
No matter how much fun you’re having, you should always practice gambling with a dose of caution. Gambling addiction is present in Ontario, as it is in other parts of Canada and the world. There are, however, plenty of services in Ontario that help problem gamblers, either through self-exclusion programs or support centres.
