Canadian gambling law does something that most people outside the country find odd. The federal government wrote the rules, then handed the entire operation to the provinces and told them to figure it out. Section 207 of the Criminal Code gives each province and territory the sole authority to conduct and manage gaming inside its own borders, and the result is a country where your options, your protections, and even your legal age to place a bet all depend on your postal code. For players trying to find a legitimate place to gamble online, this setup means there is no single national license to look for and no single website that works the same way from coast to coast. The good news is that the system, while fragmented, is fairly straightforward once you understand how it is organized.
The Federal Framework and Provincial Authority
Section 207 of the Criminal Code is the starting point. It does not legalize gambling across Canada in any blanket sense. Instead, it permits provinces and territories to run gambling operations, license private operators, or both. The federal government has no regulatory body overseeing online casinos. That task falls entirely to provincial gaming commissions and regulators.
This means each province decides which types of gambling are permitted, who can offer them, and under what conditions. Some provinces have been aggressive about building out regulated online markets. Others have been slower, leaving residents with fewer locally licensed options.
Where Provinces Run Their Own Tables
Each province sets its own rules for online gambling, and the platforms available to players vary depending on where you live. Ontario alone has 48 licensed operators running 82 gaming websites, while Alberta opened operator registration in January 2026 under its new iGaming Alberta Act. British Columbia is building an independent gambling control office set to go live in April 2026.
Players comparing options across provinces will find government-run sites like PlayAlberta alongside private Canadian casinos and international operators holding provincial licenses. Checking that a site holds the correct provincial authorization is the one step that matters before anything else.
Ontario’s Market by the Numbers
Ontario is the largest regulated online gambling market in the country right now. The province licenses both casino and sports betting operators through the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, with iGaming Ontario handling the day-to-day market oversight.
The numbers from 2025 give a sense of scale: operators handled close to $98.3 billion in wagers and generated roughly $4 billion in gross gaming revenue, which was a 26% increase over the prior year. Those figures come from a market that has only been open since April 2022, so the growth rate is still steep.
Alberta and British Columbia Are Following
Alberta passed its iGaming Alberta Act through Bill 48 and opened operator registration on January 13, 2026. The market launch is expected later this year, with the Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Commission overseeing the process.
British Columbia’s new Gaming Control Act takes effect on April 13, 2026. The province is creating an independent gambling control office, which will separate the regulatory function from the government-run gambling operation. This matters because it gives the regulator more autonomy when licensing and enforcing rules against private operators.
Age Requirements Vary by Province
The legal gambling age is not uniform across Canada. In Alberta, Manitoba, and Quebec, you can legally gamble at 18. In every other province, the minimum age is 19. Online casinos are required to verify your age during the registration process, and most do so through identity verification checks tied to government-issued documents.
If you are under the legal age for your province, you cannot legally create an account, and regulated operators will reject your registration.
Tax Treatment of Winnings
For most players in Canada, gambling winnings are not taxed. The Canada Revenue Agency treats them as windfalls, which places them outside of taxable income. This applies to casual and recreational players.
There is an exception for people who gamble professionally, meaning those who treat it as a primary source of income with a reasonable expectation of profit. In that case, the CRA may treat the income as taxable. The line between recreational and professional is assessed case by case, but the vast majority of players will never owe taxes on their winnings.
Player Protections on Regulated Sites
Regulated platforms in Canada must offer a set of responsible gambling tools. These include deposit limits, which let you cap how much money you can add to your account in a given period, and self-exclusion programs, which allow you to voluntarily ban yourself from a site for a set duration.
Reality checks are another common requirement. These are periodic notifications that tell you how long you have been playing and how much you have wagered or lost during a session. Ontario is also planning to launch a centralized self-exclusion system in 2026, which would let a player exclude themselves from all licensed operators in the province at once rather than doing it site by site.
How to Verify a Site Before You Play
The simplest way to confirm a site is legitimate is to check directly with your provincial regulator. Ontario publishes a full list of licensed operators on the iGaming Ontario website. Alberta and British Columbia will maintain similar registries as their markets open.
Look for the operator’s license number on the casino’s website, typically found in the footer. If you cannot find it, or if the site does not appear on your province’s registry, treat that as a reason to play somewhere else.
Conclusion
Playing legally at an online casino in Canada comes down to knowing which province you are in and what that province requires from its operators. The rules are set at the provincial level, the legal age depends on where you live, and the protections available to you are tied to the licensing framework your province has built. Stick with operators that hold a valid provincial license, confirm their registration through your local regulator, and make use of the responsible gambling tools that regulated sites are obligated to provide. The system is fragmented, but the path through it is not complicated.