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Is online gambling legal in Canada?

By Jeremy NadlerSenior reviewer, payouts Updated

The short answer

Online gambling is legal in Canada when it is conducted and managed by a province or territory, or offered by private operators inside a province's regulated market. As of November 2026, two provinces have opened regulated markets to private operators: Ontario (since April 2022) and Alberta (since July 2026). Every other province offers online gambling only through its own provincial lottery corporation, and the three territories do not run online casinos. Our ranking of the best crypto casinos in Canada lists the licence behind each offshore site we review.

Offshore casinos, including almost all crypto casinos, are not authorized by any Canadian province outside those regulated markets. They are nonetheless easy to reach from Canada. Whether a player commits an offence by using one is a question the law does not answer neatly, and we do not describe it as "legal". This guide explains why.

How Canadian gambling law is built

The Criminal Code

Gambling in Canada starts with the federal Criminal Code. Part VII of the Code makes most gambling activity an offence, then section 207 carves out exceptions. The most important is section 207(1)(a), which allows the government of a province, alone or with other provinces, to conduct and manage a lottery scheme in that province under provincial law. "Lottery scheme" is defined broadly enough to cover casino games, and the Code expressly contemplates schemes operated on or through a computer.

The result is that each province decides what gambling it offers and how. The federal government sets the outer limits; the provinces fill in the detail.

Single-event sports betting

Until 2021 the Code also banned betting on a single sporting event. Parliament removed that restriction in 2021, which allowed provinces to offer single-game sports betting. That change is part of why provinces began rethinking their online offerings.

Conduct and manage

The phrase "conduct and manage" is the key to everything that follows. A province cannot simply license private companies and step back. It must itself conduct and manage the gambling. Ontario and Alberta meet this requirement by creating provincial bodies that contract with private operators and keep control of the scheme. Whether Ontario can extend this model to games shared with players outside Canada is the subject of a case the Supreme Court of Canada heard on October 7, 2026, on appeal by lottery corporations from other provinces; the decision was reserved as of November 2026.

Province by province

Province or territory Regulated private market Provincial online site Legal age
Ontario Yes, since April 4, 2022 OLG.ca 19
Alberta Yes, since July 13, 2026 PlayAlberta 18
British Columbia No PlayNow (BCLC) 19
Saskatchewan No PlayNow Saskatchewan 19
Manitoba No PlayNow Manitoba 18
Quebec No (reform promised) Loto-Québec 18
New Brunswick No ALC.ca 19
Nova Scotia No (talks reported) ALC.ca 19
Prince Edward Island No ALC.ca 19
Newfoundland and Labrador No ALC.ca 19
Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut No None No territorial rule for online play

Our province pages go into more detail on regulators, helplines and the local position.

Ontario

See our guide to Ontario online casinos for more detail.

Ontario's market is run by iGaming Ontario (iGO), which signs operating agreements with private operators, and regulated by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO), which registers them and sets standards. Regulated sites show the iGaming Ontario logo, and iGO publishes a directory of operators. The AGCO calls sites outside the market unregulated.

Alberta

Alberta's market follows a similar two-step model. Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC) registers operators, and the Alberta iGaming Corporation (AiGC) conducts and manages the market and signs agreements with operators. Operators must link to the province's centralized self-exclusion system. AiGC publishes a list of registered sites.

Quebec

Loto-Québec is the only provincially authorized online operator. Both the Parti Québécois, which formed a minority government after the October 2026 election, and the Quebec Liberal Party campaigned on creating a regulated private market. No legislation had passed as of November 2026.

The other provinces

British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba offer online gambling through PlayNow sites built on BCLC's platform. The four Atlantic provinces use Atlantic Lottery's ALC.ca. Nova Scotia's finance minister said in late October 2026 that talks about expanding online casino and sports betting were under way, and New Brunswick's finance minister has said the province is exploring options, but neither had made a decision as of November 2026. Provincial sites also run poker rooms; Quebec's OK POKER, for example, offers Omaha, whose rules are in how to play Omaha poker.

What about offshore and crypto casinos?

What they are

Most crypto casinos are run by companies outside Canada and hold licences from jurisdictions such as Curaçao or Anjouan. Those licences are issued under foreign law. They do not authorize a casino to serve players in Canada, and the Anjouan regulator itself has said publicly that no licence can exempt an operator from local law where local authorization is required. When we checked the licences of 95 offshore crypto casinos against the regulators' own registers, 11 of the 87 claims we could test were expired, missing or misprinted. For a side-by-side look at how these sites differ from regulated ones, see our guide to crypto casinos vs regular online casinos in Canada.

Is it illegal to play?

The Criminal Code's gambling offences are drafted mainly around keeping, operating and promoting gambling. Enforcement in Canada has historically focused on operators rather than individual players at foreign websites. But that is a description of practice, not a legal permission, and nothing in Canadian law says offshore play is authorized. We are not lawyers, and if your situation matters, get legal advice.

What is clear is what you give up:

  • No provincial regulator. You cannot complain to the AGCO, AGLC or any provincial body about an offshore site.
  • No provincial self-exclusion. Provincial programs do not reach offshore casinos.
  • No Canadian standards on advertising, age verification, game testing or how player funds are held.
  • Disputes depend on the casino and whatever process its foreign licensing body offers.

That is why we test payouts with our own money before recommending any offshore casino, and why we only show registered operators, and no bonus offers, to visitors in Ontario and Alberta.

Ontario and Alberta residents

In a province with a regulated market, the choice is no longer between a single government site and an offshore site. There are dozens of regulated options with Canadian protections. Offshore sites remain outside that framework, and regulators in both provinces have positioned their markets as a way to move players away from them.

Age limits

The minimum age is 19 in most provinces and 18 in Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec. The territories have no online casino of their own; WCLC sells lottery products at 18+ in the Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, and in 2022 the Northwest Territories proposed setting 18 in its regulations; see our guide to the gambling age in Canada for details. Offshore casinos usually set 18 in their terms, but your provincial age still applies to you. Our guide to the legal gambling age in Canada gives the age for casinos, lottery and online play in each province, with the official source for each.

Taxes

For recreational players, gambling winnings are generally not taxed in Canada. Crypto complicates this, because converting or spending crypto can create a capital gain or loss. See our guide on whether gambling winnings are taxed in Canada.

Staying safe

If you choose to play anywhere, set limits first. Offshore crypto casinos are not connected to provincial responsible gambling systems, so use their own tools, blocking software like Gamban or BetBlocker, and your bank's controls. Free, confidential help is available in every province and territory; see our responsible gambling page.

Situations people ask about

Travelling between provinces

Provincial schemes are tied to where you are physically located, not where you live. Regulated sites in Ontario and Alberta use geolocation to confirm you are inside the province when you play. An Ontario resident visiting British Columbia cannot use Ontario-regulated sites from there, and a visitor to Ontario can use them while in Ontario if they meet the age and account rules.

Using a VPN

Using a VPN to appear to be somewhere else breaks the terms of virtually every casino, regulated or offshore. Casinos that detect it may close accounts and withhold winnings. It also defeats the location checks that keep regulated markets inside the law. Our guide to VPN casinos sets out what each casino's terms say and what happens at withdrawal.

Kahnawake

The Kahnawake Gaming Commission, based in the Mohawk Territory of Kahnawake near Montreal, has licensed online gambling operators for many years. Its authority to do so is asserted by the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake and has long been disputed by other governments. A Kahnawake licence is not the same as authorization by a province, and it does not place an operator inside Ontario's or Alberta's regulated markets.

Sports betting apps

Single-event sports betting became possible in 2021 when Parliament amended the Criminal Code. In each province it is offered either by the provincial lottery corporation or, in Ontario and Alberta, also by registered private operators.

What could change next

Several developments could change this picture in 2027: legislation in Quebec following the October 2026 election, a decision by Nova Scotia or New Brunswick on private operators, and the Supreme Court of Canada's ruling on Ontario's international model. We review this guide whenever one of these moves, and at least every three months.

Mystery box and case opening sites raise their own questions under the same rules. See are mystery box sites legal in Canada.

Sources

Frequently asked questions

Is online gambling legal in Canada?
Yes, when it is offered by a province or inside a provincial regulated market. Ontario and Alberta allow registered private operators; other provinces offer online gambling only through their lottery corporations.
Is it illegal to play at offshore crypto casinos from Canada?
Offshore sites are not authorized by any province. Enforcement has historically targeted operators rather than players, but that does not make offshore play legal, and you lose all provincial protections.
Which provinces have regulated online casino markets?
Ontario since April 4, 2022 and Alberta since July 13, 2026, as of November 2026.
Is Quebec opening its online market?
The Parti Québécois, which formed a minority government, and the Liberals both promised it in the October 2026 election, but no law had passed as of November 2026.
What is the legal gambling age in Canada?
19 in most provinces; 18 in Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec. The territories have no online casino of their own; WCLC sells lottery products there at 18+, and the Northwest Territories proposed setting 18 in its regulations in 2022.